Now that her nagging injuries have finally healed, Monique
Henderson is showing signs of living up to her own press clippings.
Henderson, widely considered the top prep sprinter in the nation in
2002, has run a series of fast times over the past few weeks in the
100- and 200-meters. Then Sunday, in her outdoor season debut in
the 400m, Henderson lit up the track, taking first place in a
collegiate best 51.49 seconds. “This is the best I’ve
felt physically since I got to UCLA,” Henderson said.
“My confidence is way up.” Henderson, a junior, has not
performed well at the NCAA Outdoor Championships the past two
years, finishing seventh both times. Her top 400m mark the past two
years was more than one second shy of her best prep time, 50.79
seconds. But after resting during indoor season this year,
Henderson has excelled outdoors. She posted one of the
nation’s five best collegiate times in the 200m earlier this
month, and her time in the 400m Sunday is the third fastest this
season. Running a sub-52-second 400m was encouraging for Henderson,
particularly because it’s the fastest time she’s ever
run in her outdoor debut. She has set her sights on consistently
cracking the 51-second mark this season, and hopes to finally make
a run at the elusive 400m national championship. “My goal is
to run a personal record,” Henderson said. “If I can do
that, I’ll be in good shape.”
JUST SHORT: Sophomore Chelsea Johnson won the
invitational pole vault Sunday, but fell just shy of breaking her
own collegiate record. After eclipsing 14 feet, 8 inches, Johnson
made three unsuccessful attempts at 15-1.25, the first of which
came tantalizingly close. “My goal has been not to be just a
14-8 vaulter, but a consistent 14-8 vaulter,” Johnson said.
“Hopefully soon I’ll be consistent at 15 feet
too.” Sunday’s field included multiple world- class
athletes. Johnson’s closest competition came from Olympic
contender Mary Sauer, who placed second with a jump of 14-04.
SHORT SPRINTS: Alejandra Barrientos placed
second overall in the open 1500m field. She ran a personal best
time of 4:17.60, breaking her mark of 4:26.95 and qualifying for
the regional meet … Junior Jessica Cosby threw a season best of
56-7.25 in the shot put. Her mark qualified her for the regional
meet, as well as giving her a fourth place finish … Jenna
Timinsky’s time of 2:06.26 in the open 800m broke her
personal best of 2:07 and qualified the freshman for the regional
meet … Senior Melissa McBain broke her personal best in the 1500m
by just under a second with a time of 4:19.01.
With reports from Emily Masamitsu, Bruin sports
contributor.