Acuff breaks UCLA record again at Mt. SAC

Acuff breaks UCLA record again at Mt. SAC

By Scott Yamaguchi

Daily Bruin Senior Staff

The UCLA women’s track and field team continued its steamroll
through the regular season over the Easter weekend, stopping only
in Walnut for the sake of several solid, record-breaking
performances.

This time it was sophomore Amy Acuff, who once again improved on
her own school record in the outdoor high jump when she cleared the
bar at 6-feet, 3 1/2 inches Saturday at the prestigious Mt. San
Antonio College Relays. Acuff’s jump marked the seventh time this
season that a member of the team has either tied or broken a school
record, including three by the high-jumper herself.

At the Bruins’ first home meet March 4, Acuff eclipsed her
previous outdoor record of 6-2 when she jumped 6-2 3/4. Then, at
the NCAA Indoor Nationals March 11, she defended her title with a
meet-record leap of 6 5 1/2. Saturday’s mark was good enough for
the school record and a first-place finish in the Invitational
competition, but it is still a half-inch short of Acuff’s outdoor
personal record, and it came at a time when she is tired from
intense mid-season training.

"Mt. SAC comes at a weird time of the year for us," UCLA head
coach Jeanette Bolden said. "Some of the team are getting ready for
the Penn Relays, some are getting ready for the California-Nevada
Sate Championships, and they all trained through this meet, so
sometimes the performance may not be what people want.

"Amy won the high jump, but she was tired."

That fatigue was obvious in the shot put ring, where
All-Americans Valeyta Althouse and Dawn Dumble finished second and
third, respectively, in the Invitational division with marks well
below their season averages.

Althouse, who set a school record and conference record last
week with a 59-8 1/2 monster, threw a respectable 57-2 3/4, while
Dumble struggled at 54-11 1/4.

"People have off-days, and Dawn and Valeyta just had an
off-day," Bolden said. "They’ve been through this before, though,
so I know they’ll bounce back."

Actually, Dumble bounced back only a few hours later in the
Invitational discus competition, which she won with a throw of
189-0. She was followed in third place by freshman teammate Suzy
Powell, who threw for 187-9.

On the track, sophomore Cicely Scott finished third in her heat
in the 800 meters with a time of 2:08.92 ­ not an improvement,
and Karen Hecox earned an NCAA provisional qualification in the
3,000.

Bolden decided to hold junior All-American Camille Noel out of
competition for one more week, and this scratched both relays
­ because Shelia Burrell and Darlene Malco, both of whom run
legs on the relays, were competing in the heptathlon.