The debut of freshman Brandon Johnson and the development of
sophomore Matt Bruno has bolstered the ranks of a UCLA men’s
sprints corps that is already enjoying its best season in years.
Johnson, the Bruins’ top recruit this past season, returned
from injury to win the 400-meter hurdles in 51.24 seconds Saturday
afternoon at the UC San Diego Invitational. Just minutes later,
Bruno also lit up the track, running a personal best 10.43-second
100m, a two-tenths of a second improvement over his fastest time as
a freshman. State champions in Texas and California respectively,
Johnson and Bruno were both prep standouts, yet both have been
overshadowed by less heralded sprinters this season. Sophomore
Craig Everhart, in particular, has solidified himself as
UCLA’s top sprinter, while juniors Tony Golston and Denye
Versher have also enjoyed successful campaigns thus far. But if
either Johnson or Bruno were able to even scratch their potential,
it could give the Bruins a huge lift heading into the latter stages
of the season. The coaching staff believes that if healthy, Johnson
has the capacity to run a 45-second leg on the 4x400m relay and a
sub 50-second 400m hurdles. Bruno, meanwhile, is UCLA’s only
viable threat in the 100m. If he can shave his time down another
tenth of a second, he should be in position to score at the Pac-10
and regional level.
HIGH RISERS: Yoo Kim won the men’s pole
vault Saturday as UCLA dominated the competition. Kim’s
17-foot, 9-inch clearance bested teammate Pat Luke, who took second
with a mark of 17-5. Bruins Dave Murphy and Mike Landers tied for
third, clearing the bar at 16-5.50.
PAC-10 ATHLETES OF THE WEEK: Brandon Johnson
and Dan Ames were named the Pac-10 Track and Field athletes on
Tuesday by Pac-10 Commissioner Tom Hansen.