Throughout the season, the UCLA track and field team has targeted its efforts toward one main focus,and this weekend will allow the Bruins to put all these efforts to the test.
Everything the team has trained for and struggled with has been endured in order to qualify for the NCAA championships, and this weekend it will compete at two invitationals that serve as very significant stepping stones to this target.
The athletes will compete at both the Don Kirby Elite Invitational in Albuquerque , N.M., and the Husky Classic in Seattle, and the track facilities at both locations are very important to the Bruins.
“The coaching staff sent us there a few times during the indoor season, so it’s kind of our home field to the indoor season,” said senior pole vaulter Mike Woepse , who will be competing at the Don Kirby Elite Invitational. “I mean, they’re holding the NCAA championships there – so you know it’s a good place.”
Given the nature of the track, the Husky Classic will be advantageous to the distance runners, because of its 300-meter flat track and 200-meter banked track. Also, a number of post-collegiate runners run there and are able to set the pace for the athletes.
Woepse said that redshirt junior distance runner Kelsey Smith ran the fastest time in the country at the Washington Invitational about two weeks ago , and he gave credit to the post-collegiate runners who set the pace for her.
“The significance is twofold – we want to get prepared for the (Mountain Pacific Sports Federation ) meet and we also want people to increase their position on the national descending order list,” Woepse said. “You want to be in the top 16 to go to the NCAA championships.”
Keeping in mind that the NCAA championships are approaching, the team has started to taper off a bit during practice. The shot putters are right on the brink of qualifying for NCAA, but they are still looking to get a lot of athletes to qualify. The coaches have started to pressure the athletes a little during practice to prepare them for these upcoming meets.
“You talk to them about their competitors and put them in scenarios of what they might face in the meet,” said men’s coach John Frazier . “Let’s say they’re about to take a jump, do a throw, run a sprint – you might want to just say, ‘Hey, you need to get a certain qualifying standard, and you might have a shot.'”
The tapering off seems to have affected some of the athletes a little. Although they may be content with their current physical capabilities, the coaches and athletes are working on mental preparation.
“My practices have been going really great so it’s really not even so much the physical aspect of (training),” said senior thrower Alec Faldermeyer . “I’m in the best shape of my life, throwing-wise. Mentally, I just need to get myself more focused for the meet and execute my technique.”
Both the invitational and the classic will feature some of the best collegiate athletes in the country, as well as some post-collegiates , so the Bruins look to overcome their mental worries and contend with high-level competition.
At the Don Kirby Elite Invitational exactly two years ago, Faldermeyer threw his own personal record of 70 feet, 11 inches , so heading into this competition from a tough start this season, along with the high stakes of the meet, may come as a challenge for him. However, the team still maintains one goal: qualifying for nationals.
“I’m just focusing on making NCAAs my best, and this meet will just be another stepping stone towards that,” Woepse said.
The next meet for UCLA will be the conference championship in two weeks. With some of the toughest schools competing there, this weekend will give the Bruins a preview of what they can expect then.
Email Esmailian at tesmailian@media.ucla.edu.