A pair of solid races from sophomore Brandon Johnson highlighted
a relatively quiet weekend for the UCLA men’s track and field
team at the UCSD Triton Invitational in San Diego. Johnson
continued to train for his specialty event, the 400-meter hurdles,
winning both the 200 and 400 meter races. His time of 46.81 seconds
in the 400m was a lifetime best and an NCAA regional-qualifying
mark. In the field events, shot putter Jeremy Silverman threw a
season-best 63 feet, 11 inches to place fourth, while freshman John
Caulfield shattered his previous lifetime best in the discus with a
mark of 179-3. In all, the Bruins finished with eight regional
qualifiers during the meet, and rested the bulk of their team. The
entire squad will be in action on Saturday at USC.
RECRUITING UPDATE: UCLA coach Art Venegas announced the signing
of three prep athletes who signed their letters of intent on
Friday. Distance runner Laef Barnes of Spokane’s Mead High
School and sprinters Elijah Wells from Taft in Woodland Hills and
Garland West, III of Cypress High School will all be Bruins next
season. Barnes, one of the top high school distance runners in the
nation, placed third overall in the two mile during the Arcadia
Invitational earlier this month with a personal-best time of
9:03.13 minutes. Both West and Wells will join the Bruins’
emerging sprint squads, with West as a 100m runner and Wells
specializing in the 200m and 400m. West has a personal best time of
10.66 in the 100m, while Wells currently holds top-10 times in the
state in both his events ““ 21.56 seconds in the 200m and 47.5
seconds in the 400m. The three newest Bruins join Kevin Craddock
(James Logan High) and Alexander Pearlstone (Sir Francis Drake
High), who both signed in the fall.