Track, field athletes head to NCAA Indoors

Track, field athletes head to NCAA Indoors

By Emmanuelle Ejercito

and Scott Yamaguchi

Daily Bruin Staff

Hoping to come away with a few national titles, the UCLA men’s
and women’s track teams will send eight of their finest field
athletes to the NCAA Indoor Championships in Indianapolis today and
Saturday.

Competing for the men’s team in the shot put will be seniors
Mark Parlin and Jonathan Ogden and redshirt freshman Travis Haynes.
Sophomore Scott Slover will represent the Bruins in the pole
vault.

Going into the championships, Parlin, who threw an NCAA-leading
64-feet-114-inches at the Los Angeles Indoor Invitational, is the
favorited to win his event.

Meanwhile, Ogden has the fourth-best throw with a season-best of
61-812, and Haynes ranks in the top 10 with a 60-014 mark.

The biggest challenge for UCLA in the shot put will come from
Indiana’s Nathan Davis, who last week beat out Parlin for first
place at the USA T&F Indoor Championships. Also posing a threat
will be Burger Lanbrechts, whose 62-634 mark ranks him third going
into the meet.

The lone Bruin in the pole vault, Slover has a good chance of
winning his event. He recently set his best mark indoors with an
18-012 vault at the L.A. Invite, which ranks him third behind
Tennessee’s Lawrence Johnson and Wichita’s Ryan Barkdull.

"He’s in a nice situation were he is not one of the two
favorites to win it," UCLA men’s head coach Bob Larsen said, "but
we know that he can upset them."

However, Slover suffered an ankle injury last Thursday that has
limited his training and prevented him from competing last
weekend.

"It’s not going to affect me because I won’t let it affect me,"
Slover said. "If I don’t do well that’s not going to be why. I’m
going to be up there with those three guys … feeling good or
feeling bad, I’m going to be there."

The Bruin women should have winners in both events in which they
are entered. Amy Acuff, a junior who has already won two NCAA
Indoor high jump titles, is again favored to win that event.
Entering the meet, she has posted the nation’s best mark this
season, a 6-312 leap in Reno Feb. 3.

UCLA’s other favorite is senior Valeyta Althouse, who owns the
American Collegiate Record in both the indoor and outdoor shot put,
who won last year’s NCAA outdoor title, but who has never won an
NCAA indoor title.

Althouse set the indoor record at the L.A. Invite with a throw
of 59-312, and her closest competitor is more than two feet behind.
She will be joined in the competition by teammates Nada Kawar and
Rachelle Noble.

Daily Bruin file photo

Valeyta Althouse is favored to win the NCAA Indoor Championships
shot put competition this weekend in Indianapolis.

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