The UCLA women’s track team boasted several strong individual performances at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Indoor Championships over the weekend in Seattle. The team finished sixth with 53.50 points, with Oregon finishing first with 133 points.
Coach Jeanette Bolden was not worried about the team’s finish, since her focus was on individual performances rather than team standings.
“Right now we do not have the quantity, but we do have the quality,” Bolden said.
Coming into the MPSF Indoor Championships, the UCLA women’s track team had nine athletes carrying NCAA provisional marks. Senior Katy Viuf added to that list with her first appearance this indoor season in pole vault. Viuf finished third, with a mark of 4.15 meters.
Also in pole vault, sophomore Tori Pena finished second with a height of 4.25 meters, an automatic NCAA qualifying mark. As an automatic qualifier, Pena has ensured a spot in the pole vault for the NCAA Indoor Championships held in Fayetteville, Ark.
Sophomore Ryann Krais excelled in the pentathlon with consistent, strong performances in each of the five events to give her 4041 points and the victory. Krais improved on her previous provisional qualifying performance of 3890 points, which betters her chances for competing at the NCAA Indoor Championships.
Juniors Ashlea McLaughlin and Joy Eaton finished second and third, respectively, in the 400 meters, with NCAA provisional times. Both athletes have posted faster provisional times earlier this season, but the strong combined finish will give them momentum entering the season’s final weeks.
Junior Lindsay Rowe, who already holds an NCAA provisional mark, did not finish in her 60 meter hurdle race after she hit a hurdle, but Bolden believed that she could have had a strong performance.
“She is ready to make a big move, but she made a technical problem today,” Bolden said.
According to Bolden, her teams never fare too well at this particular meet but always show their strength when they reach the national level.
Some athletes still have one more chance to qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championships this weekend at the Last Chance Qualifiers meet held either in Seattle or Ames, Iowa.