M. track races to fifth Pac-10 title

Monday, May 20, 1996

UCLA comeback fueled by Terry, Keflezighi, BoldonBy Emmanuelle
Ejercito

Daily Bruin Staff

Heading into the second day of competition at the Pacific 10
Championship meet at Drake Stadium, the UCLA men’s track team had a
few things to overcome on its way to a fifth consecutive conference
crown.

Namely, Oregon’s 34-point lead and the loss of top sprinter
Ibrahim Hassan.

It was expected that the Ducks would have the lead after
Saturday, with the finals of their strongest events ­ the
distances ­ having already been competed.

UCLA hoped to come back behind its strength in the sprints, but
when Hassan went down during the qualifying heat for the 200 with a
strained left hamstring, the Bruins lost a possible scorer in the
200, a key component in both relays and a virtual guarantee of 10
points in the 400.

But with sheer determination and several outstanding,
personal-best performances, the Bruins retained the championship
with 151 points. Oregon finished second (131) and Washington (97.5)
edged USC (96) for third.

"This is right up there with the best," UCLA head coach Bob
Larsen said of the title, "because we were in a pretty big hole
after the first day."

Oregon dug the hole for UCLA in the 3,000 meter steeplechase.
Daniel Das Neves dominated the event, finishing seven seconds ahead
of his nearest competitor. The Ducks also had two other scorers in
the event, while UCLA had none.

Oregon also had three scorers in the 10,000 final. Lead by Karl
Keska, the Ducks took first, second and fourth. The runner who
broke the Oregon block was UCLA’s Mebrahtom Keflezighi, whose
heroics on Sunday in the 5,000 ensured the Bruins of their
fifteenth conference title.

"We were still concerned going into the 5,000 because Oregon had
so many guys in there and they looked so good going into
yesterday’s steeple," Larsen said. "Meb saved himself when he knew
he wasn’t going to catch them (in the 10,000) with his side
problem. So he played it smart and saved it for today."

The 5,000 meters was the second to the last running event of the
day. UCLA had a precarious lead over Oregon, and the Ducks had five
runners entered in the event. Should Oregon have scored all five
runners, the Bruins would have found themselves in a difficult
position going into the 1,600 meter relay without Hassan.

Keflezighi stayed with the pack for the first mile and began to
break away with six laps to go. A pair of Stanford runners, Gregory
Jimmerson and Robert Reeder, took the lead, but Keflezighi kicked
it in the last lap. He broke the tape in 14:15.20 and was greeted
by jubilant teammates at the finish line.

"Coach Larsen called me (Sunday) morning and said, ‘Are you
ready to be a hero?’" Keflezighi said. "I was going to try, but I
had been having trouble with a sideache. But this morning I went to
the training room and it helped me out."

While Keflezighi’s win helped lock the victory for the Bruins,
Ato Boldon’s record breaking day helped UCLA take the lead from the
Ducks.

As expected, Boldon won both the 100 and 200. His 100-meter time
of 10.03 is a new meet record, while his 20.00 in the 200 broke the
Pac-10, meet and stadium records set by Clancy Edwards in 1978. It
was also personal best for the sprinter, who finished the second
100-meters of the 200 in 9.6 seconds.

"I’m satisfied, I always have to be happy with a P.R," Boldon
said. "I really wanted 19, its never been done before, but that’s
as close as I can get I guess."

Also earning points for UCLA in the 200 was Gentry Bradley, who
beat out Washington’s Ed Turner in the final strides to take second
and earn eight critical points for the Bruins.

Although UCLA had the best time in the nation in the 400 meter
relay, just how the team would do without Hassan was the question
of the day. Akil Davis took over for Hassan, and with Boldon’s
phenomenal second leg, the Bruins won the relay with Bradley
fighting off Southern Cal’s Jerome Davis in the anchor leg. Their
winning time was a 39.6.

"I was very proud of the guys," UCLA sprints coach John Smith
said. "I knew we could run 39.50 or somewhere around there. The
only thing I was worried about was if we were going to make the
passes, I wasn’t concerned about winning."

Perhaps the most surprising source of points for UCLA was Mike
Terry’s first-place finish in the 800. Going into the race, Terry
had the 10th best time in the conference. But the senior put it
into high gear down the last stretch, overtaking Luther Kopf of
Arizona. Terry’s victory put UCLA in a tie with Oregon with five
events to go.

"With 300 meters to go, I was basically out of it," Terry said.
"I thought, ‘This is my senior year and it was either now or
never.’"

Said Larsen: "Terry’s been injured off and on and to do that in
his senior year at this stadium, it doesn’t get any better. And it
was a key at that point … we needed another lift in the middle of
the meet."

Giving the Bruins a lift was the unexpected 2-3 finish in the
high jump. Both Rich Pitchford and Ed Barnett cleared 7-0 1/2,
Barnett breaking his previous best of 6-10 3/4.

In the pole vault, Scott Slover placed first, clearing 17-4 1/2.
As the only competitor left, Slover decided not to push on because
he aggravated a slight sprain to his hamstring.

The first Pac-10 individual title for UCLA went to senior Mark
Parlin on Saturday in the shot put. The battle for the title was
predicted to come down to Parlin, Arizona’s Chima Ugwu and Bruin
Jonathan Ogden, the conference leaders in the event. Parlin came
out and on his first throw set a personal best of 64-8, a mark that
catapulted him to the top of the nation and earned him his first
Pac-10 title. Ugwu came in second with a 64-5 and Ogden was third
at 62-3 1/4.

"It definitely make its easier going into (the NCAA
championships)," Parlin said. "It’s good, it’s definitely something
I am proud to have happen."

… With sheer determination and several outstanding,
personal-best performances, the Bruins retained the championship.
SUSIE CHU/Daily Bruin

Mebrahtom Keflezighi celebrates a victory in 5,000-meter
race.