Monday, 4/14/97
UCLA dominates through team effort
All performed remarkably well overall, with season bests to
boot
By Emmanuelle Ejercito
Daily Bruin Staff
Perhaps home was an advantage for the UCLA men’s track and field
team, but then again the Bruins could have probably emerged
victorious in Alaska.
In its last home meet this season, UCLA handily won the
quadrangular against Houston, Cal State Northridge and UC Irvine.
In the quadrangular team scores the Bruins tallied 90 1/2 points,
followed by Houston (56 1/2), Northridge (36) and Irvine (11).
UCLA also dominated in dual scoring. In the competition against
Houston the Bruins won 93-61; against CSUN UCLA had a 110-43
advantage. Meanwhile the dual score with the Anteaters was even
more lopsided with the Bruins tallying 127 to Irvine’s 21.
Though UCLA prevailed easily, individual performances weren’t
exactly dazzling.
"No (performance) really stood out," UCLA head coach Bob Larsen
said. "We figured that it probably wouldn’t this week with having a
series of meets in a row, especially after last week (in Orlando)
with a lot of guys performing well and with the cross-country
travel. We were looking for more steady performances, ‘do what you
can,’ and I think they did that today."
The biggest source of points for UCLA came from the field
events.
Senior David Dumble placed first in two events for the Bruins.
Dumble threw a season best of 199-feet-9-inches to win the hammer.
UCLA swept the top three spots with sophomores Travis Haynes
(190-0) and Wade Tift (186-6) taking second and third
respectively.
Dumble also threw a season best in the discus to win that event.
Dumble’s throw of 191-7 was almost seven feet farther than the
second place throw by Houston’s John Davis.
Letting out a loud yell as he made his throw, Tift took first
place in the shot put with a personal outdoor best of 60-3. Haynes
finished an inch behind in second with 60-2.
Meanwhile junior Josh Johnson outdistanced his nearest
competitor by over 12 feet in the javelin throw to win the event at
194-2.
Ritch Pitchford – the conference field athlete of the week –
placed fourth in the long jump, but in the high jump Pitchford
leaped to victory, clearing 6-11 3/4. Mel Moultry also jumped for
first place, but his win came in the triple jump. Moultry matched
his outdoor season best jump of 50-5 1/4.
The track was the site of some success for the Bruins as
well.
Junior transfer Mark Hauser turned it on in the last 200 meters
to overtake Karim Alston of Houston and win the 800. Hauser crossed
the line at 1:50.36.
Sophomore Brian Fell had an easy time winning his event, the 400
hurdles. Fell finished at 51.79, almost three seconds ahead of
Houston’s Roderick Mayfield.
The Bruins also won the 400 and 1600 meter relays. However, the
victories came gift-wrapped, courtesy of Houston.
In the 400 relay, Houston had a slight edge over UCLA as it
rounded the last corner. But, Houston was unable to make the last
exchange, and the Bruins were the first collegiate team to finish
at 41.16.
Winning the event overall was the non-scoring professional team
of HSI which included Marlin Cannon, Maurice Greene and former
Bruins Ato Boldon and Gentry Bradley. Their time of 38.91 was the
second-fastest in the world.
Victory was also in Houston’s hands in the 1600 relay. However
down the last straight-away the Houston anchor turned his head and
waved the baton to taunt UCLA’s Michael Granville, and the Drake
crowd erupted in boos. Houston will be disqualified for
unsportsmanlike conduct, and the Bruins were given first place with
a time of 3:09.68.
Jim McElroy had a pretty busy day. The junior, who is also a
receiver for the Bruin football team, ran in four events. McElroy
ran a leg in both relays and was the top finisher for UCLA in the
100 and 200.
"Jim has a heart of gold," UCLA sprints coach John Smith said.
"He probably has more heart out here than anybody. He goes to
spring (football) practice, then he comes out here and runs four
events. I see why and I know why he’s as tough as he is on the
track because he is not afraid of pain, not at all."Photos by
PATRICK LAM/Daily Bruin
David Dumble (above) placed first in both the hammer throw and
the discus in a quadrangular meet at Drake Stadium this
weekend.