Saturday will mark the opening of the 2008 UCLA men’s indoor track and field season at the University of Washington Preview.
While the full team will not be competing in Seattle, the Bruins will look to the distance squad to set the tone for the rest of the season.
“It’s really important to get into a rhythm early because it’s not like the outdoor season where you have a lot of time to get yourself into a winning rhythm,” said coach Art Venegas, who is going into his ninth year as head coach.
Leading the Bruins will be All-American redshirt senior Austin Ramos. Ramos is hopeful that the relatively young distance squad will get off to a strong start this weekend after months of training.
“It should be a good test for ourselves,” Ramos said. “I ran cross country in the fall, but others didn’t have the chance, so everyone is chomping at the bit and ready to go.”
Joining Ramos in Seattle will be a strong group of returners, including junior Laef Barnes, senior Michael Haddan, sophomore Marlon Patterson and redshirt freshman Scott Crawford. Top recruit Cory Primm will be making his UCLA debut in the 800 meters.
“We have a great mix of veterans and young freshmen,” Venegas said. “I feel strongly that overall we had one of the finest distance classes come in last year for track.”
With the distance squad in Washington this weekend, the rest of the team will continue to prepare for the upcoming season.
Frequently, teams will use the indoor season to develop and strengthen athletes for the outdoor season. UCLA is no exception.
Notably missing from the indoor season this year will be returning Pac-10 champion junior hurdler Kevin Craddock and freshman sprinter Darius Walker. Last year’s Pac-10 triple-jump champion, senior Michael Johnson Jr., is still questionable for the indoor season due to an injury.
Just as certain athletes will be held out of the indoor season to concentrate on training, other top contenders, such as redshirt senior Greg Garza, will be limited by their ability to participate.
Due to the confined nature of indoor track, Garza will compete in the shotput rather than his best event, the discus, where he was the No. 1 thrower in the country last year.
“No matter what you’re throwing, you’re going to have to (have) a good attitude and want to compete and throw that thing far,” Garza said.
This good attitude applies not only to throwers, but to the entire team. Last year, the men did not have as good a showing as they would have liked at the NCAA Indoor Championships.
This year should see an improvement in many events, with one point of emphasis on a competitive distance medley relay and 4 x 400m relay team, featuring freshman Nevin Gutteriez, senior James Rhoades, freshman Quentin Powell and junior Elijah Wells.
Venegas is optimistic about his team’s performance in the upcoming season.
“Indoors, one of the greatest things is its really perfect conditions,” Venegas said. “You can really lock into performing well.”