Bruin discus throwers are flying high

Wednesday, April 10, 1996

Former redshirts fill void left by Godina on m. track teamBy
Emmanuelle Ejercito

Daily Bruin Staff

Last year, they were the peons. They did all the grunt work and
they weren’t even allowed to compete with the team. But this year,
things have changed.

With the loss of five-time NCAA individual champion John Godina
to graduation, the UCLA men’s track and field team had a huge hole
to fill. Luckily for the Bruins, they had four redshirts who have
proven themselves more than capable of continuing UCLA’s excellence
in the discus.

David Dumble, Travis Haynes, Scott McPherren and Luke Sullivan
have had a remarkable season, as all four throwers have already
provisionally qualified for the NCAA Championships. At the UC San
Diego Invitational, Dumble, McPherren and Sullivan set personal
bests. And they’ve got lots of time to improve further. With the
exception of Dumble, who is a junior, the discus throwers are
freshmen.

"I thought they had great potential, but I also thought that
they might get overwhelmed by the NCAA level of competition," UCLA
throwing coach Art Venegas said. "But they are in the elite
group."

Things weren’t always like that. As redshirts, they could not
compete with the team and had to compete unattached at other meets.
This experience, however, created a bond that has been beneficial
to the team.

"You go through a lot when you redshirt together," Sullivan
said. "We are a real tight group, so I guess that kind of shows
itself on the track. We kind of fire each other up when we are
throwing."

However, just because they pull for each other doesn’t mean they
don’t try to outdo each other.

"All four of us are so close in distance that every day in
practice, it seems like we are going through a big-time meet,"
McPherren said. "Every time we throw a throw, we are always looking
over our shoulder to see what the other three guys hit and always
trying to beat them."

Aside from besting each other, another motivation for the
throwers is the legacy of Godina. Although there is pressure from
following someone who has accomplished so much and the high
expectations to carry on the tradition of UCLA’s throwing prowess,
the four throwers don’t dwell on it.

"It’s kind of tough," Dumble said, "but you just have to think
of your own personal strides and what you can do and not worry
about what John has done."

And Dumble should know about dealing with casted shadows.
Dumble’s older sister, Dawn, is a former Bruin who has won four
NCAA titles, including two last year in the discus and the indoor
shot put.

"There’s not a lot of pressure because I am my own person and I
set my own goals," Dumble said. "But there is some kind of rivalry
between us. I can’t match the titles that she has won, but I want
to surpass her personal records.

"In college, I don’t think that I will get as big of a name as
Dawn, but maybe after college I could."

Although Dumble began throwing in the fourth grade at about the
same time his sister started, David was a late bloomer. Despite
placing sixth in the discus at the Junior National meet, Dumble was
not highly recruited coming out of high school. In fact, he wasn’t
recruited at all.

So Dumble went on to a junior college in his hometown of
Bakersfield. While there, he began to excel in his sport. By his
second year, he was the 1994 discus champion at the California
State community college meet.

"I was just going to throw and see what happened," Dumble said.
"When I did well my second year and I was being recruited ­
that was exciting … It was a big change to have coaches calling
me."

For McPherren, however, the problem wasn’t that coaches didn’t
call, it was that he didn’t know which one to answer.

In high school, the Nebraskan won back-to-back state titles in
the discus and earned All-American honors from Track and Field
News. McPherren also placed second in the discus at the U.S. Junior
National meet.

Eventually McPherren, who is celebrating his birthday today,
narrowed his choices down to two ­ UCLA and the University of
Nebraska.

Despite the fact he lived 10 minutes away from Cornhusker
country and his father is an alumnus of Nebraska, he made the
difficult decision to leave his home state and journey to
Westwood.

"I decided that Nebraska really did have a very good program,"
McPherren said, "But I really respected the coaches here. Coach
Venegas does a great job; he makes excellent throwers with the
people he gets. And I also had to look at the weather. I mean, you
could practice year-round out here."

Climate was also a factor for Sullivan, who hails from
Wisconsin. And the Bruins should be thankful, considering the
honors Sullivan amassed in high school.

As a senior at Verona Area High School, Sullivan was the top
nationally ranked prepster in the discus. He also won consecutive
state titles and is Wisconsin’s record-holder with a throw of 193-3
(high school discus). And with his first-place finish at the Junior
Olympics in 1993, Sullivan became the first athlete in Junior
Olympic history to win an event in all four age groups.

Last summer, Sullivan continued his success in international and
national meets, placing first at the Pan American Juniors and the
U.S Junior meet.

However, Sullivan suffered a setback this past fall. A stress
fracture in his back prevented him from throwing throughout the
fall. He did not begin again until the first week of January.

"It was painful to sit around and watch everyone do everything
while you are sitting out," Sullivan said. "That was probably the
hardest because you couldn’t do anything about it. It was an injury
where it would feel good for a while, but if I’d ever try to start
to come back, it would act up again. It was hard because I knew I
couldn’t do anything even though I felt pretty good."

But Sullivan has recovered quite well from his injury ­ so
well, in fact, that there was a period of three straight meets when
Sullivan set a personal best. Going into the season, his personal
best was 182-0, currently it stands at 189-7.

"When I had to take all the time off, that was really bad
because I lost a lot of strength and I lost weight," Sullivan said.
"But it’s going pretty well now. I didn’t think that I would come
back this fast."

Also trying to get back into the discus groove is Haynes. Haynes
stopped throwing the discus for a bit to concentrate on the shot
put.

"I kind of follow them, keep up with them and try to get ahead
when I can," Haynes said. "It’s tough because they are throwing the
discus all the time."

But Haynes seems to enjoy facing adversity.

In high school, Haynes wanted to go to college in California.
His grandfather told him that the only way he could come to
California was to get a scholarship doing the shot put. Although
Haynes had no idea what throwing was, he gave it a try in his
junior year.

To say that his junior year was a flop would be an
understatement. Haynes only threw for 47 feet in the shot put. But
he trained hard over the summer and in his senior year Haynes won
the Montana state title in both the shot put and the discus.

Haynes was so confident that his hard work would pay off that he
called Venegas before the start of his senior season and told him
that he would throw over 60 feet in the shot put. And any doubts
that Venegas had about a guy whose best mark was 47 feet were
dispelled when Haynes threw for 59-1 in the shot put and 183 on the
discus in the first meet of his senior year.

"I wasn’t going to throw in college, but I just did so well my
senior year that I figured I had to," Haynes said, "Now, it is my
life."

PATRICK LAM/Daily Bruin

Despite growing up 10 minutes away from the University of
Nebraska, freshman Scott McPherren passed up the chance to be a
Cornhusker and came to UCLA. His respect for UCLA throwing coach
Art Venegas was a big factor in the decision.

PATRICK LAM/Daily Bruin

Left to right: Scott McPherren, David Dumble, Luke Sullivan and
Travis Haynes.