UCLA athletics continue legacy of excellence

By AJ Cadman

Daily Bruin Senior Staff

Many incoming freshmen can argue that much of their decision to
attend UCLA is due to the school’s rich academic success. But
these freshmen would not be totally honest if the choice did not
also come down to the bleeding of the Bruin blue and gold seen in
the school’s successes in the athletic arena.

With 21 intercollegiate sports and countless club sports gracing
the fields of competition in Westwood, it is impossible to find
another school that has continued to build upon its rich athletic
history the way UCLA has.

The April 1997 Sports Illustrated issue named UCLA the No. 1
“˜Jock’ School in America, and the 1999-2000 academic
year only furthered that ideal as UCLA accumulated five more
titles, totalling a nation-leading 82 NCAA team championships (65
men’s and 17 women’s).

The Sears’ Directors Cup is the most accurate gauge of a
collegiate athletic programs’ yearly success. The honor
recognizes the university with the best overall sports performance
in an academic year and awards points based upon finishes in NCAA
competition. The Bruins placed runner-up for the first time since
1995-96, when UCLA won men’s water polo and volleyball titles
and finished in the top 11 in 16 sports.

This past year was the first time since 1983-84, which was
athletic director Peter Dalis’ first year at the helm, that
the Bruins posted four NCAA championships. The Bruins claimed the
top position in men’s water polo and volleyball along with
women’s indoor track and gymnastics, and also captured a
women’s water polo national title. The UCLA athletic program
has placed in the top five in the Sears’ Directors Cup in all
seven years of the competition.

Not only do the Bruins claim the team title in a variety of
sports, but they also hold balance in the remaining intercollegiate
sports. The UCLA softball squad finished second this year after
losing to Oklahoma in the title game, while women’s outdoor
track and men’s soccer both placed third.

After an impressive run in the postseason, the Bruin
women’s volleyball team finished fifth in the country along
with both men’s and women’s tennis. UCLA finished
eighth in the country in women’s swimming, women’s
soccer and baseball held top 10 national finishes at the end of
their respective seasons. The men’s basketball team tied for
ninth nationally after an amazing NCAA Tournament run that saw the
Bruins reach the Sweet 16 for the third time in four years.

For those keeping count, that’s 14 intercollegiate squads
in the top 10. Only the likes of Stanford, a fellow constant in the
Sears’ Cup top three, can boast of similar success.

With 103 total national championships to the Bruins’
credit, UCLA has claimed at least one NCAA title in 19 of the last
20 years and at least two collegiate titles 23 times.

On the men’s side, UCLA trails only Southern Cal 70-65
while the women trail Stanford (25), Texas (20), LSU (20) and North
Carolina (20). In the last 31 years, the Bruins have won 50 NCAA
titles, nine more than Stanford and 28 more than third-place USC.
With arguably the toughest conference to contend with, as evidenced
by the success of conference foes, the Bruins are always prepared
for and have high expectations of postseason success.

With the university’s national title success of last year,
no one team has consistently dominated their sport other than UCLA
men’s volleyball. Boasting the premier head coach in the
collegiate ranks, Al Scates, the Bruins have reached the title game
in seven of the last eight years. With four championships in the
’90s, the program’s 18 titles is a single sport record.
With the numerous All-Americans and Olympians, UCLA has now reached
the Final Four a record 22 times in 31 years.

Seth Burnham of the men’s volleyball team recalled the
team’s latest trip to the NCAA. On their way to the title
match against Ohio State, the team passed a local restaurant which
posted a sign saying “Buckeyes will take the Bruins in
finals.” After the Bruins won, they returned to the
restaurant with their trophy and took pictures with the waitresses
in front of the sign.

“The manager was like, “˜Oh, we knew you guys were
going to win all along,'” Burnham said.

In men’s water polo, the Bruins claimed the title for the
sixth time in the team’s history and the third time in the
last five years. UCLA has finished runner-up five times With
co-head coach Adam Krikorian alongside head coach Baker, the men
hope to continue the winning streak that has seen the Bruins take a
top five finish in 17 of the last 26 years.

“All national championships are special,” Baker said
after the team won their 1999 crown. “But the journey with
this group was fantastic.”

In women’s track and field, head coach Jeannette
Bolden’s third place outdoor finish was built on the
foundation of the 1999-2000 NCAA Championship indoor track team.
Behind the remarkable performances of thrower Seilala Sua, the most
outstanding performer at both the indoor and outdoor NCAA
Championships, the Bruins will continue the outstanding tradition
of world-class Olympic athletes from Westwood.

“I’ve never been on a team that won a national
championship,” said Sua, a graduating senior. “I just
wanted to win and contribute to the team. Our team was looking for
a lot of points, and I just wanted to give them those
points.”

Finally, in women gymnastics, Valorie Kondos-Field’s
program won its second national title in four years. Five Bruins
claimed All-American honors, including the Pac-10 Conference
Gymnast of the Year Heidi Moneymaker, a 2000 NCAA individual
champion. Gymnastics has won the last 14 conference championships
and seven of the last eight regional champions.

“I’m ecstatic,” junior Mohini Bhardwaj, the
2000 individual bars champion, said of UCLA’s second national
title. “All of my dreams have come true. If this is all I
could have from my college gymnastics experience, I’ll take
it.”

With star recruits from all over the country ready to supplement
the already amazing success that UCLA has had athletically, the
Bruins expect more of the same in the new millennium.