The UCLA men’s track and field team went into this
weekend’s NCAA Championships with high hopes, but after a few
rounds of qualifying, those hopes were quickly dashed.
The Bruins managed just eight points in their 33rd place finish
over the weekend in Sacramento after many of their key point
scorers failed to make their respective finals.
The biggest shock came when senior Jon Rankin failed to qualify
for the finals in the 1500-meter run despite being the favorite to
win the event. Two weeks earlier at the West Regionals in Oregon,
Rankin looked primed to make a run at the national championship
after soundly defeating many of his top challengers. However, in
his preliminary heat on Thursday, Rankin finished in seventh place
with a time of 3 minutes, 48.51 seconds and missed the cut by four
spots.
“This is the first time all year that it wasn’t
there,” Rankin said. “I’m confused and shocked
because when it was time to call on my reserves and kick, I just
couldn’t. There just wasn’t anything left in the
tank.”
Along with Rankin, junior Craig Everhart and the mile relay team
had disappointing finishes after being counted on to score vital
points for the Bruins.
Everhart, who had been ranked in the top twelve during most of
the season, missed the finals after finishing in sixth place in his
semifinal heat on Friday with a time of 46.44 seconds.
In similar fashion, the mile relay comprised of Everhart,
Brandon Johnson, Mario Bassani and Denye Versher team failed to
qualify for the finals after placing sixth in their qualifying
heat.
Despite these disappointing finishes, UCLA did have a few
excellent performances.
Competing in his last meet as a Bruin, senior Jonathan Williams
picked up his first All-American honor while sophomore teammate
Brandon Johnson picked up the second All-American honor in the
400-meter hurdles.
Williams finished in seventh in 49.76 seconds while Johnson came
across in fourth with a lifetime best time of 48.59 seconds as the
pair picked up the bulk of UCLA’s points.
“This is the first ever championship final for both
Brandon and Jonathan,” sprint coach Tony Veney said.
“I’m pleased with their maturity and ability to stay
focused during this whole process.”
Joining Williams and Johnson in the All-American category was
junior Erik Emilsson, who ran a personal best time of 8:34.80 in
the 3000 meter steeplechase on Friday. The time was good enough for
seventh place and gave Emilsson his first All-American honor as
well.
“It has been a long time since UCLA has scored points in
the men’s distance races,” distance coach Eric Peterson
said. “Erik’s performance has helped bring the Bruins
back into the national spotlight.”