Squad hopes to conquer weekend relays
By Daily Bruin Staff
April 24, 2001 9:00 p.m.
 EDWARD LIN/Daily Bruin Sophomore Jessica
Marr leads in the 800m with senior Bridie
Hatch in second at Mt. SAC on April 21. WOMEN’S
TRACK Penn Relays Friday-Saturday All Day
Philadelphia, PA
Cal/Nevada Championships
Friday-Saturday
All Day
Irvine, CA
By Christina Teller
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
One of the first things Distance Coach Eric Peterson said after
the 4 x 800-meter relay team won the Texas Relays was that they
were going to try to take the prize at the Penn Relays as well.
The annual Penn Relays is one of the most prestigious track and
field meets in the nation and attracts people from all over the
world.
The rising 800m runners, who include freshman Lena Nilsson,
sophomores Tiffany Burgess and Jessica Marr and senior Bridie
Hatch, are travelling to Philadelphia as the first group of
athletes that Peterson has taken to the meet.
“I’ve never gone before because I’ve never
felt like I had a group of athletes that could win,” Peterson
said. “Going back to run for second or third isn’t
worth it. We’re going back to win ““ period.”
Nilsson, Marr, Burgess and junior Ysanne Williams won in Texas
with a UCLA record time of 8 minutes, 33.21 seconds and look to
Georgetown as their biggest competition. Hatch will run since
Williams is competing in the 400m hurdles this weekend.
Burgess, Marr and Hatch all recorded personal bests at Mt. SAC
last weekend and are on their way to continuing their success.
A handful of hurdlers and sprinters will travel to Penn as well
to garner more experience and improve their marks.
Senior Michelle Perry will compete in the 400m hurdles along
with Williams and freshman Sheena Johnson. Perry recently qualified
for the national meet in the heptathlon and leads the nation in
that event. Williams, who provisionally qualified in the hurdles at
the home meet on March 31, will be competing in the event for only
the third time in her career.
“I know I can do the hurdles,” Williams said.
“It’s just a matter of getting confident with the
pattern. You have to be aggressive in the race, and I know
I’ll be aggressive.”
Senior Shakedia Jones will compete in the 100m, and Perry,
Johnson and freshman Sani Roseby will run the 100m hurdles. Perry,
Jones, Roseby and Johnson will run in both the 4 x 400m and 4 x
100m relays.
While the track athletes are in Pennsylvania, the field
competitors will be at the Cal/Nevada Championships at UC Irvine on
Friday and Saturday.
Senior thrower Christina Tolson will compete over the weekend,
coming off an impressive performance at Mt. SAC that earned her
Pac-10 Field Athlete of the Week honors for the second time this
outdoor season. Tolson currently holds the Pac-10 and UCLA record
in the hammer throw at 214 feet, 6 inches and sits atop the
national qualifying list in the shot put at 56-6 1/4.
The meets this weekend are the last for the Bruins before they
face the Trojans on May 5. UCLA is currently ranked No. 2 on
Trackwire.com’s weekly poll, just behind USC, which holds the
No. 1 spot.
