With the postseason approaching, UCLA men’s track and
field is limping to the finish line.
The Bruins come into today’s Western Regional
Championships missing several key parts of their squad.
All-Americans Brandon Johnson, Austin Ramos and Erik Emilsson
have all been subdued by injuries, putting a damper on the
team’s outlook in the upcoming nationals.
“It’s unfortunate, no team ever wants to deal with
injuries,” sprints coach Tony Veney said. “But you
can’t go through a season without injuries. You just have to
show up and don’t dwell on them.”
The team will undoubtedly miss the trio of Johnson, Ramos and
Emilsson, and the Bruins can only hope they have enough talent to
finish the season on a high note.
Senior Craig Everhart figures to do some major damage this
weekend as he is looking to bring home a regional title in the
400m.
“Craig has been here before, he won this title back when
he was a sophomore,” Veney said of Everhart, who owns the
regional record in the 400m at 44.89. “He knows exactly what
he has to do this weekend to advance.”
In the field, redshirt junior Mike Landers comes in as the
region’s second best vaulter, behind Oregon’s Tommy
Skipper. His jump of 17-8.50 ties him for eighth best in the nation
as well. While Landers looks like a potential point scorer for the
NCAA Championships in Sacramento, he knows that this
weekend’s competition cannot be overlooked as a poor
performance will send him packing.
“You can’t let that negative thought come into your
head,” Landers said. “I just have to go out there and
do what I have been doing.”
The Bruins will also have an infusion of youth this weekend as a
pair of freshmen will be looking to advance to Sacramento. Kevin
Craddock enters the weekend boasting the second fastest time in the
region in the 110m hurdles (13.73), while Boldizsar Kocsor, the
Pac-10 hammer throw champion, comes in with the third best throw
(219-1).
And while injuries have saddled this team all year, the coaching
staff knows this is the time of year when that shouldn’t
matter, and all attention must be focused on the athletes who are
competing.
“You have to come prepared and have the right
mind-set,” Veney said. “If you keep thinking about
injuries or getting injured, you’re just setting yourself up
for defeat.”
Having had to deal with setbacks all year long, the team is
ready to have an impressive finish despite the absence of a few of
its standout performers.
“We are still fired up,” Landers said. “We
beat ‘SC, we did well at Pac-10s, and I think we can still
bring home a regional title.”