Monday, 4/28/97 Victory just usual business for UCLA Team
overruns championships in typical impressive show of skill
By Emmanuelle Ejercito and Donald Morrison Daily Bruin Staff The
UCLA men’s track and field team won its third California-Nevada
Championships last weekend in Northridge in a predictable fashion.
"My dope sheet had us at 172 points," UCLA head coach Bob Larsen
said. "Out of 25 teams scored, to be able to figure it out and come
within a point, that’s pretty good." The Bruins won by amassing 171
points, distantly followed by Fresno State’s 93 points. UCLA
prevailed behind the strength of some personal bests, one of the
most impressive coming from pole vaulter Scott Slover. Slover
battled it out with Long Beach State’s Jason Hinkin, the National
Indoor Champion. The two athletes pushed each other to the limit,
vaulting to a height of 18-feet,7 1/4 inches. Slover took the event
on misses catapulting him to the top of the national lists and
earning him the honors of field athlete of the meet. Another Bruin
taking athlete-of-the-meet accolades – this one in track – was
Brian Fell, who won the 400-meter intermediate hurdles in a
personal best time of 50.78, breaking his old mark of 51.44. "It
was a real good meet for us," Larsen said. "For them to do so well
in so many different events, I’m really proud of what these guys
are doing." Meanwhile the second-ranked women’s track team fell
short of their bid to win its fourth consecutive Cal-Nevada
Championship title in Northridge this weekend. However, the Bruins
were without two of their best sprinters, Joanna Hayes and Bisa
Grant, who each got the weekend off to rest for the upcoming
tri-meet against USC and BYU on Saturday. Fresno State won its
first Cal-Nevada title by tallying 151 points. The Bruins finished
in second with 124 points and California came in third with 113
points. UCLA’s Suzy Powell was named the field athlete of the meet
with big wins in the javelin and discus throws. Powell, who leads
the nation in the discus, won with a throw of 198-3. Her mark was
good enough to beat teammate and runner-up, Seilala Sua, by 12
feet. Powell won the javelin throw by a whopping margin of 28 feet
with a throw of 170-6. Her throw in the javelin tied the third-best
mark in the country. Nada Kawar won the shot put with a mark of
57-0 3/4 which is good enough to move her up to third in the
country. Sua finished in second with a put of 51-9. Deanna Simmons
won the triple jump leaping 41-10 3/4 for the win and Amy Acuff was
victorious in the high jump with a leap of 6-3 1/4. Katherina
Kechris ran a personal best 4:28.73 in the 1500 meters to finish in
third and Zoe Shaw ran a 14.73 in the 100 meter hurdles to come in
sixth. Track