O’Hara gives Bruins the lead at NCAA finals

By Jeff Eisenberg
DAILY BRUIN CONTRIBUTOR
[email protected]

Less than two weeks after a disappointing third-place finish at
the Pac-10 Championships, UCLA pole vaulter Tracy O’Hara
rebounded with style.

Nursing a sore back, the senior successfully defended her
national title Wednesday with a mark of 13-5 1/4 at the NCAA
Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Baton Rouge, La.

O’Hara’s victory vaulted the Bruins into first place
in the team competition. After a day of events, UCLA has 15 points
““ five more than Atlantic Coast Conference schools NC State
and Clemson.

“It’s great for a victory in my last collegiate
meet,” O’Hara said in a statement. “As a senior,
I wanted one for the team.”

Securing the Bruins’ other five points was sophomore Cari
Soong, who placed fourth in the hammer throw. After fouling in each
of her attempts, Soong, like O’Hara, also regained her peak
form with an outstanding throw of 209-7, just a few inches shy of a
personal record.

Teammate Jessica Cosby placed 18th in the hammer throw at
180-10.

However, not all of the news out of Baton Rouge was encouraging
for the Bruins.

After posting the best collegiate mark of the season in the
800-meter against USC earlier this month, Tiffany Burgess failed to
qualify for the NCAA finals in the event. The sophomore finished
sixth in her heat and 10th overall, running the race in
2:05.04.

Although it was the third fastest time in her life, it
wasn’t enough to crack into the finals.

The top nine runners will move on to the 800-meter finals.

Today will be an important day for the Bruins, as they compete
in seven events: the 1500-meter run, 100-meter hurdle
preliminaries, high jump, 400-meter preliminaries, 1500-meter run
and the 4×400-meter relay preliminaries.

“In all honesty, we’re at least at even if not
slightly ahead of our projections,” UCLA assistant coach Eric
Peterson said. “We feel good about the first day.”

With reports from J.P. Hoornstra, Daily Bruin Senior Staff.