Here’s a scary thought for the nation’s top
quarter-milers going into the heart of the outdoor season:
UCLA’s Monique Henderson says she’s running faster than
she ever has this early in the year. Saturday afternoon at Drake
Stadium, a few hours after receiving a plaque commemorating the
gold medal that she won as a member of the U.S. Olympic 4×400-meter
relay team last August, Henderson offered a glimpse of the
world-class speed she flashed in Athens, Greece. The senior
overpowered a strong field in the 100 and 200 meters at the third
annual Rafer Johnson/Jackie Joyner-Kersee Invitational, taking
first place in both events and suggesting that she has never felt
stronger. “I’ve been doing a lot of comparisons to last
season, and right now I’m ahead of where I was at this
point,” Henderson said. “That can only mean good
things.” Surpassing a 2004 campaign that will go down as one
of the best in school history won’t be easy for Henderson,
but that’s exactly what the San Diego native intends to do.
Besides winning the gold medal in Athens, Henderson took second
place in the 400 meters at the NCAA Championships last June and led
UCLA to its first national title in two decades. At least for one
Saturday in April, she was even better. Her performance in the 100
meters (11.54 seconds) was a lifetime best. Her time in the 200
meters (23.05 seconds) was the second fastest in the nation this
year. And her blistering anchor leg in the 4×100 meter relay was
enough to bring the Bruins from sixth place all the way to second.
“She’s doing well,” UCLA coach Jeanette Bolden
said. “The 200 was much better than she ran last year at this
time. I wouldn’t say she’s ahead of schedule, but
she’s right where she needs to be.” Some of the
intrigue was drained from Saturday’s meet when
Henderson’s strongest challenger, former Bruin and fellow
Olympic gold medallist Joanna Hayes, pulled out of the 100 and 200
meters. Her absence, however, didn’t detract from the
significance of Henderson’s two victories. Henderson has been
trying to convince Bolden to allow her to run both the 200 and the
400 meters at the NCAA Championships this year, and such a strong
opening race made her case even stronger. Henderson, who
won’t run her first open 400 meters until the USC-UCLA dual
meet at the end of the month, estimates that she will have to shave
half a second off her time in the 200 meters to make an impact
nationally. “Last year, my (personal record) was 22.7
(seconds) and I only ran three 200s,” Henderson said,
“so I feel like that’s definitely something I can
accomplish this year.”
SEASON ON HOLD: Kamaiya Warren, UCLA’s most promising shot
putter, is still awaiting several of her winter quarter grades, and
was not academically eligible to compete for the Bruins this
weekend. UCLA throws coach Art Venegas said he expected to receive
a full report on Warren’s academic status early this week,
and emphasized that he was optimistic the sophomore will be able to
rejoin the team immediately. “We just had some
technicalities,” Venegas said. “I’m very much
hoping it will be no problem at all.” Warren did compete
unattached on Saturday, taking second place in the shot put (52
feet, 2.75 inches) and sixth in the discus (161-08).
LIKE OLD TIMES: It was more than a foot shy of her personal
best, but UCLA’s Chelsea Johnson, the collegiate
record-holder in the pole vault, was very satisfied with her
13-foot, 9.25-inch effort on Saturday. Johnson, who took second
place behind former UCLA great Tracy O’Hara, has been
hampered by a hamstring injury the past two months, and had not
cleared 13 feet in a meet since the U.S. Olympic Trials last July.
“Today was a confidence builder,” Johnson said.
“I wasn’t trying to vault any particular bar. I was
trying to come out confident and do the same things technically
that I had been doing in practice.”
INJURY UPDATE: Sophomore McKenzie Hill, one of UCLA’s top
young hurdlers, did not participate in the meet due to a knee
injury. She will be reevaluated today, Bolden said, and her status
for the remainder of the season is in doubt. Another of
UCLA’s top hurdlers, junior Dawn Harper, is still recovering
from the indoor season and also did not participate on Saturday.
Harper will wait at least one more week before opening up in her
specialty event, the 100-meter hurdles.
ODDS AND ENDS: UCLA-bound Nicole Leach, a senior at West
Catholic High School in Philadelphia, showed why she’s one of
the nation’s top recruits, outclassing competitors from BYU,
Illinois, Utah State, and UC Davis to take first place in the
400-meter hurdles in a season-best 59.31 seconds … Freshman
Deshanta Harris took second place in the 100-meter hurdles in a
personal-best and regional-qualifying 13.82 seconds.