Throwers impress at track and field’s Pac-12 championships
Redshirt senior thrower Julian Wruck was one of two players to win a first-place distinction at the Pac-12 championships.
(Katie Meyers/Daily Bruin senior staff)
By Alexander Hyun
May 18, 2014 11:33 p.m.
Championship season has officially begun with the UCLA track and field team as it competed in the Pac-12 championships this past weekend.
Both the men’s and women’s teams failed to crack the top five in team scoring as they ranked sixth and seventh, respectively. However, there were still standout performances featured by the Bruins this weekend – especially by the throwers.
Redshirt sophomore thrower Nicholas Scarvelis claimed UCLA’s first individual title during the championship by winning the men’s shot put with a score of 63-10.25 or 19.46 meters.
Scarvelis won the competition by three feet and extended UCLA’s streak of 50 straight years with individual title wins in the Pac-12 championships.
“I’m very pleased as I knew that if I executed what I could do and what I’ve been doing for the past few weeks, I would take it with no problem,” Scarvelis said. “UCLA has always had a strong winning presence at the Pac-12 championships, and the past throwers here have been terrific, so I’m happy to be a apart of that.”
Redshirt senior thrower Julian Wruck also came through for the Bruins with a first-place finish of his own in the men’s discus with a score of 210-09 or 64.25m. Wruck’s dominant season continued as his score was almost seven meters more than the runner-up.
“It’s awesome for the throwers to get some first-place victories because I feel like we’re the back-bone of the team and it’s good that the team can count on us to score points,” Wruck said.
The two throwers were the only Bruins who secured first-place victories in their respective events; however, other athletes provided encouraging results.
Some seniors scored some key points in their final Pac-12 championships, as senior pole vaulters Natasha Kolbo and Mike Woepse both finished second in their events.
Some of the younger members also performed well as junior jumper Kylie Price placed second in the women’s long jump and sophomore distance runner Nick Hartle finished second in the men’s 800m dash.
“We didn’t have our best meet, but the team is very positive overall. There’s a lot of support across the board as the team cheered for each other this weekend,” said men’s coach John Frazier. “This week we’re going to change some things in the weight room and train for regionals as we want to be at our peak in order to perform well.”
