NICOLE MILLER/Daily Bruin Staff
Sophomore Dan Ames winds up against USC, May
4.
By J.P. Hoornstra
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
[email protected]
Like a poorly scripted action movie, the UCLA men’s track
and field team left its viewers wanting so much more. The
protagonist persevered through injury and, in a thrilling climax,
convincingly defeated his arch-enemy in a head-to-head battle.
But UCLA did not ride off into the sunset, enjoy the last laugh,
or get the girl in 2002. Instead, it will have to settle for that
one shining moment ““ against USC in their annual dual meet
May 4 ““ as the high point in a not-so-storybook season.
“We had a chance to be a top-10 team in the nation, then
everything started to snowball in the wrong direction,” head
coach Art Venegas said. “As a coach you try to minimize the
damage.”
Coming off a first-place finish in the MPSF Indoor Track and
Field finals, the men had already proven themselves to the rest of
the conference before the Pac-10 outdoor season even began.
It came as no surprise then when UCLA went undefeated in its
first head-to-head meets against weaker opposition: Cal and
Washington State March 16, at the Cal-Nevada Championships March
29, and BYU and Cal State Northridge April 13.
But how far could they go? As several key individuals emerged,
the Bruins pushed their way up to 18th in the nation going into the
USC meet.
Senior Scott Moser, junior Scott Wiegand and sophomore Dan Ames
led a strong throwing corps that was solid for UCLA all season.
Moser was the Bruins’ strongest performer at the NCAA finals
May 29-June 1, earning five of the eight team points with his
performance in the discus (198 feet, 3 inches; fourth place).
Senior C.J. Bell emerged as the team’s top pole vaulter
after a serious knee injury to Yoo Kim placed him on the shelf for
the entire outdoor season. Bell ended 2001 with a lifetime best of
16 1-1/4 but had increased it to 17 4-1/2, matching Kim’s
personal record, after the Mt. SAC Relays April 20.
Sprinters Michael Lipscomb, Chuckie Ryan, Kyle Erickson and
distance runner Bryan Green led the way on the track, offsetting
injuries to Denye Versher, Rodney Diggs and Jon Rankin, each of
whom made significant contributions on the track during the
Bruins’ indoor season.
The USC dual meet ““ the Big Meet ““ was just that.
The men won in dramatic fashion, 121-81, taking first place in 14
of 19 events. It appeared to be the big boost the men needed before
the Pac-10 and NCAA finals.
But injuries struck again in the two weeks before the May 18
conference finals.
Erickson had lowered his 400m hurdle time to 49.62 seconds,
fifth in the country, against USC, but pulled his hamstring in
practice a week before the Pac-10 finals.
“He had been the guy that we pointed to,” Venegas
said.
Erickson wasn’t alone. Ryan suffered a similar injury in
practice the same week, and long jumper Juane Armon, who earned the
sixth-best mark in the country (26-3) against USC, injured his knee
in practice jumps at Pac-10s.
This all led up to a sixth-place performance at the conference
finals, as the team could not compensate for the three crippling
injuries.
Neither Ryan, Armon, nor Erickson could recover over the next
two weeks to score at nationals May 29, and UCLA tied for 30th with
its eight points.
UCLA had its moment in the sun. After it put the scare in the
Trojans, it was ranked sixth in the Trackwire rankings. The
emergence of Bell in the pole vault and Wiegand in the shot put
were some unexpected positives.
And each of the injured athletes are ready to come back next
season.
“We’ll have those guys along with great recruits,
and we feel optimistic about next year,” Venegas said.
But can those athletes rebound? Will UCLA be the top-10 team it
expects to? Will the losses of Lipscomb and Moser deplete the
sprinting and throwing squads?
Tune in next year to find out.