Tuesday, the NCAA announced its final declarations for next
week’s NCAA Track and Field Championships. Within the list
lay the answers to many of the questions the UCLA men’s track
and field team faced after last weekend’s West Regional
Championship. One of which was how the team could possibility keep
its athletes from spreading themselves too thin. Apparently the
answer is that they won’t. With the Bruins qualifying a
record-setting number of athletes, not all will have the energy to
compete in each of their individual events. Multiple qualifying
rounds for each event means for an athlete to make it to the
finals, he will have to go through at least two or three different
competitions per event. For those competing in several events, this
sometimes proves too draining to be at their peak performance.
Furthermore, focusing on an athlete’s best event may preserve
his potential to contribute to the team score. Such is the case
with hurdler Jonathan Williams. Though he qualified for both the
110-meter and the 400m hurdles, Williams will compete in the 400mH,
where he has a better chance of scoring. The Bruins also decided to
cut the 4x100m relay team, since three of its members ““
sprinters Craig Everhart, Mario Bassani and Williams ““ will
also be competing in the 4x400m relay. The latter relay squad has
had much more success this season and with the lengthy qualifying
process at nationals, saving energy is paramount. “If you try
to do both, you may lose both and you make injury a factor,”
sprints coach Tony Veney said Saturday. “It’s better to
take the sure bet and not get greedy”. The question to answer
now is if the sacrifice will pay off.
AT-LARGE BID: Also highlighted among those
declared contestants was an at-large bid for decathlete Chris
Staton. Last month Staton finished seventh in the events at the
Pac-10 Championships but didn’t have a high enough point
total to ensure a bid. But Tuesday’s declaration list
announced Staton got his shot and an invitation to Austin, Texas,
where the championships are held.