W. track slow out of blocks
By Daily Bruin Staff
May 29, 1996 9:00 p.m.
Thursday, May 30, 1996
No bright spots for UCLA as Powell is upset again in discusBy
Scott Yamaguchi
Daily Bruin Staff
Suzy Powell might as well be struck by lightning each time she
steps into the discus ring.
Twice in the past two weeks, the UCLA sophomore has entered the
throwing circle with some sort of championship on the line, and
both times, she has been upset by an underdog competitor who hurls
the throw of her life.
On Wednesday, it was Northern Arizona University’s Anna
Soderberg, who surpassed Powell with a lifetime-best 195-feet,
3-inches to win the NCAA women’s discus title in Eugene, Ore.
Powell threw 193-7 for the second-place finish, while Washington’s
Aretha Hill  who shocked Powell at the Pacific 10
Championships two weeks ago  was four feet behind Powell in
third place.
Before the NCAA meet, Soderberg’s best mark of the season was a
188-8, which ranked her third behind Powell’s 196-5 and Hill’s
195-9.
"We had another girl get another world, out-of-body experience
throw against Suzy, and so Suzy ended up second," UCLA throwing
coach Art Venegas said. "Anna Soderberg, the fifth-year thrower
from Northern Arizona, from Sweden, caught the big throw in the
third round.
"Suzy’s first three throws were excellent, but then she had a
huge, long wait and she couldn’t quite get it going after
that."
Powell’s disappointment was not the only one of the day for the
Bruins, who failed to advance any of their other three competitors
out of Wednesday’s preliminary rounds.
Nada Kawar ended up 12th in the discus competition with a mark
of 167-2 while Joanna Hayes finished the 400-meter hurdles in 59.20
seconds (14th overall) and did not advance to Friday’s final.
Andrea Anderson finished the 200 meters in 24.25 (19th overall) and
did not advance to Friday’s semifinal round of 16.
Neither Hayes nor Anderson improved on their season-best times,
but both finished the competition higher than they were initially
seeded.
Today, senior Valeyta Althouse will be looking to add to UCLA’s
eight points with a successful defense of her shot-put title.
Althouse, whose season-best 60-10 3/4 makes her the clear favorite,
will be joined in the competition by Kawar.
"Nada was having trouble with her form, and she folded a little
bit in the discus competition," Venegas said. "But she says she
feels pretty confident about doing a better job in the shot
put."
Hayes will compete in the preliminary round of the 100-meter
hurdles today, where she has run the ninth-fastest time in the NCAA
this year. Darlene Malco will run the semifinal of the 400 meters,
where she has also posted the ninth-best time in the nation this
season.
