By Moin Salahuddin
Daily Bruin Staff
As the UCLA men’s track and field team returned from
competing at the Occidental Invitational and the Modesto Relays
last weekend, they had only one thing on their minds.
Only several days separated them from their biggest meet of the
season ““ the Pac-10 Championships ““ which begin this
Friday in Eugene, Ore.
“These meets are just a warmup for the Pac-10s,”
UCLA head coach Art Venegas said. “We’re really hoping
to parlay our good training for Pac-10s this year.”
Seeking qualifying marks for the conference and NCAA
championships, the runners were sent to the Occidental Invitational
while the field competitors traveled to the friendly throwing and
jumping confines of Modesto.
Leading the Bruin contingent was NCAA Indoor champion Jess
Strutzel in the 800 meters. The senior All-American charged out the
first 200 meters in 23.8 seconds, passed a rabbit setting the pace
at the 300-meter mark and had a 400-meter first-lap clocking in
49.7. Strutzel was briefly challenged by UC Santa Barbara’s
Ryan Locklin around the 600-meter mark of the race but outsprinted
the Gaucho for a sizzling 1:46.03 finish.
Despite Strutzel being disappointed about not breaking 1:45, the
outdoor season-best mark automatically qualified him for the NCAA
championships and is the fastest time run in the U.S. this
year.
“Strutzel didn’t fall apart,” distance coach
Bob Larsen said of Strutzel’s second lap after going out
sub-50. “He’s learning and getting the feel of going
through that fast.”
Racing in another heat, junior Paul Muite ran a personal-record
of 1:51.13 to qualify for the Pac-10 Championships. Muite’s
previous best was 1:52.83 for the 800 meters.
Competing in the 400 meters for UCLA were senior All-Americans
Michael Granville and Terrence Williams. In the invitational heat,
Granville finished third in a season-best 46.18, .03 seconds off
his all-time mark.
“Mike looked really good through 300 meters,” Larsen
said. “But he broke down the last 100.”
Williams sped to a personal-best of 46.19, only one-hundredth of
a second behind Granville.
“Terrence ran a little soft on the third 100,”
Larsen added. “But he was the fastest guy the last 50 meters
of the race.”
Senior Tom Jonsson sprinted to a 48.33 clocking in another heat
of the 400 meters.
True freshmen Kyle Erickson and John Barbieri competed in the
400 intermediate hurdles, with Erickson racing to a personal-best
of 52.13 while Barbieri finished in 53.82.
In the distance races, a trio of Bruins ran in the 1500 meters
while redshirt freshman Justin Patananan set a personal-record of
9:40.79 in the 3000-meter steeplechase. Senior Jonathan Lee led
UCLA in the metric mile with a 3:57.90 time, while sophomores
Martin Brix and Andrew Wulf finished in 4:05.00 and 4:06.14,
respectively.
At the highly competitive Modesto Relays, the Bruin field event
men were not as successful as their racing counterparts.
“In the field events, we are not as dominant as we have
been,” said Venegas, who is also the UCLA throwing coach.
Senior All-American pole-vaulter Brian McLaughlin competed in
the invitational event as the opening height was set at a stunning
17-6 1/2. McLaughlin failed to clear the bar in each of his three
attempts, joining five of the 10 total vaulters in
no-heighting.
“It’s disappointing,” McLaughlin said.
“But the Pac-10s and NCAAs are the top priorities
now.”
In the collegiate pole vault, Jared Drake and Roger Van Sluis
each cleared 15-7 to tie for 13th overall.
Triple jumper David Kurien placed second with a 47-1 effort. The
junior has already qualified for the conference championships with
his season-best of 47-7 3/4.
Redshirt freshmen Jack Clamon and Scott Wiegand led the UCLA
throwing contingent. Clamon won his flight of the shot put with a
58-7.50 effort while Wiegand placed fifth in 55-1. Sophomore Scott
Moser finished far back in both the discus and shot put for the
Bruins.
“The kids need time to mature,” Venegas said.
“Their marks are not very good yet. They just need to relax
and let the marks come.”
For UCLA, the performances of the team as a unit will need to
rise if the Bruins have any hopes of upending USC or Stanford at
the Pac-10 Championships this weekend.