This weekend the UCLA men’s track and field team is coming out in full force.
Most members of the team, including its most elite athletes, will be competing at the University of Washington Invitational today and Saturday.
“You look at some of the people who scored last year at nationals ““ we are starting to put some of those people back in the game,” coach Art Venegas said. “It’s going to be a little step up. We are definitely taking a higher quality crew this time.”
Opening up this weekend most notably will be All-American seniors Kevin Craddock and Boldizsar Kocsor. Craddock, the 110m hurdles regional champion last season, was held out of the indoor season last year and will compete in the 60m hurdles. Kocsor, the 2008 Pac-10 champion in the hammer throw, will compete in the weight throw.
Making their 2009 season debuts will be sophomore Jonathan Clark in the triple jump and freshman dual athlete Nelson Rosario in the long jump. Rosario is a wide receiver on the football team and has split time between each team’s workouts.
Also competing for the first time will be the distance medley relay team. Junior Marlon Patterson will lead off in the 1200m. Senior Elijah Wells will run the 400m leg and pass to sophomore Cory Primm for the 800m. Anchoring will be senior Laef Barnes in the 1500m. The foursome earned All-American honors in 2008.
“I think we are in good shape this year,” Barnes said. “We have the whole crew back. We have more experience and are stronger. The only way to go is up.”
This will be the second meet for the No. 24 team after the Lumberjack Invitational and UW Preview two weeks ago.
“The ones that competed already I want them to get more rhythm and step up a little,” Venegas said. “They should improve on their marks that they opened up with. I would like to see more people qualify at least provisionally for nationals.”
Three athletes already earned the provisional marks for the NCAA Championships. Pole vaulter Dustin DeLeo cleared 17 feet 0.75 inches to hold the ninth best mark in the nation. Throwers Bo Taylor (59-9.50) and Nick Robinson (58-7.25) qualified in the shot put.
A solid group of pole vaulters and distance runners will look to join the three qualifiers and obtain the provisional or automatic NCAA marks. This meet will allow the athletes to get a competition situation under their belts and provide a building point for the season.
“For the guys opening up I don’t want to pull out the pressure now,” Venegas said. “The expectations will come in future meets.”
The UW Invitational is a great opportunity to compete against other top teams in the country, including No. 1 Oregon.
“This will be the first meet where we come together,” Barnes said. “It’s always great. We are secluded in our respective events and the greatest thing is to catch up. I know we have a great team but I don’t know how great yet.”