Monday, June 3, 1996
Junior defends high jump title to give Bruins top 10 finishBy
Scott Yamaguchi
Daily Bruin Staff
Limited once again by sheer lack of numbers, the UCLA women’s
track and field team was disappointed last weekend with its showing
in a championship competition, this time the NCAA outdoor meet in
Eugene, Ore.
The Bruins, who were riddled with injuries all season and
relinquished their three-year reign atop the Pacific 10 Conference
two weeks ago, finished the four-day NCAA competition Saturday with
26 points, leaving them in a tie for ninth place with the
University of South Carolina.
Louisiana State captured its 10th consecutive national title
with 81 points, while Texas was second with 52 points and Southern
Methodist was third with 50. Illinois (43), North Carolina (35),
Georgetown (34), USC (31) and Nebraska (29) rounded out the top
eight.
UCLA, which was named last week by Track and Field News as the
best dual-meet team in the nation, had been picked by the
authoritative publication for a fourth consecutive top-three finish
in this year’s national championships. But with just seven
competitors, the Bruins’ point potential was limited, and they were
unable to live up to the billing.
Still, they did maintain their status as a top-10 program, and
for that, head coach Jeanette Bolden was thankful.
"I’m happy that we were able to come up here and be ranked in
the top 10, because we had been in the top 10 the last three
years," she said. "We’ve struggled this year with injuries, and we
had some people redshirting, so we did not bring our strongest
team."
The Bruins were nevertheless well-represented, especially on
Saturday, when junior Amy Acuff successfully defended her
individual championship in the high jump. Acuff, the collegiate
record-holder, cleared the bar at a season-best 6-feet- 4
1/4-inches, beating second-place finisher Kajsa Bergqvist of SMU by
one inch.
Despite the mark, which ties her for second among all women in
the United States this season, Acuff was a little disappointed with
the manner in which the competition played out.
"I felt good, confident early," she said. "I was fired up in the
beginning, but because of the length of the competition, I got a
little sluggish."
Acuff wasn’t the only dissatisfied member of UCLA’s squad at the
NCAA Championships.
Senior shot putter Valeyta Althouse and sophomore discus thrower
Suzy Powell, both pre-meet favorites, were each shocked by
underdogs and finished second.
Althouse, who owns the American collegiate record of 61-10-1/4
and consistently threw beyond 59 feet this season, managed a throw
of only 58-8 on Thursday and was upset by SMU’s Teri Steer.
Steer, whose winning throw was 59-feet even, had a previous
season best of 57-2 1/4.
Powell, though not quite so heavily favored as Althouse, turned
in a solid performance and was still defeated. She threw 193-7, not
quite far enough to hold off Northern Arizona’s Anna Soderberg, who
improved her lifetime best by seven feet to 195-3.
"We have been losing to career-type throws from these women,"
UCLA assistant coach Art Venegas said. "It’s not like the whole
meet’s going to big PR’s (personal bests), it’s that the one
challenger is getting off. Last year, we were the ones who were
rolling on those kinds of things, but this year it’s been a little
tougher for us."
But even if Althouse and Powell had won their events, the
Bruins’ team standing wouldn’t have improved much, and with this in
mind, Bolden put things in perspective.
"It was a disappointing loss for Valeyta and for Suzy, but they
both got second and they still are All-Americans, and that’s
nothing to be ashamed about," she said. "How can I get upset at
Valeyta, who’s been there as a team captain for everybody and she’s
always been coming through? The girl that beat her just had a good
day, and Suzy gave it a gallant effort, and the girl had a good day
and beat Suzy. I’m still very proud of them."
Bolden also had reason to be proud of junior Darlene Malco, who
turned in a gutsy performance in Thursday’s 400-meter semifinals.
Malco won the Pac-10 title two weeks ago with a personal-best
52.39, but she strained a hamstring on the same day while running
the 200. By Thursday, she hadn’t completely recovered, and she
finished fifth in her heat in 55.41 and failed to qualify for the
final.
"Darlene gave a gallant effort," Bolden said, "but her leg was
still bothering her a little bit."
By the end of the meet, freshman hurdler Joanna Hayes’ leg was
bothering her as well. Hayes hit the fifth hurdle in the semifinals
of the 100-meter hurdles Friday and failed to advance to Saturday’s
final. She did, however, run a personal best 13.15 in Thursday’s
preliminaries, and gained some valuable experience at the meet, as
did fellow freshman Andrea Anderson, who competed in the
preliminaries of the 200.
"The freshmen that did come did their best," Bolden said. "Now,
they have seen what it takes to go to the next level, and not only
come, but perform and become All-Americans at nationals."
SUSIE CHU/Daily Bruin
Amy Acuff had few encounters with the bar in Eugene, Ore. where
she cleared 6-feet-4 1/2-inches to defend her NCAA outdoor
title.