ONLINE EXTRA: Irvine meet will be needed break for track and field teams

By Jeff Eisenberg
Daily Bruin Contributor

The underdog UCLA men’s track and field team stunned its
highly ranked competition last weekend in winning the MPSF
Championships in Flagstaff, Ariz.

This weekend, both the men’s and women’s team will
play the role of the favorite when they begin the outdoor season
competing against the other UC schools in The All UC Invitational
in Irvine.

“We really shocked a lot of people last weekend,”
Art Venegas, head coach of the men’s squad, said. “But
this weekend we are not going to win at the expense of destroying
kids who (competed) indoors.”

Instead Venegas and women’s head coach Jeannette Bolden
will treat the Irvine meet as a chance to assess their athletes in
a favorable setting.

The warm weather, short travel time, and less formidable
competition should be very conducive to excellent scores.

“We are just going to evaluate our talent in terms of
where we are based on the training,” said Venegas. “A
lot of kids have not had meets in a while, especially the distance
runners. This is their first outdoor meet since cross
country.”

Bolden agrees, and hopes to use this meet to help her
inexperienced team prepare for the outdoor season.

“Our team is extremely young. That is the big difference
between this year and the last two years (when the Bruins won
consecutive indoor national titles),” said Bolden. “We
are going to allow the newcomers to get out the jitters of being a
UCLA athlete and compete for the first time.”

Neither squad will be at full strength in Irvine this weekend
because each is sending several athletes to the Last Chance
Qualifier in Seattle to vie for spots in next week’s NCAA
Indoor Championships.

“The people who are going to Seattle have an outstanding
chance to make nationals,” said Bolden, who is sending a
large contingent including her top relay team, shot putters
Chaniqua Ross and Briona Reynolds, and 800-meter runner Jessica
Marr. “Everyone who is going is right there on the
bubble.”

Both Venegas and Bolden have already had a number of athletes
qualify for the indoor championships. On the men’s side,
senior sprinter Mike Lipscomb and shot putter Scott Wiegand lead a
large group of Bruins, while senior pole vaulter Tracy O’Hara
leads the women’s squad in its defense of the national
title.

Despite the early success, Venegas realizes that his team is at
least a year away from being a viable national contender. He
believes the experience of the qualifying event in Seattle, and
next week’s indoor championships in Fayetteville can only
enhance the Bruin’s future prospects.

Conversely, Bolden believes that her team can measure up to its
past success and compete for a third straight indoor title.

“Our expectations are not lowered having a young
team,” said Bolden. “We have a small group of veterans
who are very capable of leading the charge.”