Men and women’s track and field post records, show promise at MPSF Indoor Championships
By Marion Patricio
Feb. 27, 2012 2:04 a.m.
With only one qualifier left before the NCAA Indoor Championships, the Bruins are hustling to tie up loose ends to reach qualifying marks and punch their ticket to the big show.
Both the UCLA men and women’s track and field teams traveled to Seattle, Wash. for the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Indoor Track and Field Championships.
Records were broken, tickets were stamped and event titles were earned. An outstanding performance from sophomore thrower Ida Storm highlighted the first day of the MPSF competition. Storm broke her own Swedish national record as well as the UCLA school record as she out-performed the second-place thrower by more than six feet with a throw of 69-7.
“It’s very difficult to be on the top-10 list, let alone set a school record, so we’re very proud of Ida,” said women’s coach Jeanette Bolden with delight.
After this performance, Storm reached the automatic qualifier and stamped her ticket for the NCAA Indoor Championships.
“UCLA has such a strong tradition in the throws. For her to have broken a school record as a sophomore … it’s really quite impressive,” said men’s coach Mike Maynard.
From the men’s team, sophomore pentathlete Marcus Nilsson won the MPSF heptathlon crown, reaching a lifetime-best of 5,700 points.
Throughout the weekend, Nilsson broke seven personal records, finishing first in the shot put, pole vault and 1000-meter run.
Meanwhile, sophomore thrower Alec Faldermeyer continued his undefeated streak preparing for the NCAA Indoor Championships, having qualified last week. He beat the competition by almost eight feet with a mark of 70-4.50. Comparably, sophomore pole vaulter Mike Woepse won his event by six inches with a 17-7.75 vault.
“With these sophomores ““ Marcus, Alec, and Mike ““ it’s really exciting to show what they mean to the future of Bruin track and field,” Maynard said. “They’re not only dominant in the conference, but they’re dominant nationally.”
This weekend showed promise from a lot of the young athletes. Freshman pentathlete Brea Buchanan had a spectacular weekend, completing the 60m hurdles with a lifetime-best of 8.49 in Friday’s preliminary round, placing fifth. She went back on Saturday for the final round and attained another lifetime-best with a time of 8.42, earning fourth place.
“We’re in the process of learning how to compete rather than chasing fast times,” said assistant coach Johnny Gray, regarding his philosophy toward the young athletes. “Rachel is the perfect example.”
Sophomore runner Rachel Butler has consistently been running faster every week. This weekend, she led the girls in the mile getting a lifetime-best of 4 minutes, 49.77 seconds.
Bolden expressed enthusiasm over Butler’s gradual improvement and feels that this is setting her up for fast times in the outdoor season.
Another feature came from freshman jumper Kylie Price, who came in sixth in the long jump with a mark of 20-1, a lifetime-best, while sophomore heptathlete Tatum Souza earned fifth place in the pentathlon reaching a season-best of 3,698 points.
Bolden believes Price is on her way to qualifying for the NCAA Indoor Championships and is contemplating taking the team to a “last-chance” meet where they can put in a final attempt.
“We have to look to see what (competition) to take them to, and I am really expecting some more qualifiers to go along with Ida Storm to the national championships,” Bolden said.
Next week, the men’s team returns to Seattle, Wash. for the UW Final Qualifier where they will make their last attempts to get their tickets stamped for the NCAA Indoor Championships.
