Men’s team makes coach proud with outdoor season debut

For the Bruin men, a dominating win and strong individual performances on their own track created a perfect beginning to the outdoor season.

“I was very, very happy,” coach Art Venegas said. “The quality of the marks was the most important part.”

This weekend at Drake Stadium’s Cal/Nevada Championship, UCLA blazed to victory with 215.50 points. The Bruins won by a 119.5-point margin.

Redshirt senior Boldizsar Kocsor, who won the hammer throw for the fourth straight year, led the Bruins. He is the only person to achieve this feat in the history of the Cal/Nevada Championships.

“It’s kind of cool,” Kocsor said. “You look at the book and there’s four in a row. It’s nice to be consistent with the meet, and it’s always nice to have a string of meets like that over four years.”

Kocsor was coming off an indoor season in which he achieved All-American honors in the weight throw. He only took three throws in the meet, but he won the contest by 12 feet and made the NCAA regional qualifying mark.

Kocsor was not the only Bruin to take a first-place finish, however. Senior Laef Barnes won the 5,000 meter with a lifetime-best time of 14:15.61. He was followed by three fellow Bruins to sweep the top four spots.

The pole vault crew also swept the top three spots in their event.

“I was thrilled with the vault,” Venegas said. “I think the vaults have really been a very solid area for us, indoor and outdoor.”

Redshirt sophomore Greg Woepse took the top spot with a 17-4.50 clearance to take the No. 1 spot atop the NCAA list this season and make his regional qualifier.

Redshirt sophomores Johnny Quinn and Casey DiCesare and senior Bobby Talley also achieved their regional qualifiers.

But Venegas was particularly impressed with sophomore Jonathan Clark, who took the triple jump with a 51-3 regional qualifying jump. His mark was more than two feet better than his previous season best and is currently the No. 2 in the NCAA this season.

Redshirt sophomore Nick Robinson tallied another UCLA win and regional qualifier in the shot put with a 57-9.50 throw.

Redshirt freshman Thomas Nagengast took the discus with a lifetime best and regional qualifying throw of 171-9.

Freshman Nelson Rosario took second in the long jump at 24-2.50 to qualify for regionals. Rosario will now take a break from his duties on the track team to return to the football field, where he will suit up as a wide receiver for spring ball.

Despite all the high marks, UCLA took the top spot at the meet even with athletes missing. Redshirt seniors Kyle and Drew Shackleton ran in the Stanford Invitational in Palo Alto on Friday night.

Both took home NCAA qualifying marks and lifetime bests in the 10,000m. Kyle Shackleton finished in 29:02.58 and now ranks fifth on the all-time UCLA list. Drew Shackleton crossed the finish line in 29:06.49 and took the seventh spot on the all-time UCLA list.

The Bruins were also without senior hurdler Kevin Craddock. Craddock made the decision to redshirt the outdoor season in an effort to fully recover from a injury. Despite the loss of Craddock, Venegas is still optimistic about the performance of the team and what it means for the future.

“The reality is that this is a good way for us to step up, we want to feel that we are progressing,” Venegas said. “The Rafer Johnson meet (April 9) will be super competitive, so if we don’t take advantage of this week, and build next week, it’s going to be a real difficult third week at home.”

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