For the men’s track and field team, Dempsey Indoor might seem like a home away from home in the early stage of the indoor season.
Competing in their second meet in Seattle in the past three weeks, the Bruins recorded another strong performance at the Washington Invitational. The Bruins achieved multiple lifetime bests and top-five national finishes, along with a school record.
“We got good performances from the guys we brought up here,” distance coach Eric Peterson said. “What we are trying to do is build our team.”
In the 3,000 meters, redshirt senior Austin Ramos finished second with a lifetime best by 20 seconds of 7:55.60, breaking a UCLA record previously held by Mark Hauser.
“It’s going to be remembered as one of the highlights I had at UCLA,” Ramos said. “I didn’t hold any school records before, and it was one of my goals this year. I’m thankful for the opportunity UCLA has given me, and I’m glad I was able to pay them back.”
The mark was the top collegiate time and a provisional qualifying time for the NCAA Championships.
Redshirt senior John Caulfield was the only Bruin to automatically qualify for the NCAA Championships. He won the shot put with a lifetime best of 63 feet, 7 inches, a mark that ranks third in the country.
Another Bruin with a top three national mark was redshirt junior Boldizsar Kocsor, who won the weight throw at
69-10 1/4. The toss was a provisional NCAA qualifying mark. “It was nice to get that (mark) right off the start,” Kocsor said. “It was nice to get that competitive itch back and beat guys from other schools.”
Coach Art Venegas was pleased that the freshmen weren’t intimidated by the experienced athletes.
“Another good part of the meet was that the freshmen stepped up,” Venegas said. Freshman Cory Primm had a lifetime best in the 800m with a time of 1:49.70, good for a second-place finish. In the triple jump, freshman Jonathan Clark finished first with a mark of 49-7 3/4 feet. Both are freshmen.
Although the team has put up some great results in its first two meets, the season promises more.
“How much room (there is) for improvement is what gets me excited,” Ramos said. “We have performances across the bar that have so much potential.”
A small group from the women’s track and field team also traveled to Washington to compete in the invitational, with a focus on developing individuals, many of whom set lifetime-bests.
Notably, junior Lauren Jirges finished sixth in the mile, en route to a lifetime-best. She beat her old time of 5:15.37 by 23 seconds, finishing in 4:52.13.
The surprise of the day came from junior pole vaulter Katy Viuf.
Competing in only her third meet, she posted a top-ten national mark of
13-1 3/4, a provisional qualifier.
“It’s a neat story,” Peterson said. “This is not the person we expected to do this well.”
Viuf walked onto the team last year and learned how to pole vault. She placed sixth in the event this weekend, ahead of more experienced athletes.
“They pushed me to be as good as them,” said Viuf. “I was expecting a long year to improve. … It’s nice to see the hard work is paying off. I didn’t see myself here at this point (in the season).”
Neither teams will compete this weekend, but both will resume the indoor season in two weeks. The men will send a split squad to the Iowa State Classic and the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The women’s team will only send athletes to the Tyson Invitational.