Track and field members brave rainy conditions, set personal bests
Freshman thrower Stamatia Scarvelis achieved a lifetime best in the shot put with a throw of 54-11.5, despite rainy conditions and elite competition against professional throwers. (Zinnia Moreno/Daily Bruin)
By Vikram Sairam
April 10, 2016 1:23 p.m.
From the moment the meet began at 9 a.m. all the way up until the final event at 4 p.m., it seemed as if the only thing anyone noticed was the rain.
The UCLA track and field team experienced a sudden change of plans for many of its competitors, as rain continuously poured throughout the Rafer Johnson/Jackie Joyner-Kersee Invitational on Saturday. Athletes gradually withdrew from events as the day passed on, but the weather didn’t stop a few Bruins from achieving new personal records.
Freshman thrower Stamatia Scarvelis uncorked a huge lifetime best of 54-11.5, securing fourth place despite a slippery ring. Her mark came only behind UCLA junior Torie Owers and two professional throwers – Tia Brooks of the U.S. and Keely Medeiros of Brazil. The UCLA shot put duo seemed to feed off the elite competition while holding a great sense of reverence for the pros.
“I think that’s what got us going, I mean you had the Olympic Training Center athletes out here and we were throwing with Olympians,” Scarvelis said. “There was really a great energy around the women’s throws today, and I told coach Maynard I was going to go all out in shot put. So that was a great feeling.”
Both throwers seemed to gain confidence facing professionals who were at roughly similar builds to them. Brooks – the former 2012 indoor and outdoor NCAA champion in the shot put at the University of Oklahoma – stands at 6 feet tall, while Medeiros comes in at 5 feet 9 inches. Owers and Scarvelis, who stand at 5 feet 7 inches and 5 feet 8 inches respectively, were within eight inches of Medeiros’ throw but almost seven feet behind Brooks.
“It’s nice to see somebody like Keely whose pretty much our height and size and everything throwing at such a high level,” Owers said. “To see how far she throws – it kind of just gets you going because you know you can do it too.”
The throwers said they expect to increase their marks next week against Texas A&M – the second ranked team in the nation according to USTFCCCA preseason rankings. The men’s shot put was cancelled due to heavy rain and will compete next week, as well.
Freshman soars to lifetime best
While three UCLA sprinters – sophomore Leon Powell and juniors Darnell Roberson and Jonny Moniz – were expected to compete Saturday against Florida State and Utah State, the trio withdrew to prevent injury and poor performance in the inclement conditions.
Although the Bruins were unable to score points in the sprints, the team received a standout performance from freshman high jumper Michael Burke, who was able to win the event with a lifetime best of 7-01 in his first collegiate meet ever.
“I was a little nervous to start out the meet,” Burke said. “But when I was able to clear the first bar, it gave me confidence going into the rest of it. I was pretty surprised with my jump because there were a few pros out there who had jumped 7-05 and were trying to qualify for the Olympics.”
The novice added that he was the first and only jumper in the competition able to clear 7-01, despite facing former NCAA national qualifiers such as Darius Purcell and Donte’ Nall.
Burke intends to keep pushing the bar as part of the plan from jumps coach Jack Hoyt.
“Honestly right now he just wants me to jump high and go out hard every meet,” Burke said. “I’m still learning a lot and I hope to hit 7-03 next week against A&M. Today, me and Cody (Crampton) got the qualifying mark for NCAA regionals, so our next focus will be nationals.”
For full results of the meet, click here.
