For Brandon Johnson, his entire UCLA career has led up to this week.
After four years of success, injuries and setbacks, the senior hurdler will have a shot to go out on top this week at the NCAA Track and Field Championships in Sacramento. Johnson, the Pac-10 and Western Regional Champion in the 400-meter hurdles, will begin his quest for his first-ever national title on Wednesday in the first round of his signature event.
“There is great anticipation for this week to come,” sprints coach Tony Veney said. “We have had a great week of practice. He is fit, and we are looking forward to seeing what he can do.”
Johnson, who came in fourth place at the NCAA meet as a sophomore, was the No. 1-ranked 400m hurdler last year, but was left without a chance at a title when he severely injured his hamstring during the regular season. And since he was not granted a redshirt year, Johnson has put all of his effort into making sure he can claim a title before his time in Westwood is over.
The trail back from injury has not been easy, however, as a number of setbacks pushed Johnson’s season debut all the way back to the USC-UCLA dual meet where his lack of race conditioning showed as he was edged out by rival Kai Kelley. Ever since that race, however, Johnson has steadily improved to the point where he is reaching the elite status that he maintained last season before the injury.
In fact, Veney sees Johnson’s late start to the season as somewhat of an advantage in that he should have some fairly fresh legs going into the championships.
“In years past we would pull back on the throttle,” Veney said. “But since he has only run about six races, his legs don’t really have that fatigue factor, so we can still keep pushing harder. Every time he steps onto the track, he just seems to get better and better, and that has been the case after the ‘SC meet.”
Johnson’s improved conditioning has paid off as he has not lost a hurdle race since and has also claimed the top spot on last week’s 400m hurdle Trackwire national rankings. However, all of that will mean nothing unless the senior can capitalize on his last opportunity at UCLA.
“Brandon really has an opportunity to do something that he felt that he was denied from last year,” Veney said.
REED READY: On the other end of the spectrum, freshman Darius Reed will be making his first appearance at the NCAA Championships level as he prepares to compete in the 110m hurdles. While Reed is just a freshman, he is no stranger to high-level competition. In high school, Reed competed at the USA Junior Nationals as well as the Junior World Championships in Beijing. This experience will pay huge dividends this week for Reed, according to Veney.
“He has run in this type of environment before with high pressure and high expectations,” Veney said. “Those meets are not quite as big as this one, but he still has that experience of running on a stage, so he is very focused.”
But at the same time, Reed has flown under the radar this season as just a first-year in the shadow of superstar teammate sophomore Kevin Craddock, whose season came to a close last week after sustaining a hamstring injury. Veney sees his young hurdler’s anonymity on the national scene as a plus.
“Outside of myself, coach Venegas and Darius, people really don’t give him much of a shot,” Veney said. “Anything is possible. He will have to run a PR to qualify for the finals, but I think he is ready for that.”
CRADDOCK ON THE MEND: Craddock, who had to pull out of the Western Region Championships a week ago, is recovering well, according to coaches. Although he will miss the NCAA meet and a shot at a national title as he was the nation’s top-ranked high hurdler, he may still be ready for the USA Track and Field Championships held in late June.
“We have every intention of having him run at the USA meet,” Veney said. “His leg is feeling much better.”