The men’s shot put team has historically been the backbone of UCLA’s track and field prestige.
The squad that typically makes up only six percent of the men’s roster has amassed more than 30 percent of the team’s indoor All-American awards since 1978.
The list of accomplished alumni includes UCLA’s lone NCAA track and field record-holder and five-time national champion John Godina, NFL Hall of Famer Jonathan Ogden and current UCLA throws coach John Frazier, an All-American in 1986 who also has the 10th longest throw in the team’s star-studded history.
Soon after seven-time All-American Dan Ames graduated in 2004 however, the shot put production stopped. The annual cycle of All-Americans slowed, falling from one, two or even three per year then finally to just two over a decade.
However, this season’s shot put trio consisting of redshirt freshman Dotun Ogundeji, sophomore Braheme Days and redshirt senior Nicholas Scarvelis has revived the UCLA throws reputation, and has attracted the attention of past greats.
“Art Venegas, who was the coach (from 1982-1999), he calls me several times a week to follow up on what these guys are doing,” Frazier said. “Before the meets even over he’s calling me on the phone to try and to find out information, which is really cool.”
Frazier says he also gets phone calls from his old teammate John Brenner, a two-time national outdoor champion and second on the longest throws list for UCLA, among other alumni who he says are all “very excited about what’s going on here,” and for good reason.
As it stands, Scarvelis, Days and Ogundeji hold the 3rd, 13th and 14th longest throws in the nation, respectively, and Ogundeji and Days are within 21 centimeters of getting in the top 10.
Should they get the extra distance this weekend and hold their ground at nationals in two weeks, it would be the first time that the entire men’s shot put roster finishes in the nation’s indoor top 10 since Venegas coached Ogden, Mark Parlin and Travis Haynes to a 1-2 and All-American finish in 1996.
That in it of itself has only happened three times in UCLA history, all of them coming from 1994-1996 when either Godina or Ogden placed for the program.
To come out of the shadows of a glorious past and into the the limelight again required a spark, which arrived when the 2011 California state shot put champion committed to UCLA.
“When I first came in it wasn’t quite at it’s peak,” Scarvelis said. “At that point there had been a few years where it wasn’t really there, so I’d like to think that between myself and this younger crop of talent we’re definitely bringing it back hard.”
Scarvelis made an immediate impact after his redshirt year, throwing 61 feet, 4 inches – the 20th farthest throw in the nation that made him the best freshman shot putter of the year.
Scarvelis now has the third longest throw in the country, is fifth on the UCLA all-time list and is seeking a first-team All-American honor.
“I really, really have to make this happen,” Scarvelis said. “I’ve gotten 10th twice, so that’s the first spot not to make the finals at nationals, and I’ve gotten 15th once, which was this past outdoor championships, and I just had a bad competition. … I want to place very highly, I want to win, I want to place top three at the very least, but I would not accept anything less than a first team All-American position.”
Scarvelis would have to place in the top eight throwers to be awarded first-team All-American, and he’s in a good position to achieve that, having the third farthest throw in the nation.
But no matter the outcome, after he throws his last shot put for the Bruins at the outdoor championships, Scarvelis’ biggest contribution to the UCLA throws legacy could be as that reigniting spark.
With Scarvelis making headlines for the program in his first seasons as a Bruin, UCLA landed the top recruit in the nation – three-time national high school shot put champion Days.
“I think Nick coming here first was some incentive for other talented people to come behind him,” Days said. “I think if you can create an atmosphere wherein everyone is working hard every day and striving to be the best they can be and then you add on top of that the added bonus of having people who were obviously talented coming out of high school, I think you at least give yourselves a good chance of success.”
In his first year Days threw for seven more inches than Scarvelis did in his, and has continued to progress. He’s now 13th in the country and still has two more years of eligibility.
He will share the responsibility of upholding the team’s historic greatness next year with Ogundeji, who has both Days and Scarvelis beat when it comes to first-year throwing length – Scarvelis by more than a foot, Days by almost half a foot.
Indeed, there has been a renaissance of the UCLA shot put team in the last few years. A new age of Bruin throwers, reminiscent of the triumvirates of Godina, Ogden and Parlin, has dawned.
Even if they don’t all finish the indoor season in the top 10, this is gearing up to be the most successful men’s shot put team in nearly two decades, and at the very least, the commanding reputation is back in Westwood.
“For the first couple years it was mostly just me going to some of these meets for the shot put squad,” Scarvelis said. “When we walk into buildings or when we walk into places to warm up or to get competition going (now), people know that we’ve got a big squad of great athletes, and it feels awesome.”