By J.P. Hoornstra
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
[email protected]
The UCLA men’s track and field team had climbed its way
from off the national radar to sixth in the country after handily
defeating USC in a dual meet May 4. Inching their way up the Pac-10
ladder, the Bruins had an outside chance at preventing Stanford
from winning its second consecutive conference title this
weekend.
But at Washington State, the Bruins’ weaknesses were
exposed, as they finished sixth with 91.5 points. Although their
typically strong throwing contingent dominated the others in the
field, injuries and a lack of depth hurt the them on the track.
Senior Scott Moser won his second consecutive Pac-10 discus
title with a throw of 194 1/12, becoming the first Pac-10 discus
thrower to do so since UCLA’s John Godina (1993-95).
“Even though I didn’t throw as far as I know I could
have, it’s a good feeling to know that I have two Pac-10
titles under my belt,” Moser said in a statement.
Junior Scott Wiegand won the Bruins’ only other title,
winning the shot put Saturday at 64-1.75, nearly three feet longer
than his nearest competitor.
It was Wiegand’s first Pac-10 title in his four-year
career, his best outdoor throw this year, and the Bruins’
seventh conference shot put title in the last 12 years.
“I set this as a goal early in my career and I kept my eye
on the prize,” he said in a statement.
But UCLA could not catch up to the rest of the Pac-10 on the
track, as injury and inexperience separated them from the top-tier
teams.
Michael Lipscomb, one of the Bruins’ few senior runners,
made a fine effort on Saturday in the 200-meter dash preliminaries.
Lipscomb set a personal record in 20.64 seconds to advance to
Sunday’s final. But he could not keep up with Washington
State’s Anson Henry in the final, who won the event in
20.52.
Junior Kyle Erickson, a national automatic qualifier in the
400-meter hurdles, did not make the trip because of a hamstring
injury.
On Sunday, sophomore Charles Ryan, anchoring the 4×400-meter
relay, pulled up lame with a hamstring cramp, and UCLA did not
finish the race.
Sophomore Juane Armon attempted to compete in the triple jump
final, but couldn’t continue after his tendinitis flared up
during his warmup attempts.
The Bruins couldn’t afford these injuries against a deep
Stanford team that led after Saturday’s events and
didn’t let up Sunday, winning the team title with 151
points.
“The Pac-10 couldn’t quite figure out the Stanford
riddle in the distances,” head coach Art Venegas said.
“Me and coach (Eric) Peterson are going to work on
that.”
Oregon placed second with 125 points, followed by USC, 103.50,
Arizona State, 103 and Arizona, 99.