Track puts best foot forward at Invite
National record set twice by shot putter; Bruins look to Indoor
NCAAs
By Scott Yamaguchi
Daily Bruin Staff
Picking up right where she left off at the end of last year’s
outdoor season, UCLA senior Valeyta Althouse broke former teammate
Dawn Dumble’s collegiate record in the indoor shot put two weeks
ago in Nebraska.
Althouse, who set the American collegiate outdoor record
(61-feet, 10 1/4 inches) en route to last year’s NCAA outdoor
title, heaved the shot 59-0 at the Husker Indoor Invitational to
better Dumble’s mark of 58-8 3/4, set last season.
"I was real pleased at Nebraska," UCLA throwing coach Art
Venegas said. "I knew that the Nebraska girls would be very ready
to do a big job, and I weight-trained Valeyta through that
meet.
"After round one, Nebraska was one-two on Valeyta. On her second
throw, Valeyta broke the national record and went 58-10, which took
care of those girls and their dreams of an upset for the day. On
her fifth throw, she broke the record again with a throw of
59-0."
Althouse will be in Atlanta next weekend for the USA Track and
Field Indoor Championships, and the following weekend, she will
lead UCLA into the NCAA Indoor Championships, where the Bruins
finished second last year.
Sophomore Nada Kawar, who was fourth at the NCAA indoors last
year, will join Althouse in the shot put competition, and it is
likely that junior-college transfer Rachelle Noble will earn a
qualification as well.
Junior high jumper Amy Acuff, who last year became only the
second woman in U.S. track and field history to win the NCAA
indoor, outdoor, and USA outdoor titles in the same season, will
also be in Indianapolis to defend her title.
Acuff has competed once this season, finishing second at the
Reno Invitational Feb. 2 with a leap of 6-3 1/2.
On the track, the Bruins have been led by freshmen Andrea
Anderson and Joanna Hayes. Anderson finished third in the
200-meters at the Husker Invitational in 24.78 seconds, while Hayes
was third in the 55-meter hurdles at the Reno Invitational in a
personal-record 7.91.
Even after the graduation of world shot put champion John
Godina, the men’s squad continues to receive strong performances
from Venegas’ corps of throwers. Senior Mark Parlin, who placed
third in the shot at last year’s NCAA outdoors and is the nation’s
top returning thrower, currently ranks second in the nation after
throwing a 61-10 mark at East Tennessee State’s U.S. Air
Invitational.
Fellow Bruin Jonathan Ogden heaved a personal-best 61-8 1/2 in
Tennessee, earning himself another return to the NCAA indoors,
while redshirt freshmen Wade Tift (58-4) and Travis Haynes (59-6
1/4) are both provisionally qualified to join Ogden and Parlin.
Sophomore Scott Slover, who pole vaulted 17-6 at the Reno
Invitational, currently ranks in the top five in the NCAA in that
event.
Junior high jumper Amy Acuff, who last year became only the
second woman in U.S. track and field history to win the NCAA
indoor, outdoor, and USA outdoor titles in the same season, will
also be in Indianapolis to defend her title.
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