Tuesday, April 23, 1996
Several Bruins improve on personal bests at Mt. SAC Relays in
WalnutBy Scott Yamaguchi
Daily Bruin Staff
Gradual progression has always been the theme for the UCLA
women’s track and field team, and this season  now more than
half way over  appears to be no different than any
previous.
With the NCAA championships just more than a month away, a
handful of Bruins travelled to Walnut last weekend for the
prestigious Mt. San Antonio College Relays where, not surprisingly,
they achieved several season-best marks, some of which earned
tickets to the national meet.
Junior high jumper Amy Acuff improved two inches on her previous
season-best and finished the competition in second place, once
again establishing herself as the top contender for the NCAA
individual title.
"Amy had a very, very good weekend," UCLA head coach Jeanette
Bolden said. "She’s waking up and doing in competition what she’s
doing in practice. She’s stronger and she’s faster than she was
last year, and there are adjustments that she had to make on her
steps and her approach to the bar, with all the additional strength
and speed that she has."
Acuff, who won last year’s national title, maxed out at
6-feet-4-inches Sunday, as did eventual winner Tisha Waller, a
former Arizona State standout. Both jumpers fouled on all three
attempts at 6-5 1/4, and Waller was the first to clear at 6-4,
giving her the win.
Still, Acuff’s mark is the best in the nation this year among
collegians, with Purdue’s Corissa Yassen her closest competitor at
6-2.
UCLA’s other national leaders, Valeyta Althouse and Suzy Powell,
also earned second place finishes at Mt. SAC, and both were first
among collegians.
Powell, a sophomore, matched her season-best mark in the discus
with a throw of 196-5, though UCLA weights coach Art Venegas
insisted her performance on Sunday was more impressive than the
196-5 she threw March 30 in San Diego.
"She was throwing into a dead wind today," Venegas said. "This
is a much better throw than anything she’s done this season, and
she destroyed all three of the top contenders she’ll see at the
NCAA meet."
Althouse was her usual self, heaving the shot 59-4 1/2 in an
effort second only to American record holder Ramona Pagel’s
60-0.
It marked the second consecutive week that Althouse has thrown
further than 59 feet, and Venegas is confident that even bigger
marks are looming.
"Valeyta’s about ready to bust out again," he said. "We think
that between now and the USC meet in two weeks, there’s going to be
some fireworks from her."
On the track, freshman hurdler Joanna Hayes improved her
provisional qualification to the NCAA meet in the 100-meter hurdles
with a 13.36 finish, just one one-hundredth shy of the automatic
standard.
"Joanna ran a good race," Bolden said. "She was a little nervous
at the start, because the person next to her moved a little bit,
and she moved instead of staying steady in the blocks.
"When the start came back, she had to sit in the blocks, and I
think that delayed her start a little bit, so she had to run to
catch up."
Bisa Grant had a strong 100-meter hurdle race as well, finishing
in 14.02. But Grant, who ran the opening leg of UCLA’s
provisionally qualifying 400 meter relay (45.12) last week, was
suffering from a tight hamstring and was held out of the relay this
week.
Hayes took her place and led her team of Andrea Anderson,
Darlene Malco and Mame Twumasi to another provisional
qualification, this time a 45.24.
In the 1,600 relay, Bolden once again shuffled her lineup and
was rewarded with another provisional qualification.
Anderson, Camille Noel, Twumasi and Malco finished in 3:37.69,
nearly a six-second improvement on the 3:43.57 run last week with
Hayes running in place of Malco.
"The 4 x 4 is still coming around," Bolden said. "There were a
couple of boggles with the stick, and I changed the legs a little
bit, but they ran a seasonal best and a provisional qualifier,
which is very good."
The biggest improvement of the weekend came in the distance
events, where Bruin senior Jeanene Harlick earned a provisional
qualification in the 10,000-meters with a 34:24 finish  27
seconds faster than her previous personal best.
PATRICK LAM/Daily Bruin
Junior Amy Acuff achieved her highest mark of the year at the
Mt. SAC relays.