In all the time UCLA’s Candice Baucham spent reflecting on
the end of her collegiate career this weekend, she never envisioned
a more perfect exit scenario than this. Baucham, a senior, became
the first Bruin to capture the national title in the triple jump
Saturday night in Sacramento, breaking the NCAA meet record on her
final attempt with a mark of 46 feet, 2 inches. The mark is the
farthest jump by any U.S. woman so far this year, and the sixth
best all-time. “Ever since I got here, I’ve been
thinking how this is my last collegiate competition,” Baucham
said. “To get a personal best in my last jump, I
couldn’t have imagined a better ending.” Of the
competitors who seemed capable of taking aim at the meet record, 46
feet, .75 inches, Baucham, seeded fourth in the event, certainly
wasn’t the most likely choice. The favorites coming into the
event, NCAA indoor champion Gisele Oliveira of Clemson and freshman
phenom Erica McLain of Stanford, have both been in the 45-foot
range consistently this season. Baucham’s previous
season-best in comparision was 44 feet, 6 inches. Yet, from the
second round of the competition, it was Baucham who was in control.
She became the first UCLA woman ever to jump over 45 feet on her
second jump, allowing her to relax for the rest of the competition.
That rest allowed her to clear 45 feet twice more before unleashing
her best jump in the final round, which topped the runner-up
Oliveira by more than a foot. “My second jump was a personal
record, so I was satisfied with that,” Baucham said.
“But my coaches knew that I had more in me and it just kept
coming. I was glad that it came up on the last one.” It was
the perfect ending to a very satisfying meet for Baucham, who
finished fifth in the long jump competition on Friday with a mark
of 20 feet, 8 inches. Saturday’s performance also helped the
three-time All-American erase the memory of last year’s NCAA
Championships, in which she came in as one of the top seeds, but
barely escaped the prelims, finishing in ninth place overall.
“A lot of people thought I was done,” Baucham said.
“But I knew I just had to be patient.” On Saturday
night, that patience finally paid off.
COMING THROUGH: Before she won the discus competition at the
Pac-10 Championships last month, UCLA’s Kamaiya Warren always
assumed her future was in the shot put. However, after taking third
place in the discus at the NCAA Championships on Friday afternoon
with a throw of 178 feet, 2 inches, Warren may have to reconsider.
“It was my goal to come here and place in the top
three,” Warren said. “Physically I haven’t felt
great all week, but I wasn’t going to let anything distract
me. Winning the Pac-10 was a magic spark for me and I’ve been
using that spark ever since.”
ODDS AND ENDS: UCLA’s MacKenzie Hill, who had hoped to
lower her personal best in the 400-meter hurdles into the 57-second
range, instead ran 59.66 seconds and did not make it through the
first round of prelims Thursday … Making her first appearance at
NCAAs, Nastassja Hall placed 20th in the heptathlon, scoring 5115
points, more than 200 shy of her personal best … Former Bruin
Sheena Gordon, who transferred to North Carolina after last season,
finished seventh in the high jump and ninth in the triple jump …
The UCLA women became the fifth Bruin team to finish second in the
nation this season, joining women’s soccer, men’s
volleyball, women’s golf, and softball.