By Glen Worthington
Daily Bruin Contributor
Any self-respecting Texan will tell you, “Everything is
bigger in Texas.” That was the case last weekend as the
Bruins traveled south to compete in the Texas Relays. They faced
big competition, big crowds, big winds, but still achieved some big
results.
“Some of our guys aren’t used to seeing that kind of
a fan base for a track meet,” men’s Head Coach Art
Venegas said. “Our young sprinters got a real education: you
better be ready. For our kids, (this meet) was about getting your
feet wet.”
Although the Bruins did have some great successes, other
performances were less than stellar. The team had a difficult time
adjusting to the size of the meet and the quality of the
competitors. Many of the young sprinters had disappointing results
based on previous times. Still, sprint coach John Smith believes
that this meet served a purpose.
“(The younger athletes’) eyes were opened. Now they
know what’s expected of them. You have to expose your team to
certain levels of competition and then they have to grow from
there,” he said.
Throwers Scott Moser, junior, and freshman Dan Ames excelled in
their events against some of the best competition in the nation.
Moser placed fourth in the shot put at 61-feet-7 inches. Ames was
close behind with a throw of 60-1 3/4, earning him seventh
place.
In the discus, Moser again impressed with a throw of 194-10,
coming in third place behind Tolga Kosheoghu of Texas A & M
(203-5) and last year’s NCAA champion Gabor Mate of Auburn
who won the event (206-7). Ames placed sixth (191-1).
UCLA’s throwing duo also found success in the hammer
throw. This time, Ames had the top mark of 192-8, a personal best
which garnered him sixth. Moser placed eleventh (186-6).
In the javelin, sophomore Nate Marum placed eighth with a throw
of 211-4 and senior Joe Franklin placed twelfth (181-0).
On the pole-vaulting end, the Bruins had to cope with conditions
they weren’t accustomed to.
“We would have liked to have seen bigger marks,”
said pole vault coach Anthony Curran. “But when you’re
at big meets and competing with a big tail wind, you have to jump
on bigger poles than you’ve ever jumped on.”
Usually a tail wind (one at the back) is helpful, but in this
case it meant switching to longer, stiffer poles than the athletes
were used to. Sophomore Jared Drake was able to adjust well,
though, and tie his season best with a height of 16-10.75.
UCLA’s distance runners had the opportunity to compete in
relays, something they do not usually do. The 4 x 1500- meter relay
team placed ninth at 15:57.96 and the 4 x 800m team took seventh at
7:34.82. The meet was a fun diversion for them as they prepare for
the important distance competition at the Mt. SAC Relays April
20-22.
The Bruins had strong performances in individual distance events
as well. Senior Mason Moore placed sixth in the 3000m steeplechase
(9:21.73). Senior Paul Muite placed fourth in the 1500m (3:56.33)
with fellow Bruin freshman Jon Rankin placing twelfth
(4:06.85).
The 400m hurdles saw Bruin sophomore Kyle Erickson and senior
John Hall come in sixth and seventh, respectively, with times of
50.93 and 51.3. Erickson’s time in the final heat was a
personal best and good enough to be a NCAA provisional qualifier.
Hall ran a season best 51.02 in his qualifying heat that also made
him a provisional qualifier.
Erickson had struggled to qualify because of the stiff winds.
Venegas said that he ran too hard into the wind on the first day,
but adjusted well and ran a smarter race in the finals.
The 4 x 100m relay team faced a difficult task after sophomore
Joe Hunter pulled his hamstring in the qualifying heats of the open
100m dash. Smith did not want to change the chemistry of the team
so Hunter ran a more conservative relay leg. The team of Hunter,
freshman Warren Rogers, junior Michael Lipscomb, and senior Bryan
Harrison finished with a time of 40.51. Smith had hoped the team
would break 40 seconds at this meet, but under the circumstances
was pleased with the time.
Despite all the difficulties the Bruins faced, the Texas Relays
were a success. Statistically, not all their numbers were up to
par, but the meet mentally prepared the young team for greater
challenges down the road.
“The Texas Relays had a role,” said Venegas.
“I needed to put the team in a very difficult environment
this early in the year so that they won’t get too cocky when
they have good meets at home where it’s a little easier to
compete. Our veterans did their job; our rookies froze a little
bit. That’s exactly what I wanted to happen.”
Time will tell whether the lessons learned at Texas will help
the team in the PAC-10 and NCAA competitions to come.