W. track claims state championship for third consecutive year
By Daily Bruin Staff
April 28, 1996 9:00 p.m.
Monday, April 29, 1996
Eight first-place finsihes garner 153 points over two daysBy
Scott Yamaguchi
Daily Bruin Staff
The UCLA women’s track and field team continued its traditional
domination of the California-Nevada State Championships over the
weekend, scoring eight first-place finishes on the way to its third
consecutive team title.
All told, the Bruins scored 153 points in the two-day event at
Davis, easily outdistancing second-place Fresno State (121) and
third-place California (119).
Leading the way for UCLA was Joanna Hayes, who earned an
automatic ticket to next month’s NCAA Outdoor Championships with a
wind-aided, 13.23 first-place finish in the 100-meter hurdles.
"It was a great race considering what happened on Saturday,"
UCLA head coach Jeanette Bolden said. "She has the wind blowing in
her face in the qualifying round and she hit the second hurdle,
went in to the next lane and almost just stopped. But she
stutter-stepped over the next hurdle, ended up winning her heat,
and then came back and won the whole thing (on Sunday). It was a
very good recovery."
Hayes, who was already qualified provisionally in both hurdle
events, also won the 400-meter hurdles, though her time of 59.42
was not an improvement on her previous season-best of 58.99.
Andrea Anderson was the only other Bruin to improve her national
standing, moving up the list of provisional qualifier with a
wind-aided, second-place finish in the 100-meters.
She finished in 11.57, only one one-hundredth of a second slower
than first-place finisher Latash Gilliam of Cal.
Gilliam was also the winner of the 200, clocking a 23.57, while
Anderson earned another second-place in 23.66.
Other winners on the track were Jeanene Harlick, who finished
the 5,000-meters in 17:40.92, and Darlene Malco, who cruised to
victory in the 400 with a 54.79. UCLA also fielded the winning
1,600 relay team, which finished in 3:45.14.
There were no surprises on the field, where the Bruins claimed
1-2 finishes in the shot put and the discus, as well as a win in
the high jump.
Valeyta Althouse tossed the shot further than 59-feet for the
third consecutive week to remain undefeated on the season. Her
winning mark of 59-4 3/4 was more than seven feet better than her
nearest competitor, teammate Nada Kawar, whose best throw of the
day flew 52-3 3/4.
Kawar was also second in the discus, where her 174-5 was well
shy of the 187-8 thrown by teammate Suzy Powell.
In the high jump, Amy Acuff scored an easy victory with a leap
of 6-2 Â more than six inches better than her nearest
competitor.
"(Amy) attempted 6-4 1/4 and kept knicking it with her calf,"
Bolden said. "Amy did well, she’s finally getting healthy and
everything is coming together."
