Without skipping a beat after last season’s All-American
finish, pole vaulter Pat Luke continues to turn heads with his
impressive performance last weekend at the Pac-10 Indoor
Invitational held in Seattle, Wash. In a double-personal best of 17
feet, 7 inches, Luke won the the pole vault and provisionally
qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championships. He topped his previous
personal indoor record of 17-01 and his all time record of 17-04.5.
It was also the second meet in a row in which he beat fellow Bruin
Yoo Kim, who finished third with 17-05.50. “Luke did
everything right,” pole vault coach Anthony Curran said.
“Kim was superstrong as well, but luck was not in his favor.
I’m hoping next week he’ll put it all together.”
Luke now ranks seventh in the nation with his vault, according to
Track and Field News, while Kim is 15th. Curran also mentioned he
expects both Luke and Kim as well as sophomore Mike Landers to all
make the finals at the NCAA Indoor Championship.
ARMON TAKES TOP HONORS: Senior Juaune Armon won
his first invitation to the NCAA Indoor Championship last weekend
with his win in the long jump. Leading the men’s jumping
corps at the Virginia Tech Challenge in Blacksburg, Va., Armon
jumped 26-01.5, an automatic qualifying score for the
championships. It was also the second best jump in the nation,
leaving him with a No. 2 ranking. “Juaune’s been our
captain, our rock, he leads us in everything,” jumps coach
Robert Johnson said. With the automatic qualifier under his belt,
Armon may sit out until the championships while recovering from a
groin injury he sustained several weeks ago. Johnson said it would
depend on how Armon feels and they would play it by ear. Also
competing for the Bruins was Chris Merriweather. The freshman
placed seventh in the triple jump with his season best mark of
47-05.75.
MEDLEY BREAKS RECORD: The distance medley relay
squad broke the Dempsey Indoor Stadium record at the Pac-10 Invite,
with a winning time of 9:34:21. The team of Ben Aragon,
Denye’ Versher, Nick Thorton and Jon Rankin broke the
previous facility record by three-tenths of a second. Their time,
an automatic qualifier, also put them at No. 3 in the UCLA record
books.
SHORT SPRINTS: Sophomore Craig Everhart won the
400-meter dash in 46.96 seconds. The time was a season record for
Everhart as well as a provisional qualifier … Tony Golston had a
winning time of 7.90 in the 60 meter hurdles, also taking home a
provisional qualifier … Dan Ames was the fifth Bruin triumph in
Washington, winning the weight throw. His 66-04.5 mark was another
provisional qualifier for UCLA.