SACRAMENTO “”mdash; Brandon Johnson has been through a lot this season.
So when the senior took the stand on the awards podium on Saturday, he was very grateful for what he had accomplished, even if it was not what he had expected.
Johnson finished second in the 400-meter hurdles over the weekend at the NCAA Championships, falling just short of his goal of capturing the national title. He highlighted the competition for the Bruins as UCLA scored a total of 21 points to take ninth place overall, a huge improvement from last year’s 22nd place.
“This year was hard, especially coming back from injuries,” Johnson said. “I have to be grateful for what I ran today. It’s been a roller coaster.”
Johnson eased through the first two rounds of the hurdles and looked to break out big on Saturday. In the final, the senior had the lead going into the last 100 meters, but was overtaken in the homestretch by Louisiana State’s Isa Phillips. Johnson’s time of 49.02 was easily a season best.
“I got out pretty hard,” Johnson said. “I was leading going into the eighth hurdle and I just didn’t see (Phillips) coming behind me. By the time he got next to me, it was too late.”
Despite the loss, Johnson is pleased with his performance considering the experiences he has gone through. He missed last year’s NCAA Championships with a torn hamstring and has had a rough road to recovery since. Because of the setbacks, Johnson had to wait until midseason to make his debut, costing him valuable race experience.
“We won’t try and make excuses,” sprints coach Tony Veney said. “But when you don’t have the race experience from racing all season long, you don’t have a chance to gain any rhythm, and Brandon really has not had anyone push him all year.”
Because of this lack of racing, Johnson will be able to peak later on still at the USA Track and Field Championships.
“I usually train to peak at this meet,” Johnson said. “This would be a Pac-10 (meet) time for me, but since I started so late, I will peak later on and I know I will run faster.”
LANDERS FINISHES SECOND: Redshirt senior Mike Landers closed out his Bruin career in grand fashion on Friday as he placed second overall in the pole vault with a season-best clearance of 17 feet, 10 1/2 inches. The former California state champion had his hands full with a talented field that saw all scoring athletes jump over 17-6. However, Landers came out of the pack in good shape and found himself in a tie with Oklahoma’s Chip Heuser. Landers ended up in second place on fewer misses.
“I’m very happy with today’s results,” Landers said. “I feel like I gave it my all.”
The senior finished just behind Oregon phenom Tommy Skipper. While Landers would have preferred to come in first, he was not upset to take second to Skipper.
“I’m OK taking second to Skipper,” Landers said. “He is an amazing athlete. I’m not disappointed because I did everything that I possibly could.”
Just a season ago, Landers finished third at this meet with a breakout jump of over 18 feet. This year, he was determined to improve upon his success from last year’s NCAA Championships.
“It would have been sad if I didn’t come in at least third after coming in third last season,” Landers said. “I just wanted to improve upon my performance last year and I did that.”
THROWERS COME UP SHORT: Even though UCLA sent a hefty number of highly ranked throwers to the NCAA Championships, they fell short of expectations and garnered just one top-eight finisher. Leading the way was redshirt junior Greg Garza. He entered the discus competition as the No. 1-ranked discus thrower in the nation, but came in fifth place. In a stacked field, Garza recorded a best throw of 199-4.
Also competing in the discus finals was senior Jason Rider, who fouled on each of his throws. Redshirt junior John Caulfield and freshman Darius Savage failed to make the finals.
Caulfield also competed in the shot put, but failed to make the finals in that event.
NOTES: Redshirt junior Austin Ramos competed in the 5000m finals on Friday and finished in 10th place overall at 13:56.32. Ramos is the first UCLA athlete to compete in the 5000m finals at the NCAA Championships since Meb Keflezighi did so in 1998. Ramos, who attended Jesuit High School near Sacramento, had a sizeable contingent of fans present.
“It was amazing,” Ramos said, referring to running in front of a hometown crowd. “There wasn’t a 50m stretch where I didn’t hear someone chanting my name.”
Ramos also garners All-America honors with his finish as two runners who finished ahead of him were foreign-born. Freshman Darius Reed did not advance past the first round of the 110m hurdles in his first NCAA Championship appearance, running 14.06 to finish seventh in his heat and 22nd overall.