Jon Rankin says that he fosters no ill will toward USC, but
watching the UCLA senior demolish his competition on Saturday gave
the impression that he had a personal vendetta against the
Trojans.
In what proved to be the pivotal races in this year’s dual
meet, Rankin won both the 1500 and then 800 meters in impressive
fashion and placed third in the 5000 meters, propelling the Bruins
to an 83-80 victory over the Trojans at Loker Stadium over the
weekend.
“I came in with the mindset that I would do everything
that I possibly could to help this team win today,” Rankin
said. “And if that meant running three events, then
that’s what it would be.”
Having already accumulated several personal bests and run a
sub-four-minute mile during his brilliant senior campaign, Rankin
added several more milestones to his resume at the dual meet.
First the fifth-year senior outdueled USC’s Thomasz
Babiskiewiecz in the 1500 meters, pulling away on the last lap to
set a new school record with a time of 3:40.39. Then Rankin
obliterated a field in the 800 meters that included six of the
conference’s top runners, most of whom had the luxury of not
competing in the 1500 meters less than two hours before.
Rankin showed no signs of fatigue, bursting from the pack at the
600-meter mark and winning handily in a time of 1:47.54.
“He has just come into his own,” UCLA coach Art
Venegas said. “He appears to be now a world-class athlete.
He’s got that look to him and that’s really
exciting.”
As well as Rankin performed in the middle-distance events, UCLA
needed every point simply to keep the meet close. The Trojans
overwhelmed the Bruins in the sprints and jumps, sweeping the 100
and 200 meters and both relays and taking first place in all three
jumps.
USC’s Wes Felix (100 and 200m) and Allen Simms (long jump
and triple jump) each won a pair of events, while Jesse Williams
set a meet record in the high jump, clearing 7 feet, 6 inches.
The Bruins did keep the meet close, thanks to Rankin’s
heroics, a slew of points from their throwers and a few scattered
points from some unexpected athletes.
Freshman Dominique Easterling was able to clinch third in the
high jump while also stealing second place in the triple jump with
regional-qualifying and personal-best jumps of 6-10.75 and 50-4.75
respectively. Senior Ely Dial stunned USC’s Dennis Rice in
the javelin with a throw of 207 feet, 11 inches. And senior pole
vaulter Yoo Kim returned to form after injuring his hand three
weeks ago, winning the event handily with a height of 17 feet, 2.75
inches.
“Yoo was huge,” Venegas said. “His confidence
was at an all-time low, and he really had to dig in.”
The clutch performances kept UCLA alive in the meet and set the
stage for the second-to-last event of the day, a critical 5000
meters.
With the Bruins trailing 75-74 and needing to finish at least
first and second to clinch the meet before the mile relay, UCLA
distance coach Eric Peterson decided to pull out all the stops.
Peterson called upon Rankin and Erik Emilsson, both of whom had
run races earlier in the day, to try and finish off the Trojans.
USC countered with Babiskiewiecz, who had the fastest time of any
of the race’s entrants.
Rankin was out of gas midway through the race, at one point
falling to fourth place, well behind Babiskiewiecz.
But freshman Austin Ramos and Emillson led the Bruin charge,
taking first and second place early in the race and never
relinquishing their lead. And Rankin somehow found the energy to
pass Babiskiewiecz for third place late in the race as the Bruins
swept the event and clinched their fourth straight victory over USC
and their 23rd in 24 meetings.
“We decided late in the meet after looking at the score
that we needed eight points with these two events left,”
Peterson said. “There was no reason to put it off if we have
the firepower to get those guys on the track, and they were willing
to go out there and win the meet.”
The sweep proved to be vital as USC won a hotly contested 4×400
meter relay. Venegas knew his squad would face an uphill battle
against USC’s relay team in front of a large home crowd.
“I thought we were ready to win (the relay), but obviously
the Trojans at home showed us a little something extra,”
Venegas said. “That gives us a little motivation for the
Pac-10’s. Had we lost it on the 4×4, it would have been a
very exciting and wonderful meet and we would go home saying tough
loss.”
Thanks to Rankin’s gutsy performance, Venegas didn’t
have to worry about it.