Friday, 4/11/97
Bruins’ season winds down at home
Head coach confident team will crush competition
By Emmanuelle Ejercito
Daily Bruin Staff
Home will be especially sweet for the UCLA men’s track team as
it hosts its final home meet this season.
Participating in the quadrangular meet on Saturday at Drake
Stadium will be Cal State Northridge, Houston and UC Irvine. While
Houston does boast several national leading athletes, the Bruins’
balance in all events should make it an easy victory for UCLA.
"Houston usually brings in good people to the meet, but they
don’t have enough people in different events to beat us," UCLA head
coach Bob Larsen said. "It’s pretty hard for these teams to match
up with us as far as overall score."
Houston will bring along thrower John Davis. At last year’s
competition, Davis finished third behind Mark Parlin and Jonathan
Ogden. Both Parlin and Ogden have graduated. But Davis should
provide a challenge for Travis Haynes, Wade Tift and David Dumble
in the shot put and the discus.
"There is a tough competitor in … Davis from Houston," UCLA
throwing coach Art Venegas said. "He’s an outstanding thrower, we
will be well pressed in both events."
Davis is eighth in the nation in the shot put and 11th in the
discus. Meanwhile Bruin throwers Dumble and Haynes rank fifth and
sixth respectively in the discus and Tift is 16th in the nation in
the shot put.
The Bruins will also have to contend with Darius Pemberton, who
will compete in the long jump, 110-meter high hurdles and serve as
a leg in the 400 meter relay. Pemberton leads the nation in the
long jump with a leap of 8.07 meters. Pemberton, along with Chris
Jones, Isaac Bell and Dennis Darling make up the eighth fastest 400
relay team in the country.
Attempting to challenge Pemberton in the long jump will be
Pac-10 field athlete of the week Ritch Pitchford.
"Pitchford is just learning the long jump," Larsen said. "He’s
having fun with it and using it to warm up for the high jump."
While the long jump is not Pitchford’s specialty, the high jump
is. Pitchford earned the athlete of the week honors for his
performance at the Disney Collegiate Invitational in Orlando last
Saturday. His winning jump of 7-2 1/4 was a season best and an NCAA
provisional qualifying mark.
"He’s doing real well," Larsen said. "Any competition that he
enters he has a chance to win."
There are several Bruin athletes who will be missing in action.
The national leader in the 10,000 meter, Mebrahtom Keflezighi, will
take a break from racing this weekend in order to prepare for the
Mt. SAC Invitational next week.
Throwers Scott McPherren and Luke Sullivan hope to take
advantage of favorable winds in San Diego and gain NCAA qualifying
marks.
The meet will begin with the hammer throw at 9:30 a.m. at West
L.A. College. The first men’s event at Drake will be the long jump,
at 12:30 p.m.Daily Bruin File Photo
High jumper Rich Pitchford narrowly clears the bar in a meet
last year.