UCLA is the premier place for track and field athletes to be this weekend, where over a thousand collegiate and professional athletes are scheduled to convene at Drake Stadium for the fifth annual Rafer Johnson/Jackie Joyner-Kersee Invitational.
Pac-10 schools such as Washington State and Arizona will be in attendance, as well as Nevada, Fresno State and BYU. As the host school of such a large meet, UCLA has been preparing for this event for the past year.
“It will be the most number of contestants we have ever had at a meet,” men’s track and field coach Art Venegas said. “We have to make sure that there are officials, lunches (and) tents. So there is a lot of stuff that goes into it.”
The events predicted to be especially competitive at this year’s meet are the hurdles, discus throw and the shot put. Highly touted freshman David Klech is scheduled to compete in the 110-meter hurdles for the first time this afternoon. The Bruins also have several participants in the discus throw, with freshman Darius Savage and junior Greg Garza looking to build on their successes from last week at the Texas Relays.
Another highlighted event is the pole vault. Senior pole vaulter Mike Landers is currently ranked No. 1 in the nation. He traveled to Texas last week only to have his event canceled because of the uncooperative weather conditions.
“I think Landers can do really well in the pole vault,” Venegas said. “He was dying to compete at Texas but the hail and all that did not allow it.”
Two new events that UCLA has slated into the invitational are the men’s decathlon and the women’s heptathlon. It will feature sophomore Matt Reuter and freshmen Andreas Drbal, Casey DiCesare and Scott DiCesare. Junior Georgea Richards will compete in the women’s heptathlon for the Bruins.
According to Venegas, the Bruins view the invitational as a stepping stone to their target meet of the season: the Pac-10 Championships. The team is fairly healthy and has increased the number of active athletes participating in competitions as the season has progressed.
“The dual meet is always important, but the Pac-10 is do-or-die from that point on,” Venegas said.
“You have to start building up your confidence, your timing, and your performances have to be at a very high level.”
The Rafer Johnson/Jackie Joyner-Kersee Invitational is the last track and field meet at UCLA this season. For the eight seniors ““ Landers, distance runner Henry Hagenbuch, sprinter Brandon Johnson, pole vaulter Dave Murphy, hurdler Tracy Session, decathlete David Shortenhaus, and throwers Jason Rider and Josh Rider ““ this will be the final time they compete at Drake Stadium.
On Saturday, the invitational will also honor Rafer Johnson and Jackie Joyner-Kersee, the namesakes of the event. Johnson and Joyner-Kersee are considered two of the greatest athletes to come out of UCLA.
As a Bruin, Johnson was an all-around track and field athlete and played basketball for two years. He also was a gold-medal winner at the 1960 Olympics in the decathlon.
At UCLA, Joyner-Kersee was a two-time national champion in the heptathlon and a four-year starter on the women’s basketball team. After college, she continued to lead a successful track career, winning six Olympic medals.
Both Johnson and Joyner-Kersee are expected to be in attendance on Saturday.