Men’s vaulters soar
The Bruin pole vaulters had what was quite possibly the greatest
team pole vault performance in UCLA history Saturday at the Modesto
Invitational.
“It was probably the most inspirational event I’ve
been to in my coaching history for men’s pole vault,”
said Men’s Pole Vault Coach Anthony Curran.
Four Bruins cleared 17 feet, each with a lifetime best vault, on
the way to winning four out of the top five spots in the open
competition.
Freshman Yoo Kim won the event with a four-inch personal best of
17-feet-4 inches. Junior Tyrone Hazen, sophomore Jared Drake and
junior Joe Snee all vaulted 17 feet. They finished third through
fifth, respectively, based on the number of attempts.
Drake and Snee each added a couple inches to their previous
personal bests, but Hazen destroyed his previous mark of 16-1,
vaulting almost a full foot better.
“We had four UCLA Bruins, all youngsters, over 17 feet at
this meet,” said Curran. “I don’t think
that’s ever been done in Bruin history. For sure we’ve
never had four 17-footers on one team, and this year we have
five.”
Senior Steve Michels rounds out the 17-footers with the
team’s season leading mark of 17-5, set during the indoor
season. Although he is back competing, a mid-season injury has
prevented Michels from reaching that mark again.
“It was pretty spectacular,” Curran said.
Brief compiled by Glen Worthington, Daily Bruin Contributor.