Tuesday, May 21, 1996
Injury fells Bruins as UCLA wins crown
By Emmanuelle Ejercito
Daily Bruin Staff
The UCLA men’s track team may have won its fifth straight
Pacific-10 crown, but it did not come without a price.
When Ibrahim Hassan was rounding the curve in the second heat of
the 200-meter qualifying round last Saturday, Hassan strained his
left hamstring, ran out of his lane and fell to the ground, taking
Stanford’s Damon Dunn with him. Hassan flipped over in pain and had
to be carted off the track.
"We won’t know until after a few weeks of therapy exactly what
happened," UCLA sprints coach John Smith said. "But right now
(Hassan) is sore."
Preliminary reports have Hassan missing up to six weeks, making
him highly doubtful for the NCAA Championships at Oregon in two
weeks.
Track and Field News had doped out the championships and
predicted that UCLA would finish second by four points to defending
national champions Arkansas. But now with Hassan out for the
Bruins, that may change.
Going into last weekend, Hassan had been ranked fourth in the
nation in the 400 and 11th in the 200. The 400-meter relay team
with Hassan ranked first in the country, but last weekend’s Pac-10
winning run without Hassan would only rank seventh in the
nation.
With Hassan not competing, Ato Boldon may not defend his NCAA
200 meter title in Eugene.
"It was probably my last collegiate 200," Boldon said of his
20.00 performance. "Without Hassan, it really puts a dent in our
plan for the NCAA’s."
More importantly, if Hassan is out for six weeks, with the
Olympics less than two months away, his hopes for reaching the
finals for Ghana in the 400 could be an impossible dream.
* * *
Another UCLA casualty this weekend was distance runner Devin
Elizondo’s possible stress fracture.
Elizondo, who competed in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, did not
run true to form on Saturday. Elizondo had trouble getting over
hurdles, stepping on top of the barriers. He finished in 9:43.20,
far short of his season best 9:05.96.
* * *
UCLA not only won the team crown, but won seven individual
titles as well.
Boldon racked up three Pac-10 titles with wins in the 100 and
200 and in the 400-meter relay along with Akil Davis, Erik Allen
and Gentry Bradley.
Seniors Mark Parlin and Mike Terry both won their first Pac-10
crowns in the shot put and the 800, respectively. Terry had been a
member of the Pac-10 winning 1,600 relay his freshman season, but
the closest Terry got to the 800 victory was in his junior year
when Terry placed second.
Sophomores Mebrahtom Keflezighi and Scott Slover also won their
first Pac-10 championships. Keflezighi bested the field in the
5,000 and Slover was the only competitor to clear 17-feet, 4-inches
in the pole vault.
FRED HE/Daily Bruin
Ibrahim Hassan was injured at the Pac-10 Championships.