No matter how poorly she has thrown the shot put the past few
months, UCLA’s Jessica Cosby repeatedly vowed she was due for
a breakthrough.
Saturday, less than one month before the championship portion of
the track and field season begins, it finally came.
Cosby, the NCAA champion in the shot put as a freshman, uncorked
her farthest throw in two years, capturing first place at the UCSD
Triton Invitational with a regional-qualifying mark of 55 feet,
11.50 inches.
It was the third-best collegiate mark in the nation so far this
year and was more than a foot farther than teammate Kamaiya
Warren’s second-place mark of 54 feet, 5.50 inches.
“I was pressing so much that I wasn’t allowing
myself to do what I was capable of doing,” Cosby said.
“But now all that’s been lifted. I’m starting to
feel like I’m getting back to where I was freshman
year.”
Such a strong performance bodes well for the senior, who has
struggled with the transition between the glide and the spin
technique in the shot put thus far this season.
Cosby, who boasts the best mark in the nation this year in the
hammer throw, hadn’t come close to finding her rhythm in the
shot put. Earlier this season at the UCLA Invitational, she threw
50 feet, 8.25 inches. And two weeks ago at the Rafer Johnson/Jackie
Joyner-Kersee Invitational, she managed just one fair throw that
traveled a paltry 46 feet, 3.50 inches.
But Saturday, with a light ocean breeze at her back, Cosby
appeared to regain her old form, dominating the competition and
re-establishing herself as a contender in the shot put at the
national level.
“We all knew she could do it, and she knew she could do
it,” Warren said. “She’s such an amazing thrower.
She’s one of the best I’ve ever seen.”
The performance was the highlight of the day for the UCLA
women’s throwers, most of whom look to be peaking at the
right time, with only Saturday’s crosstown dual meet with USC
remaining before next month’s Pac-10 Championships.
Warren, who was declared academically eligible to compete for
the Bruins only days prior to the meet, posted a lifetime best in
the shot put that moves her into ninth place on the national
charts. Senior Lara Saye, the NCAA leader in the discus, improved
her personal best in the event by a few inches with a throw of 188
feet.
Briona Reynolds, who redshirted last season, continued her
comeback with a solid performance in the discus.
“My teammates are amazing,” Warren said. “I
look to my right and left at practice, and there are great
throwers. I know we’re going to make a definite impact at
NCAAs this year.”
And Warren herself is primed to make an impact as well.
After a difficult two weeks during which she was unsure if she
would be able to compete again this season at UCLA, the talented
redshirt sophomore made the most of her return. Her mark was less
than a foot shy of her lifetime best and made her appreciate just
being able to compete again.
“It was one of the best experiences of my life,”
Warren said. “I’m really starting to feel like I did
last year at this time. I’m on my way.”
UCLA, scoring just 10 of its 69 points at the NCAA Championships
in the throwing events last year, knows it must improve upon that
total this season to have any hope of defending its national
title.
The feeling among the Bruins, Cosby said, is that they will.
“We’ve always gone in with the attitude that we can
contribute at NCAAs,” Cosby said.
“As seniors, Lara and I are going to compete with
everything we have, and that is starting to rub off on the younger
throwers as well.”