Making it to nationals is always a huge goal in track and field. This weekend at the West Region Championships, the UCLA men’s team saw that goal achieved 11 times.
“We advanced pretty much every athlete that is critical to our chances at the NCAA Championships,” coach Art Venegas said. “We also added a few kids that were marginal going into the meet, so that’s really a plus for our team.”
Junior Kevin Craddock helped lead the way in the Bruins’ third-place team performance at the regional. His winning time of 13.47 in the 110-meter hurdles was fast enough to earn him the West Region record and prompted Venegas to say he looks “incredible.”
Also performing well for the Bruins was a group of freshmen: Taylor Hobson, Jonathan Clark, Johnny Quinn and Cory Primm.
Hobson tied for fourth in the high jump the first day of competition with a jump of 6-11.
“I’m still amazed right now,” Hobson said. “I’m so grateful because I was ranked No. 8 coming in. I wasn’t really expecting to make it to nationals at all this year.”
Clark, who had qualified for regionals in both the high jump and the triple jump but was held out of the high jump to save energy, is also very appreciative of the automatic bid to nationals.
“I’m excited that I get to go,” Clark said. “That was my goal for the end of the year, to make it to nationals, and whatever happens at nationals happens. I’m just glad that I’ll be there and get a chance to participate.”
Primm qualified in the 800m while Quinn joins redshirt junior Dustin DeLeo in qualifying for the pole vault. Both vaulters cleared the 17-5 bar and senior Chris Bencomo finished ninth, making him eligible for an at-large bid.
“It’s always good to have a teammate there,” DeLeo said. “It’s kind of more like practicing at home. We will just feed off each other’s energy and do as well as we can.”
While there will be a young contingency of Bruins at Drake University for nationals, there will still be many veterans adding experience.
For the throwers, redshirt senior Greg Garza finished second at the meet in the discus and will likely be joined by redshirt senior John Caulfield who is awaiting an at-large bid. Caulfield also qualified fourth in the shot put.
Garza only took three throws in the discus and passed on all his throws in the finals due to a cut on his hand.
“Garza was leading after three, but I stopped him,” Venegas said. “I wanted to make sure that he didn’t lose training next week. He kind of was begging me to let him get in and win it, and I said no, just wait for nationals, because that’s what it’s about.”
Sophomore Darius Savage qualified fourth in the discus and 12th in the shot put. With his high national ranking, he will also most likely receive an at-large bid for the shot put and said he is looking forward to being “able to have an impact on nationals” and compete in the discus, his “favorite event.”
“Savage is going to be somewhat dangerous because he’s starting to get his rhythm back after football,” Venegas said. “While other guys are holding on, he’s going to be building.”
Also qualifying in the throws was junior Boldizsar Kocsor who finished second in the hammer throw. Having four Bruins guaranteed spots at nationals goes a long way to ensuring that UCLA’s presence will be felt.
“It’s more intimidating for the other teams,” Garza said. “They see that you have a good program and a good base. It’s not just having one athlete that is good; it’s the whole team.”
Rounding out the automatic qualifiers was senior Henry Hagenbuch in the steeplechase. Venegas called him one of UCLA’s “front liners,” and he proved it with a second-place finish. Venegas said that, with a long training week ahead, keeping the team healthy will be key.
“It’s all about whoever is healthier and hits some good rhythm at the meet,” Venegas said. “No injuries, good dedication ““ that’s what we are looking for now.”