Tatum Souza could hardly contain her excitement moments after throwing her second shot put attempt during the Pac-12 track and field multi-events.
On this particular throw, Souza stepped into the ring, collected herself and promptly uncorked the shot further than she had ever done in her track and field career with a lifetime best of 45-5.25.
The redshirt senior clenched her fists and threw both of her arms up in the air and cheered.
After her third and final throw of the shot put, she immediately rushed over to hug her coach. Souza continued to build momentum as the day progressed.
“My hurdles wasn’t my best, so I knew I needed to step it up,” Souza said. “I’m always happy to get a (personal record) especially on my home turf and it was exciting.”
Though there was a small turnout at Drake Stadium this weekend, the performances from Souza and her teammates made enough noise for the UCLA track and field team to have high hopes going into next weekend of the Pac-12 championship.
There were ups and downs over the course of the two-day event, however.
Souza came into the second day in first place in the heptathlon, but she lost her lead and had to climb her way back to finish second overall. Volunteer multi-events coach Sharon Day-Monroe was proud of how she and the rest of her team performed.
“I think the team showed a lot of heart. They didn’t give up,” Monroe said. “I’m proud of Tatum for getting second place as a senior. I know she might not think she had the best day (on Sunday), but it’s the heptathlon, and it can be a roller coaster sometimes. She fought hard till the end, and I’m really proud of her for that.”
Souza also acknowledged the ups and downs that come with competing in the multis. She and her redshirt senior teammate, Alexis Walker, had the chance to finish strong and move up a couple of spots in the standings in the final event of the day with the 800-meter run.
“Alexis and I knew we could make up some ground and move up a couple of spots,” Souza said. “I’m ecstatic because although we didn’t win between the two of us (with) our scores, we scored first place essentially. We’re tied with Washington State right now.”
Souza and Walker’s 10 points weren’t the only points scored by the Bruins.
Freshman Zack Bornstein also stepped up for the Bruins in his first time competing in the decathlon, finishing eight overall on the day behind redshirt senior Marcus Nilsson who finished third.
“It was really exciting. I have a passion for this sport,” Bornstein said. “I haven’t done a decathlon in about a year. I wasn’t as healthy as I wanted to be, but I had a really good time competing and it was a good experience.”
Bornstein credits Nilsson for much of his success so far in his UCLA career.
“We have four decathletes at UCLA. All of us really push each other and Marcus is a senior,” Bornstein said. “Having that experience under his belt and being a veteran, he definitely helps us to move in the right direction towards training. He’s just a great teammate to have.”
The conference tournament continues next weekend as the Pac-12 teams compete in the single events.