Strategy keeps Bruins on track
By Daily Bruin Staff
May 6, 2002 9:00 p.m.
By J.P. Hoornstra
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
[email protected]
Saturday’s running of the 69th Big Meet between USC and
UCLA saw some crafty strategy on the part of both men’s track
and field head coaches ““ the Trojans’ Ron Allice and
the Bruins’ Art Venegas.
As a result, the javelin field included a USC cornerback and a
decathlete from UCLA who hadn’t thrown all season.
Octavius “Ali” Gillespie transferred to UCLA from UC
Santa Barbara, but his javelin throwing for the Bruins has been
limited since last summer because of elbow surgery.
In fact, Gillespie had literally not thrown a javelin all year,
not even in practice or warm-ups, before his first throw Saturday.
He then stunned the field by throwing it 209 feet, 11 inches, the
top mark by a Bruin all season.
“I thought as long as I stayed healthy, I had a good shot
of winning,” Gillespie said after the event.
“My elbow stayed healthy. I couldn’t have asked for
anything better.”
Coming in fifth was USC’s backup cornerback Marcell
Allmond, at 169-0.
“(Gillespie) was my secret weapon,” Venegas said,
“and they
were trying to sneak one up on us with Allmond.”
It wasn’t the only appearance by a Trojan football player
that afternoon.
Packed into the field in the 100-meter dash were tailbacks
Darrell Rideaux and Sultan McCullough, fresh out of spring football
practices. But neither Rideaux (10.44) nor McCullough (10.55) could
catch UCLA senior Michael Lipscomb, who won a photo finish in
10.41.
Allice felt the sprinters’ performances were slowed by the
training demands of football. McCullough, for one, ran the 100
meters in 10.25 at the UCLA dual meet two years ago. “They
didn’t compete and had only been out (of spring drills) for
five days,” Allice said.
But at least for Venegas, the emergence of Gillespie in the
javelin was a turning point at the meet.
“At that time, we didn’t know if it was going to be
a tight meet or not,” he said. The Bruins eventually won
handily 121- 41.
“But I knew at that moment the meet was basically
over.”
