This weekend at historic Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., the No. 3 UCLA men’s track and field team will take on the No. 25 Oregon Ducks, continuing a rivalry dating back to 1966.
“This meet is important for tradition,” coach Art Venegas said. “This meet’s important to show the kids competitive fire, teamwork and that everybody’s important; the third place may decide for Oregon or UCLA the victory.”
Scoring in a dual meet gives a first-place finish five points, a second place three points, and a third place one point. A winning relay team also earns five points.
“The overall goal is to win, but obviously you have to win your individual race,” junior distance runner Laef Barnes said. “It’s a compilation of individuals competing at their best and at the end of the day you hopefully take home the team title.”
With nine Bruins ranked in the top-10 nationally in their respective events, the meet is shaping up to be very competitive, especially in the distance and throwing events.
Coming off a weekend performance where he became only the fourth Bruin to ever break four minutes in the mile, Barnes (ranked third nationally for the 1500m) feels confident about his own performance and that of his team.
“Our team is on fire right now,” Barnes said. “Out of my three years here, there’s never been a better time to be a Bruin.”
Rounding out the athletes in the top-10 are junior Kevin Craddock (110m high hurdles, No. 9), Henry Hagenbuch (steeple chase, No. 6), junior Bobby Talley, redshirt junior Dustin DeLeo and Chris Bencomo (pole vault, both tied for No. 6), redshirt junior Boldizsar Kocsor (hammer throw, No. 5), redshirt junior John Caulfield (shot put, No. 4; discus, No. 7) and redshirt senior Greg Garza (discus, No. 3).
Also coming off a big weekend is freshman jumper Jonathan Clark, who was named Pac-10 Field Event Athlete of the Week after finishing third in the triple jump at the Rafer Johnson/Jackie Joyner-Kersee Invitational with a lifetime best mark of 51-5.75 feet.
“Everyone’s pretty excited about the dual meet,” Clark said. “I feel pretty confident that I’m going to do well and step up and help my team win.”
Overall, in dual meets between the Oregon and UCLA, the Bruins lead the Ducks 10-4.
Sophomore thrower Darius Savage will leave Los Angeles early Saturday morning to make it to Eugene in time to compete. Savage, who has seen limited competition this spring because he has been practicing with the football team, will be an asset for the Bruins in the discus and the shot put.
Even though the entries have been posted for the meet, they are not set in stone and can be changed by the coaches the day of the meet depending on what is happening in the competition and the scoring of the meet. This is “part of the beauty of a dual meet and the ebb and flow of the scoring,” according to Venegas.
Another key part of this weekend is that it is the site of the Olympic trials, and Venegas feels “it’s important for us to get to the site of the Olympic trials before the Olympic trials.” He also noted that Hayward Field is “probably one of the most unique facilities they have in America,” and that the meet would take place in front a large crowd of dedicated track and field fans.
“When you’re running at Hayward, there is an atmosphere and an ambience,” Barnes said. “They really respect your performance no matter what jersey you wear, so I’m just hoping to go up there and put on a good show for them.”
NOTES: Freshman sprinter Nevin Gutteriez will apply for a redshirt year after injuring his hamstring early last week, forcing him to miss the rest of the season. … Distance runner Michael Cybulski was released from his scholarship last week with plans to transfer and continue his track and field career elsewhere.