By Glen Worthington
Daily Bruin Contributor
This has been the focus all along. The entire season was geared
towards success at the Pac-10 and NCAA Championships, and now the
Bruins have their chance. UCLA will compete for a Pac-10 title this
Saturday and Sunday at Berkeley.
The main contenders for the title will be No. 4 Stanford, No. 9
USC and the Bruins.
The championship is Stanford’s for the taking. The
Cardinal dominates the distance events and has two nationally
top-ranked and two second-ranked field athletes. However, Stanford
may rest some of its distance runners to try for a national
championship. Stanford could conceivably win 100 points in the
distances alone.
“If Stanford throws absolutely everybody into the
distances, (with distance runners) doubles and triples, that puts
them over the top,” UCLA Head Coach Art Venegas said.
USC is a more balanced team. The Trojans have top sprinters and
field athletes, as well as a strong 800-meter runner in junior
Kevin Elliot.
UCLA, though unranked, has across-the-board strength. Except for
the 1500m and high jump, in which no Bruins are entered, UCLA has
contenders in every event.
One of the biggest challenges for the team was deciding who to
take. Each team is allotted only 24 athletes and the Bruins have
much more depth than that.
“It’s a bit of a chess game,” Venegas said.
“What will the other guys do?”
“I’m convinced that if we had 32 athletes in the
meet it’d be very hard for anyone to beat us, even on a good
day. We’re leaving guys home who are ranked to
score.”
The Bruins’ strength is the throws. Junior Scott Moser and
redshirt freshman Dan Ames should clean up in the shot put and
discus. They will most likely score points in the hammer as
well.
Sophomore Scott Wiegand complements UCLA’s nationally
ranked duo and he should also score points in the shot put and
discus. On top of that, sophomore Nate Marum is in position to
place in the top three in the javelin. These four will come up with
the bulk of the Bruins’ Pac-10 points.
But Venegas is wary of predictions.
“If you expect something, you’re going to get
disappointed and your whole team can lose their edge,” he
said. “You prepare them for (success), but realize that
anything can happen in sports.”
Other than Moser and Ames, the only UCLA favorite is sophomore
Kyle Erickson in the 400m hurdles.
However, Bruin potential is everywhere.
The pole vault competition, for instance, is an opportunity for
the Bruins to make a major statement. In the past few weeks,
UCLA’s pole vaulters have improved by leaps and bounds.
Coming off four new personal records last weekend, the squad boasts
five 17-foot vaulters for the first time in school history.
Unfortunately, there is only room for three due to the 24-man
limitation.
“Seventeen years of coaching and I’ve never left a
17-foot vaulter at home,” said Pole Vault Coach Anthony
Curran. “And this year I’ve had to leave two. It just
shows that we have a great track team all together.”
Senior Steve Michels has the team’s leading mark, but it
hasn’t been duplicated since February due to a mid-season
injury. However, Michels has put up big heights in practice lately.
If that transfers to the Pac-10 meet, he might win the whole
thing.
“(Michels) has always proved himself at big meets,”
Curran said. “He is one of those senior kids who can rise to
the occasion. He was an automatic for me.”
Freshman Yoo Kim has been phenomenal in the past two weeks,
culminating in a 17-4 1/2 vault last Saturday. If he has another
breakthrough this weekend, he also has title potential.
“The competition is wide open this year,” Curran
said. “I think any one of my guys has a chance at winning the
event or taking second. I wouldn’t be surprised if my guys
came in for a sweep this year.”
The distance events are the big question mark for UCLA.
Senior Mason Moore and junior Andrew Wulf are on the verge of
great things in the 3,000m steeplechase. They’ve had good
performances lately, but overall haven’t been consistent.
Both need to be at top form to place.
Senior Will Bernaldo and junior Brian Green will double in the
5,000m and 10,000m. Their focus is Saturday’s 10,000m, where
they should both score. Sunday’s 5000m will be, according to
Peterson, a nothing-to-lose situation for them. They’ll do
their best in the 10,000m and hopefully the energy of the meet will
carry them through the 5,000m.
“Historically, the steeplechase and the 10,000m are the
best chances we have to score in the distance events,” said
Distance Coach Eric Peterson. “That’s why we have two
athletes in each of those.”
Senior Paul Muite is coming off a lifetime best in the 800m last
weekend. He’ll need another at the Pac-10s if he is going to
contribute points.
It’ll be an uphill battle for the Bruins. The odds are
against them, but they do have a chance. With the right motivation,
the right focus and the right effort, anything can happen.
“What I like is that we have a balanced program,”
Venegas said. “I think that we have the most balanced team in
the nation. There is no one area that is not represented well.
It’s going to be a great team effort.”