Led by dominating throwers, UCLA track and field makes strong showing at SoCal
Sophomore thrower Ida Storm had a strong showing at the Jim Bush SoCal Championship. She will compete at the NCAA championships.
By Michelle Epps
June 4, 2012 2:28 a.m.
The UCLA track and field team saw a solid day of competition Saturday at the Jim Bush SoCal Championship at Drake Stadium. Sophomores Alec Faldermeyer and Ida Storm, who were both the top collegiate finishers in their respective hammer throw events, highlighted UCLA’s performance.
Both Bruins looked poised and calm as they competed at the invitational and had some impressive finishes across the board. Faldermeyer finished third in the hammer throw with a mark of 65.66 meters and Storm finished fourth in the event with a lifetime-best mark of 66.48 meters.
Both Faldermeyer and Storm will be heading to Des Moines, Iowa, this week for the NCAA Championships.
Storm feels prepared for the championships, having put in the work needed to compete at the elite level, and is ready to perform.
“It will be fun, and it will be good competition. I feel in shape, and I’m looking forward to it. I’m really excited,” Storm said.
Three-time All-American Faldermeyer has high aspirations for NCAAs after having a very successful season thus far.
“I’m only ranked fourth (nationally) right now but I’m not going to compete for anything less than first. I just want to win,” Faldermeyer said.
Other Bruins had similarly impressive performances in their respective events at the invitational. Junior pole-vaulter Allison Koressel concluded her season with a second-place finish, clearing 12-9.5 feet.
“I didn’t do as well as I wanted this year, but I became more consistent. It felt good going into a meet knowing that I was going to do well. I’m really looking forward to next year. It should be the best year yet,” Koressel said.
For the men’s vaulters, redshirt freshman Scott Cook placed third (15-3), senior David Thomas took sixth (14-9) and sophomore Marcus Nilsson came in eighth (13-9.25). Nilsson will be competing in the decathlon at NCAAs this upcoming week.
Redshirt freshman Jaycee Olsen also placed fifth in discus with a lifetime-best mark of 45.48 meters. Sophomore Alexis Walker placed third in the high jump with 1.75 meters, a fraction of a meter off of the first place mark. Freshman Sean Burd and sophomore Paisley Pettway both placed fifth in their respective events, the 400-meter dash and 800-meter run with times of 48.17 and 2:09.22. Red-shirt junior Katja Goldring rounded out the Bruins’ top performances with a personal best time of 4:35.57 in the 1500-meter, earning her a fourth place finish.
