He stopped short of calling it a turning point, but UCLA throws
coach Art Venegas acknowledged Jessica Cosby’s performance
Saturday was indeed encouraging. Cosby, who has faltered since
taking first place in the shot put at the NCAA Outdoor
Championships as a freshman, overtook Stanford’s Jill
Camarena with a 56-foot, 0.5-inch heave on her second-to-last throw
to win the shot put at the MPSF Indoor Championships in Seattle.
The season-best mark was still nearly a foot short of her personal
record, but Venegas is optimistic it could propel Cosby to a solid
junior season. “You hope that, and you train for that, but I
don’t want to put any added pressure on her,” Venegas
said. “She definitely broke through this weekend
though.” Cosby’s mark vaulted her into sixth place on
the national indoor charts. While she is still short of national
leader Laura Gerraughty of North Carolina, this weekend
demonstrates she has top-five potential. Cosby also showed promise
in the weight throw, taking second place behind teammate Cari Soong
with a 66-foot-11.25-inch effort. That mark automatically qualifies
her for next month’s NCAA Indoor Championships and moves her
into 11th place on the national charts.
JOHNSON FLIES: A fall in the finals of the
60-meter hurdles did not overshadow senior Sheena Johnson’s
preliminary round performance. Johnson ran the fifth-fastest time
in the nation so far this year, 8.06 seconds, putting her just
one-tenth of a second behind national leader Raasin McIntosh of
Texas. Sophomore teammate Dawn Harper took advantage of
Johnson’s tumble, taking first place in the finals
SHORT SPRINTS: UCLA took second place in the
team competition, 39 points behind eventual champion Stanford. …
National leader Chelsea Johnson won the pole vault, but failed in
her three attempts to equal her own school record by clearing the
bar at 14 feet, 8 inches. … Redshirt freshman Jenna Timinsky
provisionally qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championships in the
800m. … UCLA will host its first outdoor meet of the season at
Drake Stadium on Saturday against Cal State Fullerton, Cal Poly San
Luis Obispo and Cal State Los Angeles.