The UCLA women’s track and field team is gearing up for another run for a top 10 finish as the 2009 indoor season begins this weekend.
Last year, the outdoor season ended on a sour note as injuries and illnesses plagued the team that placed in a tie for 29th after finishing second in the Western Regionals. The Bruins mustered a fifth place finish at the Pac-10 Championships and had their 15-year dual meet win streak against USC end.
The new season will not bring about a lot of change but a return to the basics.
Leading the way for the team will be senior co-captains Nicole Leach and Rhonda Watkins.
“It’s amazing, the hard work ethic that your captains have spills over to everyone else,” coach Jeanette Bolden said.
Leach, a five-time All-American, was the 2007 400-meter hurdles Pac-10 champion and was edged out last season en route to a second place finish. Watkins competed in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing for her native Trinidad and Tobago and is a two-time NCAA Champion in the long jump.
Hoping to make an impact in their first season at UCLA is a highly touted group of freshmen.
“I’m trying to really get them to realize just because you are a freshman doesn’t mean you have to take a backseat to anyone on the team, in this conference, in the nation,” Bolden said. “In track and field you may get your turn, you may not. It’s one of those sports where it is who is ready to step up.”
Ryann Krais hailing from Eagleville, Pa., is a 14-time state champion and was the third best prep athlete in the 300m hurdles and fifth in the 400m hurdles. Krais will bolster the already strong hurdles group and compete in the heptathlon, an event in which she holds the No. 2 mark in the nation all-time.
Camilla Dencer came out of high school the No. 9 runner in the 800m and No. 25 in the 400m. She will also compete in the high jump. Katja Goldring, the top runner for the 2008 cross country team, will join jumper Ke’Nyia Richardson, who redshirted last year and holds the top high school mark in the triple jump, as the top newcomers.
UW PREVIEW: The distance squad will get its start this weekend at the University of Washington Preview by sending eight athletes to Seattle.
Camilla Dencer will run the 400m. Krishna Curry, Rosa Magana, and Gabrielle Bournes will compete in the 800m. Participating in the mile will be Lauren Jirges and Shannon Murakami. Katja Goldring and Kelcie Wiemann will run the 3,000m.
“I’m just looking for them to go out there and compete up to where their training is right now,” Bolden said. “I said go out there and have a good time, remember to focus on yourself and the game plan you and (distance coach Peterson) have, and don’t run out on yourself.”