Men’s team looks forward to Track Town, USA
By Jill Sager
May 14, 2009 9:56 p.m.
With only three meets left in the track and field season, now is the start of what every athlete has been working toward.
The postseason.
For Pac-10 teams, that means a trip to Eugene, Ore., with 28 athletes each for the Pac-10 Championships.
“It is Track Town, USA, and people really enjoy watching track and field,” sophomore Jonathan Clark said. “It’s always a lot of fun up there, and the atmosphere at Pac-10s is really great to compete in.”
This will mark the second of three UCLA team appearances at Hayward Field. Previously, the Bruins traveled to Oregon for a very closely contested dual meet that resulted in favor of No. 2 Oregon after UCLA dropped a baton in the last race of the day.
Two weeks from now, qualified Bruins will travel back to Oregon for the Western Regionals to compete for a bid to nationals.
Leading the way for the Bruins will be redshirt senior Boldizsar Kocsor, who will look to defend his title in the hammer throw.
Competition in the Pac-10 will prove to be tough, however. Seven teams rank in the top 20 nationally, and Oregon is a heavy favorite to win the team title.
“There is basically one team that is head and shoulders above everyone, and that is Oregon,” coach Art Venegas said. “Oregon is an overwhelming force, and there is no one in the Pac-10 that can touch them.”
With first place almost assured to go to the Ducks, the battle will be for second, and the Bruins are going to do everything they can to be the ones to take it.
“For us to do well we have to hit all our areas,” Venegas said. “We can’t have any one area not produce at all. I would think that our strength right now, going in, has been our jumps.”
The Bruins will depend heavily on their jump squad for points. Both the jumpers and the pole vaulters have been strong for UCLA the entire year.
Sophomores Clark and Taylor Hobson will each compete in two jump events for the Bruins.
Hobson comes into the meet ranked third in both the high jump and the long jump, while Clark comes in ranked eighth in the high jump and third in the triple jump.
Joining these two jumpers will be freshman Nelson Rosario, who is set to compete in all three jump events.
“The jumpers are, I feel, really confident,” Clark said. “We need to jump far, long and high ““ just doing what the jump squad has been doing all year long.”
The Bruins will also send six pole vaulters to Oregon, hoping to place as many as they can.
“After day one … if we have advanced our people and not had any injuries, I think we will have a really good run on the second day,” Venegas said.
