Despite being on opposite sides of the state of Washington this weekend, members of the UCLA men’s track and field team thrived at both the Cougar Indoor in Pullman, Wash., and the University of Washington Invitational in Seattle.
In Pullman, UCLA’s athletes swept their competition in the heptathlon; sophomore Marcus Nilsson and juniors Dominic Giovannoni, and David Thomas finished in first, second and third place, respectively.
Nilsson won first place in the shotput with 44 feet and eight inches, second place in the long jump with 22-00.75 and third in pole vault with 15-05.
The sophomore ran 2:44.31 in the 1000 meter run and 8.76 in the 60-meter hurdles, grabbing third place in both events. He also earned second place in the high jump, clearing 6-03.25.
Coach Mike Maynard was satisfied with the team’s performance overall.
“We are just training each week in preparation for the upcoming meets,” Maynard said. “The highlight of this week’s meet was Mike Woepse. He pole-vaulted 17-6, which is an NCAA qualifying performance.”
Woepse attended the Reno Pole Vault Summit last week and did especially well, achieving a lifetime-best vault of 17-8.50, only to come back this week to win first place in the pole vault with 17-6.50.
“It’s exciting, last season was kind of a struggle but things are looking better,” Woepse said. “Winning in these meets is what’s important right now.”
The sophomore’s pole vault set a Cougar Indoor meet record and lands Woepse in the top 10 marks in the NCAA this season.
Another highlight came from two-time all-American sophomore Alec Faldermeyer, who reached 67-1.25 in the weight throw, earning first place for the second consecutive time.
“We are just trying to work through and not really peak until later,” Faldermeyer said about his past two performances.
His throw was 8 feet ahead of the second-place throw. Faldermeyer expects to improve and beat his personal record, but also plans to pace himself in order to achieve his best around March.
Meanwhile, at the University of Washington Invitational on the other side of the state, redshirt senior Dylan Knight competed in the 3000m run, landing fifth place with 8:17.25.
Last week, sophomore Phillip MacQuitty indicated that he was striving to beat his personal record and pushed himself further during this meet by running a lifetime-best of 4:06.80 in the mile run, an improvement from last week.
The team will compete in Boise next week, and the meet holds added significance for the Bruins.
“Next week, we are competing in Boise, which is where the NCAA championships will be held,” Maynard said. “We just want to get them out there to get a feel for the venue, although the indoor championships are about a month away.”