After a successful weekend in Eugene, Ore., numerous Bruins left the NCAA West Region Championships having qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Out of 29 teams, UCLA finished in third place and accomplished its goal of sending athletes to NCAAs.
UCLA has seven athletes who automatically qualified for nationals. The list includes sophomore Nicole Leach (400-meter hurdles), senior Jacqueline Nguyen (pole vault), sophomore Rhonda Watkins (high/long jump), junior Renee Williams (long jump) and junior Maris Wisdom (400m).
In the middle of tremendous talent from across the region, the UCLA women’s track and field team stood out.
On the first day, Watkins, the NCAA long jump indoor champion, started things off as she won the long jump competition with a mark of 22-4.25. This mark was the second best this year and bested the almost 20-year Pac-10 record set in 1988. Along with winning her second consecutive long jump regional title and qualifying for the World Championships, Watkins also competed in the high jump event and finished in third place. Her mark of 5-11.25 earned her a spot in the National Championships and cemented her reputation as one of, if not the best, premiere jumpers in the country.
Watkins was still not satisfied, feeling as though she could perform better.
“I didn’t think it was that far because it didn’t feel like the best jump,” Watkins said. “I’m happy it didn’t feel like a big deal because I know I can do better.”
The next day, talented Bruin sprinter Leach defended her 400m regional title and anchored the 4x400m relay team (graduate student Johanna Monthe, Wisdom, sophomore Krystin Lacy and Leach) to victory. Leach’s mark of 55.49 in the 400m was her season-best and revealed the consistent progress the Bruins are making as crunch time approaches. Meanwhile, the 4x400m relay team also posted a season-best mark of 3:32.55.
Seeing room for improvement, Leach reflects her teammates’ drive to improve with every practice and competition.
“I had some trouble over hurdle 10, which slowed me down, but I’ll work on that the next two weeks,” Leach said. “I want to run a perfect hurdles race. No mistakes, clean over the hurdles, and hit my steps.”
As part of the 4x400m relay team, Leach consistently elevates her teammates’ competitiveness and talent. The team sees its success as a reflection of teammates complementing each other physically and mentally.
“The first three girls gave me a great lead so I knew all I had to do was bring it home,” Leach said. “It makes it easy to anchor the team when I have those three running the first three legs.”
The Bruins also had successful results in other events. Pole vaulter Nguyen posted a mark of 13-3.75 and a fourth-place finish in the pole vault event. Teammate and fellow pole vaulter Ingrid Kantola, who ranks fourth in the country, had a mark of 12-11.75 and is in the pool for an at-large bid to the National Championships.
Coach Jeanette Bolden is optimistic heading into the NCAA Outdoor Championships with the talented core of Bruins.
“We get better and better every time we run, and hope to put our best foot forward at NCAAs,” Bolden said.