For the men’s track and field team, the dual meet versus USC finished the way it started: with the Bruins huddled in the middle of the track doing an 8-clap. Only the second time there was a victory lap to follow.
The No. 7 Bruins took down the No. 10 Trojans on Saturday afternoon, 89-74, extending their winning streak over USC at Drake Stadium to 31 years.
“The Trojans are a very balanced and powerful team,” coach Art Venegas said. “Any mistakes made immediately show up in the meet. I thought that we couldn’t blink in the events where we had a chance to sweep or do well.”
That didn’t prove to be a problem for UCLA, as the Bruins swept a total of six events. By the end of the meet, they had recorded 13 lifetime bests, 22 season bests and 18 regional qualifying marks.
One of the lifetime bests occurred in the 110-meter hurdles, in which junior Kevin Craddock ran the No. 2 national time of 13.46 in his second race of the year.
“I was supposed to win the last two years and I didn’t win, and I came in this year and everybody expected me to lose because I hadn’t run,” Craddock said. “It was a good stepping stone. I can’t wait to get out there and do it again. That was a great (personal record), and I can’t wait to run again and do that again.”
Other highlights from the track included redshirt junior Kyle Shackleton leading the way in a sweep of the 5,000m with a time of 14:25.43. Freshman Spencer Knight finished first in the steeplechase with a lifetime best of 8:59.94, followed by two fellow Bruins in second and third.
Junior Laef Barnes won the 1,500m easily in 3:45.89, and in the sprints sophomores Brandon Smith and Stan Griffin scored points with a second place finish in the 100m (10.67) and third place finish in the 200m (21.15, lifetime best), respectively.
“The fact that we won in pretty dominant fashion ““ it just overshadows any individual’s performance today,” Barnes said. “We won as a team, and that’s the ultimate goal. So I’m happy to be a part of that.”
The team also exhibited their depth in the field events. Performances in the jumps and throws sealed the win for the Bruins.
Freshman Jonathan Clark led the way in the high jump, with sophomore Terrence Austin and freshman Taylor Hobson finishing second and third. All three athletes reached 6 feet, 8.75 inches.
Austin, who participated in spring football practices, was competing in his first meet all year, with only a couple days of practice behind him.
“After football, I wanted to see how my body felt and see what the coaches on the football field thought,” Austin said. “The ‘SC meet is always a big meet. We always try to win, so I was just trying to help out as much as I could.”
In the long jump and triple jump, UCLA earned second- and third-place finishes.
Senior Joel Tuosto (23-11.75) and Clark (23-6.75) scored in the long jump. Clark went over 50 feet in the triple jump at 50-1.25, and sophomore Steven Taylor jumped 49-2.25.
The throwing squad showed why it is one of the elite groups in the nation by sweeping the discus and shot put. Redshirt seniors Greg Garza and John Caulfield and sophomore Darius Savage took first to third in both events.
“It’s always fun to win,” Caulfield said. “I think it was supposed to be a tight meet, and everyone did what they were supposed to do, and we won the meet we were supposed to.”
Redshirt junior Boldizsar Kocsor started off the meet on the right foot for the team with a win in the hammer throw on Friday, with a mark of 214-10.
In the pole vault, redshirt freshman Johnny Quinn posted a lifetime best of 17-5 to lead the group of Bruins that dominated the event.
“We had the meet won at 16 feet,” pole vault coach Anthony Curran said. “We had five guys jump 16-7 or higher, so I’m excited.”
With the huge win in the rivalry meet, several seniors were able to end their UCLA careers on a good note. The next step for the team will be the post season with the Pac-10 Championships, West Regionals and nationals.
“As a senior you want to go out with a big one,” Garza said. “People were (getting personal bests) left and right. It felt like a good meet to end our regular season, our collegiate career.”