UCLA’s Lena Nilsson has decided not to enter the
800-meters at the NCAA Outdoor Championships next week, instead
choosing to focusing solely on the 1500m.
Nilsson, the defending NCAA Champion in the 1500m, had
considered attempting the unprecedented double after winning both
events at the West Regionals Saturday. But after meeting with
distance coach Eric Peterson, Monday, the junior decided it was not
in either her or the team’s best interest.
“We didn’t want to take away her ability to defend
the title in the 1500,” Peterson said. “She would have
had to run five races in four days. To attempt the double would
have been very demanding.”
Nilsson remains an overwhelming favorite in the 1500m, but the
decision places more pressure on her teammates to perform at a high
level.
No. 1 Louisiana State University, No. 2 Texas, and defending
national champion South Carolina are the Bruins’ major
competitors in the hunt for a national championship.
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Freshman pole vaulter Chelsea Johnson and junior thrower Lara
Saye have each secured at-large bids to compete in Sacramento next
week.
Johnson took sixth place at the West Regional Championships on
May 30 at Stanford, but was a shoo-in to make the field anyway. Her
season best mark of 13 feet, 6.25 inches is tied for the seventh
best in the nation so her status was never really in doubt.
Saye, on the other hand, had to sweat it out.
The fifth-place finisher in the discus at NCAAs last year, Saye
finished eighth at regionals and had just the 20th best mark this
season, but earned a bid nonetheless.
Teammate Briona Reynolds also had hoped to be able to compete in
the discus but was not selected.
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Freshmen Erik Emilsson and Jeremy Silverman have advanced to the
NCAA Championships as at-large qualifiers.
Emilsson will be the lone Bruin to compete in the steeplechase,
while Silverman will join senior Scott Wiegand and junior Dan Ames
in the shot put.
A total of 12 Bruins have qualified for the final meet of the
season.