Thursday, June 6, 1996
Strong returners, recruits bode well for w. track’s futureBy
Scott Yamaguchi
Daily Bruin Staff
Before her plane from Eugene, Ore. had landed in Los Angeles
Sunday, before her team had finished ninth in the NCAA Outdoor
Championships on Saturday, and, for that matter, before her team
even began competition in the national meet last Wednesday,
Jeanette Bolden was  in the back of her mind  looking
forward to next year.
Bolden, the head coach of UCLA’s women’s track and field team,
just can’t get used to the idea of a ninth-place finish at the
national meet, or, maybe worse, a third-place showing at the
Pacific 10 Conference meet, which is where the Bruins ended up this
year.
In her first two years as head coach, Bolden  now
completing her third season at the helm  led the Bruins to
consecutive conference titles and top-three national finishes. And
as an athlete at UCLA, in 1981 and 1982, she helped the Bruins to a
second-place national finish and a national title.
So naturally, having been to the top, Bolden is a bit restless
with this year’s results.
"I’m already working on next year," she said. "I’ve had meetings
with my assistant coaches. We met almost every morning while we
were in Oregon, refocusing what we need to about this and what we
need to do about that."
Mostly, the factors that led to this year’s atypical performance
couldn’t have been controlled by the coaches. For starters, a slew
of untimely injuries never allowed Bolden a full-strength squad.
Five of her athletes redshirted the season, and at the NCAA meet, a
strained hamstring kept junior All-American Darlene Malco from
running her strongest 400-meter race.
At the Pac-10 meet, Bolden had just 22 athletes  the
smallest squad she had ever brought to the event  and at the
NCAA meet, she had just seven competitors. Their point-earning
potential was, to say the least, limited.
Things became worse when two of UCLA’s most heavily favored
athletes, Valeyta Althouse and Suzy Powell, fell victim to upsets
at the national meet. Both, however, were beaten by athletes who
aren’t too likely to duplicate their winning marks any time
soon.
To the outsider, a second place individual finish is, after all,
nothing to be ashamed of, nor is a ninth-place team finish. In
fact, the Bruins’ season was anything but a lost cause.
Amy Acuff won another NCAA outdoor high jump title, Bolden’s
young sprinting crew gained valuable experience, and the team
completed its fourth consecutive undefeated dual-meet season,
including a narrow victory over cross-town rival USC.
But the ninth-place finish is what most people will remember,
and Bolden would just as soon forget it.
"The UCLA women’s track team has been ranked in the top three in
the nation for the last three years," she said. "It makes no sense
for us not to be in the top three or four every year. For us to
drop down to ninth, there’s no excuse."
Having already landed the nation’s best high school recruits in
the middle distance events and the throws, Bolden can be relatively
certain things will improve next season.
Before she and the Bruins can worry too much about redemption at
next year’s NCAA meet, however, they must focus on this month’s
Olympic Trials in Atlanta.
Seven Bruin athletes will be vying for spots on Olympic teams,
while one other is hoping to earn a trip to Australia with the
junior national team.
Althouse (shot put), Powell (discus), Acuff (high jump), Joanna
Hayes (100-meter hurdles) and Malco (400) will all be competing for
a spot on the U.S. roster, while Camille Noel (400) and Mame
Twumasi (200 and 400) hope to represent Canada.
Freshman Andrea Anderson (200 and 400) is looking for a berth on
the U.S. junior national team.
… a slew of untimely injuries never allowed (coach Jeanette)
Bolden a full-strength squad.