M. Track: Pole vaulter finishes second in high jump in meet against USC

Pressed into duty as a high jumper against USC Saturday, Dave
Murphy did what almost no one expected. He excelled. Murphy, who
has competed solely in the pole vault the entire season, finished
second in the high jump with a personal best mark of 6 feet, 9.75
inches. That is the Bruins’ best mark of the season in the
event. “I did the high jump because we just needed some
points for the USC meet,” said Murphy, who did high jump in
high school but never cleared 6 feet, 6 inches. The eventual high
jump champion, USC’s Jesse Williams, was the clear favorite
heading into the event, but the coaching staff felt Murphy and
decathlete Chris Staton would be able to challenge for second and
third. The ploy worked as Staton took third with a mark of 6 feet,
4 inches. But it was Murphy who showed the most potential in the
event. Because UCLA is so deep at the pole vault, Murphy is hopeful
that he will be able to continue high jumping. With some more
practice, he believes he can clear 6 feet, 10 inches and make an
impact at the conference meet in two weeks. “I’d
definitely do the high jump in the future if the coaches want me
to,” he said. “I know 6-9.75 is a pretty good mark in
the Pac-10, so if they want me to keep practicing on that, then
yeah, I’ll go for it.”

CLIMBING THE POLLS: Fresh off its victory over
rival USC, UCLA has moved up to No. 12 in this week’s
Trackwire Magazine Top 25 Poll. Arkansas holds the top spot for the
second straight week, followed by LSU, Florida and Auburn.
Eighth-ranked Arizona State is the highest ranked Pac-10 team and
is followed by No. 11 Stanford, UCLA and No. 16 USC.