UCLA’s men’s track and field team featured a new athlete on the anchor leg of the 4×100-meter relay Saturday.
Freshman sprinter Joe Herrera took the role in stride, helping UCLA reach a season-best time of 40.97 seconds, which blew away Oklahoma’s time of 41.63. Even still, the mark is 2.06 seconds behind the nation’s leading time from Texas A&M.
But from listening to sophomore sprinter Darnell Roberson, who runs the third leg on UCLA’s 4x100m relay team, there’s a sense that UCLA could end up challenging the nation’s best by year’s end. Roberson said he doesn’t think UCLA’s time of 40.97 seconds is anywhere near its best.
“I will not lie, I am nowhere near satisfied with our performance, and I never will settle,” Roberson said.
Roberson added that UCLA’s 4x100m relay team is not entirely set in stone as of now, as evidenced by Herrera running in the event for the first time Saturday. But considering how well the combination worked out in its first time on board, there’s a sense within the team that the Roberson-Herrera combination at the end could be the permanent solution for UCLA’s 4x100m relay team moving forward.
“I now see what we can run and know that we can improve a lot on our time after more practice and work,” Herrera said.
Roberson and Herrera are not strangers to competing alongside one another on relay teams. The two are also members of UCLA’s 4×400-meter relay team, which ranks No. 74 in the nation with a time of 3:11.86. In that event, Herrera runs the lead leg, while Roberson fills the anchor position.
The experience Roberson and Herrera have built together this year could go a long way down the road. Both are underclassmen, as are freshmen Leon Powell and Steele Wasik, who run the first and second legs of the 4x100m relay, respectively.
Considering how well this pack of young sprinters has already performed, there’s a chance that UCLA men’s track and field could be back to competing for national titles in the 4x100m relay and other sprint events in the near future.
Herrera flashed his potential by winning the 400m Saturday, while Roberson finished third in the 100m. Powell won the 200-meter, and his season-best 100m time of 10.43 seconds ranks No. 29 in the nation. Wasik placed first in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 14.35 seconds.
“It’s interesting because we all come from different high schools across the country and we’re all the best in our schools, or our state, or the level that we’re playing,” Wasik said. “And just to get them all together is really amazing.”
The crop of burgeoning sprinters will have a chance to grow and improve a lot more before the end of this season. The team has three regular-season meets left before the Pac-12 track and field outdoor championships begin at Drake Stadium on May 9.
Contributing reports by David Wong, Bruin Sports contributor.