As he breathed in on the pole vault runway, junior Mike Woepse’s lungs filled with Albuquerque air, much thinner than he is used to.
Such conditions, however, were no deterrent for Woepse, who propelled himself forward to land a personal record jump of 18 feet, 4 1/2 inches, nearing UCLA’s school record and allotting himself a possible future place among its pole vault legends.
“It’s an honor to be mentioned with some guys who hold records at UCLA,” Woepse said.
Woepse’s strong performance at the Don Kirby Elite Invitational on Friday was one of many such showings from the Bruins. Each runner took full advantage of Albuquerque, N.M.’s higher altitude that allows for less air resistance and more speed.
Coach Mike Maynard sees this weekend as a healthy indicator of the team’s prospects.
“We definitely took it another step forward,” Maynard said. “I’m proud of the direction our team has taken.”
Maynard said that he sees obvious NCAA championship potential for Woepse, in particular.
“Mike is a proven competitor and is by no means maxing out his potential yet,” Maynard said.
Other notable performances included a personal record for sophomore Kylie Price in the 60-meter with a time of 7.367, a second-place jump by junior Natasha Kolbo in the pole vault, and a third-place throw by redshirt freshman Nick Scarvelis in the shot put.
Given that this weekend was his first competition since last July, Scarvelis was pleased with his results.
“I was going mainly off adrenaline from not competing for a long time,” Scarvelis said. “I am by no means upset to take third.”
UCLA’s distance team also had its fair share of success at the University of Washington Husky Classic in Seattle, Wash.
Redshirt sophomore Dustin Fay represented the Bruins with a 13:51.96 in the 5000-meter, two seconds from his personal record, and sophomore Jennifer Owen scored an 11th-place finish in the one mile with a time of 4:53.95.
“The team is finally coming together,” Fay said. “After so much training, everything is starting to kick in and it’s showing on the track and in performances.”