Track runs show at Drake Stadium

Track runs show at Drake Stadium

Bruin men and women consistently claim top spots

By A. CinQue Carter

Daily Bruin Contributor

After numerous individual competitions, the Bruins brought it
all together at Drake Stadium on Saturday in their first meet of
the season. Playing the not-so-gracious host, UCLA dismantled Cal
State Los Angeles, UC Santa Barbara and Long Beach State.

The UCLA women scored 88 points in the quadrangular meet, nearly
four times better than their closest competition. UCLA men racked
up 99.5 points, more than double the output of the second- place
49ers.

"This was a good meet for us," UCLA men’s head coach Bob Larsen
said. "People showed a lot of strength."

On the track, the Bruin women swept every event with the
exception of the 1,500m, where Jeanene Harlick placed second with a
time of 4:44.26, and the 400m hurdles where senior Legretta Hinds
was disqualified after finishing in first place.

"Don’t be surprised if we win NCAAs," junior heptathlete Darlene
Malco said.

Standout freshmen Andrea Anderson and Joanna Hayes combined to
win four races and two relays between them. Anderson won the 400m
in 55.19 seconds and the 200m in 23.8.

Hayes was first in the 100m hurdles and the 100m dash. She
capped her day with a 25.6 in the 200m, good enough for third
place.

Junior Charlene Baldwin placed second in the 200 with a time of
25.3, and third in the 400 at 56.34. Sophomore Mame Twumasi
finished second in the 100, fourth in the 200 at 25.7, and ran the
third leg of the 4x400m relay.

With Hayes, Baldwin, Twumasi and Anderson running the 4×400
relay, the rest of the field didn’t stand a chance. The Bruins
finished 17 seconds ahead of UCSB with a time of 3:51.80. UCLA also
won the 4×100 relay.

Junior Amy Acuff continued her domination of the high jump,
leaping 5-feet-10-inches to win the event. Freshmen Jeanarta
Jackson and Kiesha Porter finished first and third in the triple
jump with distances of 39-1112 and 34-512 respectively.

In the long jump, freshman Renee Emery, nursing a sore ankle,
managed to finish third with a 18-414.

Sophomores Jocelyn Chase and Nada Kawar faced little competition
on Saturday. Chase, cleared 11-614 in the pole vault, more than
three feet ahead of second place. Kawar’s 51-1114 bested the
competition by more than four feet in the shot put.

The men did not fare too badly on Saturday, especially in
comparison to last season’s debut.

"We had some pretty good marks," Larsen said. "Last year, to
start the season, (we) were not in very good shape at all."

Akil Davis placed second in the 100 with a time of 10.66 while
fellow sophomore Jim McElroy was fourth at 10.83.

Seniors Mike Terry and Dan Niednagel finished 1-3 in the 800 at
1:52.51 and 1:55.49.

Gentry Bradley, in his last season of competition, won the 400m
in 48.40, while sophomore Ibrahim Hassan took the 200 in 20.97.

The 3,000 brought about more UCLA high-finishers. Junior Chris
Lynch ran a 8:39.70 to win the event, while freshman Kevin Bowes
was third, with a time of 8:43.90.

Freshman Brett Fernald, along with McElroy, Allen and Davis won
the 4×100 relay in 41.66. Lewis, Erik Allen, Fell and McElroy ran
the mile relay in 3:17.65 for the victory.

***

UCLA sent five athletes to Atlanta for the 1996 U.S. Track and
Field Indoor Championships. Competing for the UCLA men were seniors
Jonathan Ogden, Mark Parlin and redshirt freshman Travis Haynes.
For the women, Valeyta Althouse and junior Rachelle Noble competed.
Althouse, last week, set the NCAA women’s record in the shot put
with a mark of 59-312.

Ogden placed seventh in the shot with a throw of 61 feet and
Parlin was right behind at 60-10. Althouse was third for the women
with a mark of 58-812.

PATRICK LAM/Daily Bruin

Junior Amy Acuff jumped 5-feet-11-inches to win the high jump
event at Saturday’s track and field meet.

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