Wednesday, April 24, 1996
Boldon, Acuff earn Pac-10 honors for Mt. SAC showingsBy Scott
Yamaguchi and Emmanuelle Ejercito
Daily Bruin Staff
For the second week in a row, senior Ato Boldon was named the
Pacific 10 male track athlete of the week Tuesday. Last week,
Boldon was applauded for his season debut effort of 10.19 in the
100-meters.
This week, Boldon earned the honors after running the seventh
fastest time in history and the fastest time in the world this year
 a 9.93 in the same event.
Boldon broke both school and conference records. The old Pac-10
record of 10.02 was set by USC’s James Sanford in 1980.
Amy Acuff, the defending NCAA high jump champion, who improved
her season-best to a nation-leading 6-feet, 4-inches at last
weekend’s Mt. San Antonio College Relays, was named the women’s
field athlete of the week.
It is the first time this season that Acuff, a junior, has been
given the honor, and the second time that it has been awarded to a
member of the UCLA women’s track and field team. Sophomore Suzy
Powell won the honor April 8 after hurling the discus 196-5 Â
tops in the NCAA Â at a meet in San Diego Mar. 30.
* * *
If the Pacific10 Championship meet, which will take place at
UCLA’s Drake Stadium May 18-19, was decided today on the basis of
season-best marks, the Bruin women would likely earn their fourth
consecutive league title.
On paper, under the eight-place scoring system, UCLA tallies 126
points. Last year, the Bruins won with 149 points, while in 1994
and 1993, they won with 127 and 146 points, respectively.
In the nine-year history of the meet, no runner-up has ever
scored more than 126 points, though Oregon came close last year
with a second-place finish at 123 points.
UCLA’s women boast the No. 1 qualifier in six of the meet’s 21
events and the No. 2 qualifier in four events.
Andrea Anderson has the top marks in both the 100-meters and
200-meters, and Darlene Malco has run the fastest time in the
400-meters. Acuff has the top mark in the high jump, as do Valeyta
Althouse in the shot put and Powell in the discus.
Currently ranked second are Joanna Hayes in both hurdle events,
the Bruins 400-meter relay team and Nada Kawar in shot put.
* * *
In the national picture, the Bruin women would score 38 points
on paper, with Althouse, Powell and Acuff as projected winners, and
Kawar fourth in the discus and sixth in the shot put.
The Bruins, who were picked by College Sports Magazine to repeat
as runners-up at this year’s outdoor championships, scored 58
points in last season’s second-place national finish. In 1994, when
they were third, they tallied 42 points.
* * *
Hayes’ 13.36 finish in the 100-meter hurdles at Mt. SAC is the
fourth-best time in school history, trailing only Janeene Vickers,
Jackie Joyner and Gail Devers, who owns the collegiate record with
a 12.61.
* * *
Injuries continue to plague the Bruins, who remained undefeated
in dual meets through the first half of the season despite the
absence of three All-Americans.
Senior Camille Noel, who ran the third fastest 400-meter time in
school history as a freshman, has returned to action, but juniors
Erin Blunt and Cicely Scott are still out.
Blunt, who won a Pac-10 title in the 400-meter hurdles as a
freshman, is hoping to open her season at this weekend’s
California-Nevada State Championships.
Scott’s status is a bit more questionable, and head coach
Jeanette Bolden said that the two would probably come to a decision
by the end of the week on whether to redshirt this season.
Kawar, who received two shots of cortisone around her sore
achilles tendon last Tuesday and sat out the rest of the week
 including the Mt. SAC relays  resumed training
Monday.
* * *
After an outstanding meet at Mt. SAC last weekend, the UCLA
men’s track team now has four automatic NCAA qualifiers.
Boldon is the Bruin qualifier in the 100. Ibrahim Hassan
qualified with the time of 45.13 in the 400. Mebrahtom Keflezighi
qualified for the 5,000-meters with a 13:37.0 and shot putter Mark
Parlin earned an automatic bid with a throw of 63-9 3/4.
* * *
The Bruins lead the Pac-10 in six events.
In the sprints, Boldon leads the conference with his 9.93. His
closest competitor is Jason Shelton of USC, whose fastest time is
10.29. Meanwhile, Hassan is ranked first in the 200 and 400.
The sprint team also sits atop the conference in the 400-meter
relay. UCLA’s best time of 39.38 is almost a full second faster
than second place Oregon.
In the distances Keflezighi leads runners in the 5,000 meters.
And in the pole vault, Scott Slover ranks first and second. Slover
claims the top two spots as a result of his indoor effort of 18-0
1/2 and his outdoor vault of 17-10 1/2.
* * *
The invitational athletes weren’t the only ones who set season
bests.
Sophomore Devin Elizondo was one second shy of his personal best
of 9:06.05 in the 3,000-meter university open steeplechase. Not
that he was completely pleased with his performance.
"He had a good race, but he was a little disappointed because he
knows that he is in better shape than that," UCLA head coach Bob
Larsen said. "I think he was ready to go under nine flat."