Friday, 4/11/97
Bruins’ season winds down at home
Bruins expect smooth sailing in last quad meet of season
By Emmanuelle Ejercito
Daily Bruin Staff
The UCLA women’s track and field team will host its second and
last outdoor quadrangular meet of the season Saturday at Drake
Stadium.
Visiting the Bruin track will be teams from Cal State
Northridge, Houston and UC Irvine.
This meet will mark the last time that senior high jumper Amy
Acuff will compete in Bruin uniform at the north end of Drake
field.
Acuff has been the most successful UCLA high jumper in school
history. She has won three straight NCAA indoor titles to go along
with the back-to-back NCAA outdoor titles garnered in her sophomore
and junior seasons.
Acuff holds the collegiate high jump record of 6-6, and she
represented the United States at the 1996 Olympics.
"Her presence is going to be missed," UCLA head coach Jeanette
Bolden said. "She is a class act. Her leadership and focus have
been a great help."
Last week, Acuff placed first in the Disney Collegiate
Invitational and currently ranks second in the nation.
"Acuff’s doing well," Bolden said. "She’s stronger than she’s
ever been."
The Bruins should have an easy time outdistancing their
opponents both on the track and on the field.
UCLA is also home to the top two discus throwers in the nation.
Junior Suzy Powell has thrown over 200 feet already this season and
was the first collegiate to do so since 1988. Freshman Seilala Sua
is not far behind, throwing an American junior record of 199-2 two
weeks ago.
"Sua’s just a delight," Bolden said. "She’s brought a nice spark
to the team. She’s just a tremendous young lady."
The closest challenger provided by the competition are the
throwers from Northridge. Cheree Hicks has thrown 173-1 this season
and teammate Scia Maumausolo has thrown 156-0.
The Bruins will also be led by sophomore sprinters Andrea
Anderson and Joanna Hayes. Last Saturday, both sophomores, ran
season bests. Anderson won the 100-meter dash with a time of
11.71seconds and the 200 in 23.65. Hayes came away from Orlando
with victories in the 100 hurdles (13.33) and the 400 intermediate
hurdles (58.86).
Hayes will face a difficult test in the 400 intermediate hurdles
as UC Irvine senior Skye Greene is fifth in the nation with a best
time of 58.67
"Some of the matchups will be close," Bolden said. "Overall, we
have a very strong team; we should come out victorious."