Sua wins fourth NCAA discus title

By Scott Street

Daily Bruin Senior Staff

Even though she had won the women’s discus at the last
three NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, UCLA thrower
Seilala Sua said she was nervous before her first throw Thursday at
this year’s championships in Durham, N.C.

But the senior conquered those nerves in resounding fashion,
winning the event for the fourth straight year and becoming the
first woman in NCAA history to win the same field event four times.
The only other woman to accomplish a similar feat was Wisconsin
runner Suzy Favor, who won the 1,500 meters four times between 1987
and 1990.

Sua won the discus at Duke’s Wallace Wade Stadium despite
preparing less for the NCAA meet in hopes of peaking for next
month’s Olympic trials in Sacramento.

“She’s not been as dominant as in the past,”
UCLA throwing coach Art Venegas told the Associated Press,
“because she wasn’t peaking for April, May or June like
in the past.”

“She hasn’t reached her top gear yet,” he
added. “When she does, it will be scary.”

Sua may not have been as impressive in this meet as in the
previous three she won ““ where she threw well over 200 feet
each time ““ but her 200-9 throw Thursday was enough.

While Venegas attributed Sua’s early struggles to a lack
of preparation for this particular meet, she cited nerves.

“I was very nervous on my first throw because it’s
harder coming in as the favorite,” Sua told reporters
afterward. “It was pressure to get a good throw.”

Venegas agreed that pressure was a factor, but for other
reasons.

“One of the reasons she struggled so much was because of
the weight of doing something that isn’t commonly
done,” he said. “She’s basically outgrown this
level of competition.”

Sua will have a chance to win another national championship
Friday when she defends her shot put title. Should she win that
event, she would move past Favor with six outdoor NCAA titles, the
most by a woman in NCAA history. With her victory in this
year’s indoor championships, Sua would have seven titles
overall for her career.