TUCSON, Ariz. “”mdash; The sand had barely settled beneath
Candice Baucham’s feet when she turned her head and stared
expectantly at the judge after her first attempt in the triple
jump. He waved his white flag, meaning Baucham, who had fouled on
all three of her long jumps the night before, could breathe a sigh
of relief. The junior rode that momentum to a first-place finish in
the Pac-10 triple jump, approaching her personal best in the third
round with a meet record-tying mark of 44 feet, 8 inches. “I
had to make sure I got a good one in after what happened in the
long jump,” Baucham said. “After that first jump I
relaxed and did what I came here to do.” Jumps coach Robert
Johnson credits a small adjustment in her technique as she
approached the board as the major difference between Friday and
Saturday night’s performances. But Baucham believes
it’s simpler than that. “I was overthinking it,”
said Baucham, who is among the Pac-10 leaders in the long jump.
“I didn’t go through my normal routine, and that was
the result ““ fouls.” Whatever the reason, Baucham, who
had planned to compete in both horizontal jumps at nationals, now
may stick to her bread and butter, the triple jump.
“We’ll see how my body feels,” she said.
GORDON SITS: Noticeably absent among the
revelry Saturday night was sophomore Sheena Gordon, who did not
travel with the team to Arizona. UCLA coach Jeanette Bolden
indicated that her decision to rest Gordon was neither a
disciplinary action nor due to injury. “I just made a
decision that she should get ready for regionals,” Bolden
said. “It wasn’t complicated.” Gordon, the only
woman in the Pac-10 to top six feet in the high jump this year,
would have been the heavy favorite in the event at the conference
meet. Arizona State’s Jackie Johnson won the high jump.
Gordon’s teammate, Julie Stevenson, finished second.
BEATING THE HEAT: A bout with heat stroke did
not keep senior Adia McKinnon from qualifying for Regionals in the
400m. McKinnon, who made her season debut last weekend after
sitting out with an injury, nearly collapsed from the 90-plus
degree temperatures after the 400m prelims Friday evening. She
rebounded nicely, however, breaking the 55-second mark on Saturday
for the first time this year en route to a ninth-place finish in
the finals.