After an emotionally charged meet last Saturday against
crosstown foe USC, the UCLA track and field program hopes to carry
that momentum into the Pac-10 Championships during the upcoming
weeks. This weekend will feature the Pac-10 decathlon competition
held in Eugene, Ore.
Representing UCLA on the men’s side will be redshirt
freshman Matthew Reuter, who will be the only Bruin in the
competition.
Scoring for this competition carries over into next week’s
championships, making Reuter UCLA’s first opportunity to
score team points. UCLA coach Art Venegas expects a competitive
effort from Reuter as the team will be looking for points wherever
possible.
“Losing Brandon Johnson, we don’t have the numbers
or the strength this year to really challenge for the title,”
Venegas said.
The coach is ultimately looking for Reuter to score in the top
eight to secure UCLA’s first few points in the Pac-10
Championships, which could have a larger impact in the end
result.
“Any points he scores are going to make us feel
better,” Venegas said. “It’ll give us a
boost.”
On the other end, Reuter knows what he expects of himself and is
intent on achieving his goals. Only a freshman, a big showing in
this competition could lead to a confidence boost.
“It’s not a big deal. For decathlon you just got to
go out there and do your best. You can’t anticipate too much
stuff, can’t be too nervous. You just got to go out there and
do it,” Reuter said. “Basically I’m just trying
to edge out a few points for us and do the best I can.”
WOMEN’S TRACK: Redshirt sophomore Georgea
Richards will also be looking to start things off on the right foot
for the Bruins. Richards currently stands as the ninth best
heptathlete in the Pac-10 but is aiming to improve upon her ranking
over the weekend.
“We expect her to score higher than ninth,” UCLA
women’s coach Jeanette Bolden said. “We have a very
young team, and it’ll be up to her to grab us those first
points.”
Richards has shown she is ready to improve upon her current
season best point total of 4,826. She posted season best marks of
19-0.50 in the long jump last weekend and has also lowered her 100m
hurdle time to 14.05 during the course of the season.
“She feels good, and she looks good,” Bolden said.
“We’re just looking for her to get us off to a good
start.”
INJURY UPDATE: UCLA’s All-American
hurdler Brandon Johnson is still recovering from a hamstring injury
and will be unable to compete at the Pac-10 Championships. Johnson
injured himself during the Rafer Johnson/Jackie Joyner-Kersee
Invitational early last month. If Johnson were able to run, he
would have been heavily favored to win the 400m hurdles.
Freshman hurdler Kevin Craddock is also nursing a leg injury
that will hinder his availability to compete in more than one event
at next weekend’s championships, according to Venegas.
With reports from David Garcia, Bruin Sports
reporter.