In their third competition of the season, the Bruins will seek further improvement for their indoor season as they split up to take part in another pair of meets Friday and Saturday.
A small group of vaulters, jumpers and a thrower (freshman Ida Storm) will travel to Seattle for the Husky Classic, while the rest of the team will head to Fayetteville, Ark. for the Tyson Invitational.
Approaching its third and fourth meet of the season, UCLA ““ despite the recent success ““ must still adjust to the indoor environment.
“At UCLA, everything is kind of far away from Drake Stadium; you don’t hear noises, and it’s very quiet and peaceful (at Drake),” jumps coach Anthony Curran said. “But when you get indoors, it’s loud; the runway is loud; there are raised runways, and you have to get adjusted to it.”
In her first meet at last week’s New Mexico Classic, redshirt junior jumper Ke’Nyia Richardson won the triple jump event with a mark of 40-11.50. But according to Richardson, she has yet to reach her pinnacle. In fact, she hopes to eclipse her previous best and amass as many points as possible by also participating in the long jumps.
“I’m just having a few different exercises that I can put in my training,” Richardson said. “Hopefully, I can work on the little things I need to for the triple jumps. The long jumps are going to require some extra stuff.
“I’m just trying to go around and see what needs work and what doesn’t.”
Redshirt junior pole vaulter Tori Anthony is also full of potential. Coming off of a strong display in New Mexico, Anthony has made small adjustments to ensure even more success this weekend, according to Curran.
“Tori made it over a couple of bars (last week), but the pole just knocked the bar off,” Curran said. “I think she’s going to get a provisional mark, possibly a high mark to get in the top 15.”
With the two meets at hand, the Bruins are facing the final stretch of their indoor season. While the previous ones have been benchmarks, these upcoming meets will be seen as truer indicators of how UCLA will perform in the national indoor championships.
In the meantime, the Bruins have not basked in the glory of their recent performances. Instead, they have viewed the past meets as opportunities to learn and move forward.
“Everybody is expecting improvement; it’s all you can ask for and all you can expect,” senior jumper Dayna Hill said. “You trust your coaches, you trust your workouts, you trust your regiment, and you know you’re going to have greatness.”