Bruins of past, present relish good showing at invitational

Monday, February 9, 1998

Bruins of past, present relish good showing at invitational

Indoor event makes strong comeback with help of UCLA stars

By Alvin Cadman

Daily Bruin Contributor

The UCLA women’s track and field team competed against familiar
faces on Saturday at the 38th Los Angeles Indoor Invitational Track
and Field Meet at the Sports Arena.

Some of the most well-known Bruin alumni have continued to
return each year to the oldest indoor track meet in the West, and
this year was no exception.

Former Bruin Valeyta Althouse of the Reebok Bruin Track Club was
victorious in the women’s shot put with a throw of 59-7 1/2 on her
first attempt of the evening.

Senior Nada Kawar, ranked third in the nation in the shot put,
placed second with a throw of 55-4 1/4.

Former Bruin Dawn Dumble (55-1), sophomore Seilala Sua (52-8
3/4) and senior Rachelle Noble (51-2 1/4) finished in the third,
fourth and fifth positions respectively.

In the sprints, UCLA freshman Shakedia Jones blazed to victory
in the women’s 50 meters with a time of 6.36 seconds. Heidi Ann
Harper of UNLV took second with a time of 6.47. Harper got out of
the starting blocks first, only to relinquish her early lead to
Jones, who cruised to the finish line.

The UCLA women fared well against tough competition in the
women’s long jump later in the evening. UCLA’s Deanna Simmons took
third place with a mark of 18-1 on her third attempt. Sophomore
Kelly O’Connor (17-8 1/4), and juniors Keesha Porter (17-4 1/4) and
Renee Emery (16-10) finished fourth through sixth respectively.

The Los Angeles Invitational’s one year hiatus due to lack of
sponsorship seemed like a distant memory on Saturday evening.

Energy filled the Los Angeles Sports Arena as those competing
included headliners Falilat Ogunkoya of Nigeria, one of the world’s
best 400 meters female runners who competed at the 1996 Atlanta
Olympic Games.

Also competing were Stanford distance runner and female prep
star Julia Stamps, and Angela Williams of Chino High School, who
equaled a national high school indoor record and set a meet record
with a mark of 6.32 seconds in the girls 50-meter sprints.