Weather toughens m. track relays

Monday, April 8, 1996

Despite conditions, individuals shine in some performancesBy
Emmanuelle Ejercito

Daily Bruin Staff

Of the 3,000 athletes who competed in the Texas Relays last
week, the toughest opponent for the UCLA men’s track team was the
far-from-ideal weather under which the competition was held.

The temperatures in Austin were surprisingly chilly, hovering
around the 50s and dipping as low as 40 degrees on Friday. Also
present were strong winds that could have either helped or hindered
a performance depending on its direction.

The cold weather posed a problem for the runners in the sprint
medley relay which included two 200 meter legs followed by a 400
and 800. Although the Bruins had qualified for the finals with a
preliminary time of 3:25.23, during the relay Ibrahim Hassan
suffered a cramp in his hip flexor while running the 400-meter leg.
Hassan was unable to compete and the team had to pull out of the
finals.

The adverse weather conditions, however, did not hamper all of
the athletes’ performances.

Because injuries had limited sophomore Mebrahtom Keflezighi’s
training in the past weeks, the Bruins were not sure how he would
fare in this loaded field. But Keflezighi pulled through, finishing
first among the collegiate athletes and third overall in the 5,000
meters. Keflezighi’s time of 14:02.53 was a provisional qualifying
mark that should be fast enough to earn him a bid to the NCAA
Championship.

"He hadn’t really run for four weeks," UCLA head coach Bob
Larsen said. "So that was a really excellent performance and
exactly what we were looking for."

Another excellent performance was given by Avery Anderson in the
110-meter hurdles. Anderson set a new personal record of 13.94,
bettering his previous personal best by two one-hundredths of a
second.

In the steeple chase, Devin Elizondo, running and hurdling
against heavy winds, was the first collegian in, crossing the line
at 9:14.

Meanwhile in the field events, pole vaulter Scott Slover, who
came into the meet with the second-highest vault, finished fifth
clearing a height of 17-feet, 3-inches. Running on an uneven wooden
runway, Slover missed the vault at 17-7 by millimeters, barely
brushing the bar with his hand.

"He was vaulting well, he just missed by the barest margin,"
Larsen said. "The good part was that he was on his biggest poles
ever which means that he could go higher."

The discus throwers also had solid performances. Luke Sullivan
came in fifth overall with a throw of 185-3, followed in sixth
place by fellow Bruin David Dumble who threw for 183-6.

"In the men’s discus we had some really good efforts," UCLA
assistant coach Art Venegas said. "In my mind, Sullivan and Dumble
had a great meet."

In the shot put, senior Marc Parlin had the highest placing
collegiate throw of 61-0 1Ž4. The mark was good enough to
place Parlin in the top three overall, behind world-class athletes
including John Godina. However, Jonathan Ogden, who has been
somewhat distracted by the upcoming NFL draft where he is projected
to go in the top five, threw below 60 feet. A 57-11 3Ž4 throw
placed Ogden seventh overall.

"They weren’t on their game technically," Venegas said. "The
traveling the day before and the bad weather … the whole weekend
wasn’t conducive to their performance."

Despite the fact that the marks at this meet were hindered by
the bad weather and not as high as UCLA would have liked, the
Bruins still gained some valuable lessons.

"The experience of going down there will help us in big meets
down the line," Larsen said. "The adverse conditions toughen you a
little but. If we were looking for just marks it would be
frustrating. But it is not just marks, it’s competition, it’s
trying to be your best when things aren’t just right and learning
to deal with it."

PATRICK LAM/Daily Bruin

Freshman Luke Sullivan finished fifth in the discus at the Texas
Relays.