Six UCLA alumnae, including recently graduated senior Monique
Henderson, are competing in the 2005 World Outdoor Track and Field
Championships in Helsinski, Finland, which takes place from Aug. 6
to 14. Henderson is competing in the 400-meter dash, and she is
joined on the USA team by former Bruins Joanna Hayes and Michelle
Perry in the 100m hurdles. Other Bruin alumnae competing are Amy
Acuff in the high jump, Seilala Sua in the discus and Tracy
O’Hara in the pole vault. Combined, the athletes from UCLA
have more representatives competing than any other university
nationwide. Henderson, who won the 400m as a senior, earned her
berth on the U.S. national team by placing third in the 400m at the
U.S. Track and Field Championships, which took place at the Home
Depot Center in Carson earlier this summer. In that race, Henderson
had a time of 49.96 seconds, which was a personal best. Henderson
has experienced early success in the World Championships. She
advanced to the semifinals by finishing second in the sixth heat
with a time of 51.65 on Sunday. Sua, whose ninth place finish in
the qualification stage of the discus throw eliminated her from the
competition, is going to return to the UCLA women’s track
team as a coach this year, according to a press release from the
USA track and field Web site. “My season’s done,”
Sua told usatf.org. “I’m coaching the UCLA
women’s team next year, and that’ll help me get
motivated, get back in the game.”
MEN’S SOCCER: UCLA senior goalkeeper Nate Pena was named
Goalkeeper of the Year by the Premier Development League on
Tuesday. Pena posted a 0.47 goals against average as a member of
the Orange County Blue Star and led the league with seven shutouts
and 13 wins. The Blue Star went 15-1-0 and won their regular-season
championship. The team, which lost 2-1 to the Des Moines Menace in
the PDL semifinals on Saturday, was composed of senior defender
Jordan Harvey, junior defender Brandon Owens, sophomore forward
Kamani Hill and senior midfielder Ryan Valdez. The former Bruins
who competed on the team were Taylor Canel, Brian Irvin, and Nick
Theslof, who also served as the team’s coach. The other Bruin
team competing in the PDL playoffs was the Southern California
Seahorses, which lost its Western conference semifinal to the
Cascade Surge. The team featured junior midfielder and defender
Patrick Ianni, junior defender Kiel McClung, senior forward Evan
Corey, and junior goalkeeper Eric Reed, who had five shutouts
during the season. The PDL championship will take place next
Saturday between the Des Moines Menace and the El Paso
Patriots.
BASEBALL RECRUIT SHINES: UCLA commit Gavin
Brooks, a senior at Rancho Buena Vista High School, has been
selected to play in the 2005 Aflac All-American Baseball Classic on
Aug. 13 at Ripken Stadium in Aberdeen, Md. Brooks batted .375 and
posted a team-best 22 RBI in an abbreviated junior season and has
been ranked No. 27 in his 2006 class by Baseball America.
BRUIN GREAT CHOSEN: Former UCLA point guard
Tyus Edney has been chosen as one of 16 participants to compete for
2005 USA Basketball Men’s World Championship Qualifying Team.
The 16 players will compete for 12 spots on the USA team, which
will compete Aug. 24 to Sept. 4 in the Domincan Republic for the
FIBA World Qualifying Tournament. As a Bruin senior, Edney was
given the Francis Naismith award for the nation’s best player
under six feet tall. Edney was a three-time All-Pac-10 performer
and was named the Most Outstanding of the NCAA West Regional in
1995, the year the Bruins won their 11th national title. After
graduating from UCLA, Edney played four years in the NBA and is now
competing with Lottomatica Roma of the Italian pro league.
Compiled by Bruin Sports senior staff.