When the postseason is in full swing, teams usually rely on
their veterans to bring home big points, but for the Bruins, the
underclassmen are stealing the show.
Thanks in large part to a stellar effort by several freshmen and
sophomores, the No. 13 UCLA women’s track and field team
placed second over the weekend at the Western Regional
Championships in Provo, Utah, just one and a half points behind
co-champions USC and Stanford who each scored 94 points. The team
saw eight athletes and both relays finish in the top five,
qualifying them for the NCAA Championships at Sacramento State.
In addition, four Bruins took home individual Western Regional
titles, three of which were captured by freshmen.
“We performed a lot better than we did at the
Pac-10s,” UCLA coach Jeanette Bolden said. “We still
have such a young team, so I’m hopeful that they will just
get better and better going into nationals and carrying over into
next year.”
Most notably, freshman Rhonda Watkins surprised everyone when
she took home two individual championships. Watkins started off the
day on Friday by winning the long jump with a lifetime-best leap of
21-6. Her jump set the Western Regional record as well as the
Trinidad and Tobago junior national mark.
Watkins’ performance also moves her to third in the nation
currently and also first in the world for juniors. “We knew
Rhonda had a great amount of talent in the long jump,” Bolden
said. “She usually does the high jump first, but on Friday
she got to do her favorite event first which let her get a personal
record (in the long jump.)”
Shortly after winning the long jump, Watkins, who was the Pac-10
high jump champion, added a second regional title by winning the
high jump in easy fashion, clearing 5-9.25.
The underclassmen also shone on the track. Freshman Nicole Leach
took the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 56.54 while the 4x100m
relay team, comprised of freshmen Leach, Krystin Lacy, Chanelle
Curry and sophomore Jolanda Diego, also moved on to Sacramento as
they finished fourth with a time of 44.76.
Diego also advanced to the NCAA Championships in the 200m.
SENIORS SHINE TOO: Not to be outdone by the
freshmen, several of the team’s seniors also put in big-time
performances.
Two weeks ago, Dawn Harper finished in a disappointing last
place in the Pac-10 100m-hurdles finals after a mishap with her leg
bandaging forced her to slow down. On Saturday afternoon, the star
hurdler was able to redeem herself.
Harper bounced back from that setback in grand fashion, placing
second in the 100m hurdles. She ran a lifetime best of 12.80 and
now owns the third best time in school history. Chelsea Johnson won
the Bruins’ fourth title over the weekend, winning the pole
vault by clearing 13-11.75 in less than ideal conditions. Johnson
will now look to add a third individual NCAA title to close out her
amazing UCLA career.
OTHER QUALIFIERS: Redshirt sophomore Renee
Williams placed in the top five in both the long and triple jumps.
… Redshirt senior Caroline Sommers tied for second in the high
jump. … Redshirt junior Kamaiya Warren placed fourth in the
discus. … The 4x400m relay team will also advance with a
fourth-place finish.