Going into the Pac-10 Multi-Event Championships in Tempe, Ariz., the men’s and the women’s track and field teams had a common goal ““ to get some points on the board.
Senior Keneisha Creary and redshirt junior Matthew Reuter were able to do just that.
Reuter, who went into the competition ranked ninth in the Pac-10, finished sixth overall in the decathlon, giving the men’s squad three points heading into the rest of the Pac-10 Championships next weekend. His score of 6,688 points was also a lifetime best.
“It feels good to score,” Reuter said. “I’m happy I was able to help the team.”
Reuter did not have the strong showing he wanted during the first day of the competition, finishing in eighth place. Going into day two, his goal was just to move up to seventh. By the time the last event, the 1,500 meters, began around 10 p.m., it looked as if he might be able to take seventh place.
“With the 1,500, we weren’t even thinking about sixth place,” men’s volunteer decathlon coach Octavious Gillespie said. “We were just trying to guarantee seventh place. He really fought hard at the end in the 1,500, so I couldn’t be prouder of (Reuter) right now.”
According to Gillespie, Reuter was running on “banged-up feet.” He did not let this hold him back, however; he finished the 1,500m in a lifetime-best time of 4:52.12, which bumped him up to sixth place. Reuter also set lifetime bests for himself in the shot put and the discus.
Also in Tempe representing the Bruins were redshirt sophomore Hillary Werth, Creary and redshirt senior Georgea Richards.
Creary was able to land seventh place with her 5,029 points, securing the Bruins two points. Richards finished in 13th with 4,668 points and Werth scored a lifetime-best 4,472 points to put her in 14th place.
“Overall I think it was great,” Creary said. “It was my first Pac-10 doing the heptathlon, and it was pretty good.”
After almost falling in the hurdles and not performing as well as she could have in the javelin, Creary had to do well in the last event of the day, the 800m, to secure her seventh place.
“She had to fight to keep in the points for her team,” Gillespie said. “She was able to gut out the 800 and put herself on the line; I thought that was great.”
This marked Richards’ last heptathlon as a Bruin. She was disappointed and “would have liked to have done better” but will return to competition next weekend. She will be looking for a regional mark in the long jump. Creary will also be returning next weekend to compete in the high jump.
While the Bruins were able to secure points for UCLA heading into the Pac-10 Championships, none were able to post regional marks, ending the heptathlon and decathlon season for UCLA.
“I’m proud of what they did,” Gillespie said. “I think they had a good time doing it. Some things could have been better, but in all it was a good effort.”