Chen bounced out of championships
When the Taekwondo National Championships summoned UCLA freshman
Jack Chen this past Thursday, he stepped up and answered the call.
Facing the best the nation had to offer, Chen went in with high
hopes and brimming confidence. Unfortunately, in his first attempt
at a national Championship, Chen came up a bit short, losing in the
second round to a fighter sponsored by the Olympic Training
Center.
After cruising through his first round bout, in which he scored
early and then had the luxury of stalling for time, he squared off
against O.T.C.’s David Montalvo.
The fight got off to a tough start as Montalvo scored early,
throwing Chen off of his strategy. Chen was able to land a number
of scoring blows, including one strong kick to Montalvo’s head. But
Montalvo landed one last blow late in the fight, which was probably
the deciding factor.
"I thought he (Chen) beat him. It was only by one point" Chen’s
coach Scott Di Lalla said. "He started off a little slow but in the
second and third rounds, I was like, whoa."
Chen had much the same feeling after the tournament.
"I got anxious when he scored the first point but I scored at
the end. I think I could have beaten him. He’s had a lot of
experience around the world."
Experience in large scale tournaments is the intangible that
Chen lacked going into senior nationals.
"It’s experience that they have that I need. That’s the thing. I
think I learned a lot from this. I met a lot of people on the
national team and they told me stuff I’m doing wrong. Stuff I
couldn’t learn here. I think that I can try again."
Di Lalla came away from the tournament with a good feeling about
Chen’s performance, but also saw the experience difference looming
large.
"He (Chen) is as equally skilled; they just had more experience.
They had more confidence and that makes it easier. He’s not far
from that level."
* * *
With the playoffs just a few weeks away and three big games on
the slate, one against No. 1 ranked UC Santa Barbara, the women’s
lacrosse team needed to win at least two out of three in order to
have a shot at making the playoffs.
Showing the heart needed to be a playoff team, the Bruins came
up with the tough wins when they needed them. Although they lost a
tough game to UCSB, in which UCLA led at the half, they pulled out
a gutty 19-17 victory over Whittier in a tough, back-and-forth
game. The victory was especially sweet because it was Whittier that
beat UCLA in the playoffs last year and it was also UCLA’s
first-ever defeat of the ever dangerous Fighting Poets. The Bruins
also defeated Westmont College, 14-7.
The team now has to sweat out whether they made the playoffs, as
the results from this weekend’s games come in. UCLA is among four
teams fighting for the final three playoff positions and, as of
Monday, was unsure of its position.
"There is a lot of parity in the league. No one team has beat
everyone else except UCSB. No one really knows" captain Angel dos
Santos said.
* * *
As the women’s lacrosse team sweats out the status of their
post-season aspirations, the men’s lacrosse team found itself in a
much simpler situation in their final league game against the
University of Arizona the day before Easter.
Going into the game, the Bruins and Wildcats were deadlocked in
the race for the fourth playoff berth in their league, so for this
game, the layout was simple; the Bruins win, they go to the
playoffs, they lose, they stay home.
The day never quite went UCLA’s way and the Bruins found
themselves on the short end of the playoff chase by a final score
of 20-8.
"We had seen them play and we thought that we could play with
them," co-captain Paul Wayne Mahlow said. "Things just did not work
out too well."
The Bruins wound up the season with a final league record of
1-5, with a 6-8 record overall. Although the league record was not
earth-shattering, it was an improvement over last year. UCLA lost
all of its league games last season and after a break in action
during which the team lost eight of 10 starters, along with their
head coach, the outlook was not bright for this season. The year
saw five coaches revolve in and out of the head coaching job.
"We weren’t given much of a shot but the team sucked it up and
kept playing," Mahlow said. "The coaching situation was tough, but
we learned from each coach."
On a team where three of the starters at the end of the year
were people who had never played lacrosse before, this season was
one of learning and developing.
"The new guys played well and learned a lot," Mahlow said. "This
year the team was definitely playing as a team instead of as a
group of individuals. Under the first two coaches, we definitely
looked like a playoff caliber team."