Even though men’s track and field coach Art Venegas has
repeatedly said his team is built more for the outdoor season, he
is not about to let the Bruins concede an indoor league
championship. The men’s track team will be heading to Seattle
this weekend looking to defend their Mountain Pacific Sports
Federation Indoor Track title, which they have captured for four
consecutive years. The MPSF Championship will consist of all Pac-10
schools sans USC and also a few Big West squads. Though UCLA has
many key athletes whose events are not held indoors, the team is
still striving to maintain a high level of competitiveness during
the indoor league meet. “For every meet we go to, we would be
doing the school, the athletes, and myself a disservice if we did
not do the absolute best we can, and we want our best to result in
an MPSF Championship,” Venegas said. Though there are
athletes who cannot contribute in their primary events, they will
be competing in other events to help maximize the Bruins’
scoring potential. In particular, junior Brandon Johnson, who is an
All-American in the outdoor 400 meter hurdles, will be running in
the open 400 meter race for the first team this year in hopes of
scoring some key points for the team. “We have a little
pressure on us because we haven’t lost this meet in a
while,” Johnson said. “This is my first year coming to
the MPSF meet so hopefully I can contribute.” Johnson, who
ran an impressive 45.3 second 400 meter split as the anchor of the
Bruin’s mile relay team two weeks ago at the Iowa State
Classic, should make an immediate impact at the MPSF Championships.
The bigger question mark will be if the junior can qualify for the
NCAA Indoor Championships in his first 400-meter race of the indoor
season. “We haven’t had an all-out attempt in the
quarter mile by Brandon yet,” Venegas said. “But we
think that he is a guy who can make it to nationals if he has a
good race.” Johnson will join Craig Everhart, who will be
returning to his home state, in the 400-meter race. Though the
senior has run a provisional qualifying time, he is no lock to be
invited to the NCAA Championships and will try to feed off of
Johnson and his hometown supporters in the stands to help bring his
time down this weekend.
WOMEN’S TRACK: The women’s track and field team is
also headed to the Pacific Northwest this weekend to compete at the
MPSF Championships and will be looking to secure more spots at the
National Championships. “For us, the MPSF is more of an
individual competition,” coach Jeanette Bolden said. “A
lot of our girls have already made it to nationals and will be
using this meet as a tune-up.” The women have three locks for
nationals in Chelsea Johnson in the pole vault, Kamaiya Warren in
the shot-put and Dawn Harper in the 60-meter hurdles. Though this
weekend will provide the Bruins with some top notch competition
against some fellow Pac-10 schools, UCLA will not be competing at
full strength, holding a few athletes, such as Harper, out of
action. For Johnson, this weekend will provide her with a chance to
make a statement on the national level. “I’ve been
feeling really confident about this weekend,” Johnson said.
“I’ve been training really well and I think I’m
ready to jump in the high 14’s and set a national-leading
mark.” Though the women do have several shoe-ins for the NCAA
Championships, there are still several Bruins who will use this
weekend to try and strengthen their case for continuing their
indoor season at the next level. “The pole vaulters, besides
Chelsea, we are looking at to put up some good marks,” Bolden
said. “We are also looking at Renee Williams to advance (in
the long jump).” Though an MPSF League Championship would be
nice, UCLA will not be hard pressed to put it all on the line this
weekend. “We really are more focused on outdoors,”
Johnson said. “We know that is where our strength is. If we
win a league championship, that’s great but we are not going
to beat ourselves up over it if we don’t.”