This past weekend, the No. 15 men’s and No. 8 women’s UCLA track and field teams held their own against other top collegiate and professional athletes when UCLA hosted the Rafer Johnson/Jackie Joyner Kersee Invitational at Drake Stadium.
Eric Peterson, the distance coach and the home-meet director, said the Bruins are really proud of this meet because they were able to honor Olympians Rafer Johnson and Jackie Joyner-Kersee, who are prominent, historical UCLA track and field figures.
Peterson also noted that this competition has grown into a national-level invitational.
“We set this up with an idea to give our athletes an opportunity to be comfortable at home, get the season off to a strong start, and really try to build into some of the bigger meets coming forward,” Peterson said. “It allows our kids to get exposed to some of the best athletes in the world on our home track.”
Women’s coach Jeannette Bolden said the field was a nice mixture of college and world-class athletes.
“It makes you feel better because you (compete) against world-class people,” Bolden said. “And that’s what makes this competition really good.”
The competition was the last home meet of the season.
“It allows them to continue to work on the things they need to work on, to really do well in front of the home crowd in their home track,” Bolden said. “So it was important to get some good marks in at your home stadium.”
Both the men’s and the women’s teams won the steeplechase. Sophomore Dylan Knight recorded a season-best 8 minutes, 56.19 seconds, which allowed him to improve on his regional qualifying score and move into the top 15 in the NCAA.
Redshirt junior Ciara Viehweg shattered three records in the steeplechase after winning by nearly 23 seconds.
Last week, she set a new school record with a time of 10:27.73, only to trump it this week by finishing in 10:20.66.
“Last year (Viehweg) struggled a little bit,” Bolden said. “She’s really come alive now. It’s so good to see her own the steeplechase now and to really do well in each meet she’s in. I’m really proud of her right now, and she’s really taken command of her steeplechase.”
For the men’s team, on the final day, sophomore Taylor Hobson won the invitational long jump with a lifetime-best and an improved regional mark of 24 feet 11.75 inches, which ranks 11th in the NCAA. He also placed third in the high jump with a score of 6-10.75.
Also on the final day, redshirt senior Dustin DeLeo won the pole vault with a season-best score of 17-5. This regional qualifying mark ranks sixth in NCAA this season.
Sophomore Cory Primm was the top collegiate finisher and came in second place overall in the 800 meters with a time of 1:49.14.
In the open 1,500m, Primm finished second with a lifetime-best 3:49.15 behind junior Marlon Patterson, who won the event with a season-best 3:48.74.
Sophomore Kent Morikawa led a Bruin sweep of the 5,000m with a lifetime-best and new meet record of 14:13.89. Redshirt seniors Kyle Shackleton (14:15.17) and Drew Shackleton (14:19.87) finished second and third, respectively.
In the decathlon, freshman Trent Perez finished fourth with 6,461 points, winning the pole vault (15-5/819 points) and the 1,500m (4:27.05/764 points) portions of the event.
For the women’s 4x400m relay team, a foursome of sophomore Ashlea McLaughlin, freshman Camilla Dencer, and seniors Krystin Lacy and Nicole Leach finished second with a season-best 3:34.51. Freshman Ryann Krais nabbed an NCAA provisional qualifier in the heptathlon as she finished third overall with 5,200 points. She finished third in the long jump with a mark of 17-5.25 (645 points) and second in the javelin with a mark of 103-4 (505 points). She also won the 800m with a time of 2:20.69 (814 points).
“There are a couple of areas in (Krais’) heptathlon we need to work on ““ her jumps ““ but once we get those down, she would be qualifying for nationals,” Bolden said. “That’s our goal right now.”
Bolden said that what was even more impressive than the heptathlon was that Krais continued to compete in events despite having little rest. She registered a season-best and regional qualifier in the 400m hurdles. She was the top collegiate finisher and finished second behind world-class athlete Justine Kinney.
Sophomore Shannon Murakami posted a lifetime-best and regional mark of 4:25.68 in the 1,500m. The top collegiate finisher in the event erased nearly six seconds from her previous lifetime best of 4:32.40.
“We have a lot of internal victories where kids are improving their time, improving their technique,” Peterson said.
However, Bolden said the team chemistry and confidence is not very high at the moment.
“Not everyone had good performances,” Bolden said. “Some people struggled. We still need to work on some things. I don’t want a bad performance to make people feel bad.”
Up next for both the UCLA men’s and women’s teams is the Mt. SAC Relays in Walnut next week.