Men’s track celebrates many career bests

Achieving a lifetime best is something all track and field athletes hope to do and is always a cause for celebration among the coaching staff.

This weekend, the UCLA men’s track and field team gave its coaches 12 reasons to celebrate.

The first two came at the NCAA Last Chance Qualifier Meet in Seattle. Junior pole vaulter Bobby Talley jumped 17 feet, 0.75 inches, and sophomore shot putter Darius Savage threw 60-10 to win the meet.

Savage’s mark provisionally qualified him for the NCAAs and will most likely get him into the meet. His throw this weekend was also more than a foot better than his previous best of 59-6.75.

After the NCAAs, Savage will most likely be taking a break from track and field to play spring football. Head coach Art Venegas said he is “working very closely with coach (Rick) Neuheisel”, and Savage will probably be back out at Drake Stadium in time for the USC dual meet in May.

While some of the team was in Washington, those who stayed in Westwood participated in the UCLA Invitational, where the team opened up its outdoor season with 10 additional lifetime bests.

One of these came from junior Laef Barnes, who won the 800 meters with a time of 1:51.62.

“I felt really good about the 800(m) today,” said Barnes. “My plan was just to go out and run a tactical race.”

Barnes will now look ahead to the NCAAs, where he will run the anchor leg of the distance medley relay.

“It is important for next week for him to be feeling good and fresh,” distance coach Eric Peterson said.

Along with Barnes, winning their events were redshirt senior John Caulfield in the discus (189-4), sophomore Brandon Smith in the 200m (21.30), junior Elijah Wells in the 400m (48.01), freshman Spencer Knight in the 1,500m (3:55.98) and freshman Taylor Hobson in the high jump (6-8) and long jump (23-9.50).

Caulfield and Smith also received regional marks, along with redshirt freshman Bo Taylor in the discus.

Putting up lifetime bests for the Bruins were Hobson in the long jump, Smith in the 200m and 100m (10.65), senior Henry Hagenbuch in the 1,500m (3:56.29), redshirt junior Kyle Shackleton in the 2-mile (9:01.26), sophomore Alex Crabill in the 2-mile (8:54.21), freshman Kent Morikawa in the 2-mile (9:03.86), redshirt junior Matt Reuter in the 110m high hurdles for the decathlon (15.58), and sophomore Andreas Drbal in the javelin (173-1).

So many lifetime bests in the first meet of the season, especially with many of them coming from young athletes, would seem to bode well for things to come, and UCLA left the meet very satisfied.

NEW BRUINS: UCLA signed two athletes to National Letters of Intent in February. Donning the Bruin uniform next year will be thrower Nigel Davies and sprinter Jamal Alston. Davies is out of Loyola High School and threw the shot put 56-2.50. Alston, from Rancho Buena Vista High School, ran a hand-clocked time of 10.4 in the 100m and 22.02 in the 200m.

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