Even with eight stitches in his left hand, senior pole vaulter
Yoo Kim managed to place first in the event at the UCLA-USC dual
meet Saturday. While dicing up an avocado the day before the meet,
Kim accidentally sliced open his left ring-finger with a butter
knife. Bleeding profusely, Kim had the wound inspected by trainers,
who bandaged it in hopes that it would not re-open during
competition. Luckily, his left hand is his bottom hand while
vaulting, leading him to believe it wasn’t much of a factor.
“If anything, the anaesthetic made it a little hard to get
into the meet today,” Kim said. “I felt a little tired
today.” Kim was slightly disappointed by his mark of 17 feet,
5 inches which is well below his personal best. With the second and
third place finishes of teammates Pat Luke and Shane Hackett in the
event, UCLA swept the pole vault.
JUMPING FRUSTRATION: Third place was not
exactly what Juaune Armon had in mind when he envisioned his long
jump performance before the meet. Though his mark of 24 feet, 1
inch was a regional qualifier, it still placed him well behind
USC’s Allan Simms and Andre Serrette. “It’s tough
for Juaune because this meet really starts our season,” jumps
coach Robert Johnson said. “Right now we need to get prepared
for the Pac-10 meet.” Armon has time to regain his form with
the conference meet still two weeks away. But to have a chance to
score at the NCAA Championships, he will likely need to regain his
26-foot form of past years. Since his fourth-place performance at
March’s NCAA Indoor Championships, Armon has battled minor
injuries, including a tweaked hamstring on his second attempt on
Saturday. He said those did not affect his performance
Saturday.
DRAKE DEBUT: Freshman Brandon Johnson came from
behind to win the 400-meter hurdles during his first home meet this
season. Johnson eclipsed fellow Bruin Jonathan Williams in the
final 100 meters of the race to win with a personal best, regional
qualifying mark of 51.15. “When [Williams] passed me in the
middle of the race, I knew I would have to work hard at the
end,” Johnson said. Williams finished second behind Johnson,
and teammate Matt Willis rounded out the top three for a UCLA
sweep.
JAVELIN SUCCESS: Sophomore Ely Dial took first
in the javelin, usually one of the Bruins’ weakest events.
Both Dial and senior Chris Staton surpassed USC sophomore Dennis
Rice, a heavy favorite to win the event. “Rice beat me last
year and I came in here wanting to beat him very badly,” a
triumphant Dial said. Dial’s mark of 186 feet, 2 inches left
him feeling slightly disappointed, however, as it was still several
feet short of a regional qualifying mark.
SHORT SPRINTS:Â Sophomore Craig Everhart
won the 400m with a personal best of 45.39 “¦ Sophomore Dave
Murphy, normally a pole vault competitor, placed second for the
Bruins in the high jump with a personal best of 6-09 feet “¦
The 4x400m relay team was victorious over the Trojans, after USC
had taken the 4x100m race earlier … Brian Ruziecki threw a
personal record 184 feet in the hammer throw Friday … Saturday
was the last home for UCLA’s senior class including
All-American Dan Ames.