By Jeff Eisenberg
Daily Bruin Contributor
An hour and a half into his first practice of the season on
Wednesday, a dejected Yoo Kim sat down on the track and slammed his
fists on the ground in disgust. The injured pole -vaulting star
buried his head in his hands, frustrated that he couldn’t
will himself back to full strength.
Minutes later a teammate tried to lift his spirits, joking with
him that they had the breeze at their back.
“It’s not about the wind,” Kim responded.
“It’s all mental.”
The uncertainty surrounding Kim’s status concerns a
serious knee injury that has kept him out of action since the
beginning of the season. Nonetheless, it is perhaps the only
setback that either the men’s or women’s track team has
faced heading into this weekend’s meet at UC San Diego.
Firmly entrenched among the top five teams in the nation, the
UCLA women are coming off a solid performance at the Mount San
Antonio College Relays last weekend in Walnut, Calif. Tracy
O’Hara and Darnesha Griffith both equaled season-best marks
in the pole vault and high jump respectively. Monique Henderson
placed second in the 400 meters and anchored the Bruins’
winning 4×400-meter relay team.
The UCLA men also competed very well last weekend at Mount SAC.
Kyle Erickson and Charles Ryan each had personal-best times in the
hurdles, while C.J. Bell took second in the pole vault with a
personal-best and NCAA provisional qualifying height of 17-feet 4
½-inches.
“Those three were really outstanding,” said
men’s head coach Art Venegas. “C.J. had a big
breakthrough in the vault, and I also thought Michael Lipscomb ran
a fantastic 200 meters. Several people really stood out at Mount
SAC.”
This weekend’s meet at UCSD is unique because there is no
scoring. It is the final tune-up for the Bruins before they host
USC the following weekend at Drake Stadium.
“We just want to do well individually and get guys healthy
for “˜SC,” Venegas said. “Some people will be
resting. We don’t want to take any chances.”
Venegas believes the team is coming together well, and should be
formidable with or without Kim.
“The guys you’ve seen competing are pretty much what
we have right now,” he said. “If (Kim) is not ready to
compete, obviously we are not going to waste his eligibility. For
right now he’s on hold.”