COURTNEY STEWART/Daily Bruin Staff Joe Snee, freshman
pole vaulter, launches himself over the bar in a match at Drake
Stadium earlier this season. The Bruins will compete against rival
USC this weekend.
By J.P. Hoornstra
DAILY BRUIN SENIOR STAFF
[email protected]
In 1978, Kyle Erickson wasn’t even born yet. So for as
long as he had known, UCLA had won every USC-UCLA dual meet it ever
ran ““ up until last year.
Even before Erickson and the 4×400-meter relay team ran the
final event at the 2001 Big Meet, the Bruins trailed by six and
Erickson already knew the 22-year streak was over. A 5-point
victory by the relay team brought the final score to 82-81, in
favor of the Trojans.
“I’m not glad that we lost, but I think it adds
spice to the meet, it makes it even more fun,” said Erickson,
now a junior. “Winning 22 years straight, that gets kind of
dull.”
This year, like last, should be anything but dull.
The two teams are among the strongest in the Pac-10. Nationally,
the Bruins are currently tied for 18th in the Trackwire rankings,
while USC stands alone at No. 22. With the two teams so close, they
will likely exchange leads back and forth over the day’s 19
events. These three will be key to the final outcome of the
meet:
1. Pole vault, 11:30 a.m. UCLA’s C.J. Bell has emerged out
of nowhere to rise to 14th in the country in his event this year.
Once one of the Bruins’ weaker men’s events, Bell has
set two personal records in the last two weeks to make the Bruins a
favorite in the pole vault. With a new, longer pole in hand for the
Big Meet, Bell anticipates more time in the air to set himself for
a good vault.
“I guess the next mark that I want to get is 17 (feet) 8
(inches),” he said. “That would put me in the top 10 at
UCLA, and it would give me a definite spot on the NCAA
team.”
2. Shot put, 1:30 p.m. The modified 5-3-2-1 NCAA scoring system
(for a full explanation of the scoring, see the women’s
preview) makes the Bruins a heavy favorite to take the maximum
eight points in this event. Dan Ames and Scott Wiegand are both
ranked in the top 10 nationally in the event. Wiegand began the
year with a personal best of 59 feet, 11 inches, but has pushed it
to 64-7 in this, his senior season.
“Scott will be a major factor in the next few
weeks,” said men’s head coach Art Venegas.
Ames, meanwhile, nailed the longest outdoor distance of any
Bruin this season, 63-10 1/4 on March 30. Mike Rainis is
USC’s leading shot putter with a best of 53-0.
3. 110-meter hurdles, 2:15 p.m. Ryan Wilson is the cover boy on
the USC media guide and ranked second in the nation this year in
this event (13.55 seconds), but sophomore Chuckie Ryan of UCLA
could give him a run for his money.
The Bruin in the trademark black shades is a crowd favorite and
lowered his season-best time to 13.67 seconds, tied for eighth in
the country, on April 6. In his last meet at Mt. San Antonio
College on April 21, Ryan ran the 110 in 13.79.
With the streak over, and the two squads so evenly matched, the
UCLA men must prove themselves all over again to earn crosstown
bragging rights. Now in his fourth year, senior thrower Scott Moser
enters Saturday’s competition with optimism: “This meet
is basically going to start another really long streak.”