Bruins prepare at renowned meet

By Will Whitehorn
Daily Bruin Contributor

The No. 1 UCLA women’s track machine just keeps plugging
along.

Looking to scout the competition for the upcoming NCAA
Championships, the Bruins traveled to Philadelphia for the 107th
annual Penn Relays at the University of Pennsylvania, one of
track’s oldest and most prestigious tournaments.

“Being on the West Coast, we don’t get an
opportunity to see some of the teams that we’re going to
compete against in the NCAAs,” said UCLA Head Coach Jeanette
Bolden at an April 23 press conference. “With us winning
(indoor) nationals, it’s a good idea for me to take my team
to a track meet where they can see a lot of competition.”

The Relays allowed the rest of the country to see what kind of
competition UCLA would be as well. The Bruins held their own
in the City of Brotherly Love, placing strong in several individual
and team events in a field of over 250 schools.

In the women’s high jump championship, junior Darnesha
Griffith tied for fourth with a leap of 1.73m. Griffith was
one of six contestants to achieve that mark, which fell shy of
Harvard’s Dora Gyoffry, whose jump of 1.91m easily took first
place.

Freshman Sheena Johnston narrowly missed a first-place finish in
the 400-meter hurdles. Johnson’s respectable time of 56.23
was just a fraction of a second slower than Harvard’s Brenda
Taylor, who clocked in at 56.11.

“You have to let freshmen make mistakes and grow at the
same time,” said Bolden of Johnson’s performance.
“She did a fantastic job. She should be ranked in the top
three in the country with that particular mark. (But) she
still has room to grow.”

The Bruins’ junior Ysanne Williams finished fourth with a
time of 57.59 in the event, giving UCLA two of the top five
finishes in the race.

Senior sprinter Shakedia Jones qualified for the 100m
championships in Friday’s events by finishing first in her
heat with a time of 11.41, the second-fastest time of the
afternoon. Jones’ ensuing mark of 11.45 in the championship
was a tad slower, however, and she was unable to best Louisiana
State’s Muna Lee, who edged Jones with a time of 11.24 to
claim first place.

UCLA finished third in Saturday’s 4 x 800m relay, behind
runner-up Georgetown and first place Florida. UCLA’s Jessica
Marr tightened the event in the second leg of the relay, distancing
the Hoyas’ Tyrona Heath and the Gators’ Kristina
Bratton with a time of 2:06.2. However, Florida’s Nona
Allen’s mark of 2:05.4 in the third leg was two seconds
faster then the rest of the field, and ultimately cleared the way
for a narrow first-place finish.

The remainder of the women’s squad competed in the
Cal-Nevada Track & Field Meet at UC Irvine over the weekend,
where their tally of 58.67 earned a fourth-place finish. Senior
thrower Christina Tolson, whose performance at last week’s
Mt. SAC Relays garnered Pac-10 Player of the Week honors, was
victorious in the shot put and hammer throw events.

Tolson’s throw of 56-feet, 7 1/4 inches in the shot put
and 211-10 in the hammer throw prompted her selection as Cal/Nevada
Field Athlete of the Year.

Junior pole vaulter Tracy O’Hara also found first place
with a season-best leap of 14-6. O’Hara’s feat was tops
in the nation this season and earned her an automatic berth to the
NCAA championships next month.  Junior Heather Sickler also
came on strong with a third-place finish, clearing the bar at the
12-8 1/4 mark.

“(It was) a spectacular performance by Tracy
O’Hara,” said pole caulting coach Anthony Curran.
 “Heather Sickler almost moved up in the nationals, and
came close to a personal best. What we’ve been working on in
practice has really shown up in the meets.”

The Bruins will boast a complete roster next week when they
venture across town for their annual meet with USC, currently
ranked No. 2.

According to Curran, motivation for the meet shouldn’t be
a problem.

“(The teams) are real fired up for ‘SC next
week,” he said. “Everyone is continuing to perform
better at this time of the year, and they’re waiting for next
week to perform well.”

“¢bull; “¢bull; “¢bull;

Over the weekend, Olympic record holder and multi-gold medal
winner Michael Johnson also used the Penn Relays as a stage to
announce his retirement. Johnson was the anchor for the U.S.
team’s 4 x 400m relay win over Jamaica this weekend, his
final performance in the U.S.