It may not have been a perfect meet, but it worked. Goals were
accomplished, experience was gained, and the UCLA men’s track
and field team is ready to jump into the outdoor season with the
certainty that it can compete with the best.
Though UCLA finished a substandard 12th with 17 points at the
NCAA Indoor Championships this weekend in Fayetteville, Ark., it
was the senior leadership that led the team with benchmark
performances.
Guiding the Bruins were seniors Dan Ames and Juaune Armon, who
were among the top finishers this weekend, solidifying their
positions as team co-captains.
“We knew going in that the strength was Ames and Armon,
and that was the base of how successful the team was going to be,
no matter what,” assistant coach Eric Peterson
said.Â
“Look at how Danny came in and threw. They really are team
leaders, and Danny had what I think is the best national level meet
of his life. They are really the bread and butter of the
team.”
Ames was indeed successful, finishing third in both shot put and
weight throw. He earned his fourth straight All-American honor in
the shot and second in the weight throw. Ames, who said previously
his main objective was to simply set new personal records, did just
that in both events, throwing 65 feet, 6.75 inches in the shot put
and 71-2.50 feet in the weight throw.
Meanwhile, Armon finished fourth in his National Indoor
Championships debut. Though his longest jump tied with Texas
Christian’s Aundre Edwards at 26-1.75 feet, Armon lost the
tie-breaker by having fouled on more jumps. Â
“Juaune had a lot of foul problems, but on his final jump
he really exploded,” coach Art Venegas said. “Danny was
spectacular, and I couldn’t have asked for more. That’s what
you expect from your seniors.”
But while both Ames and Armon were successful in the field
events, the team once again suffered on the track, with the
distance medley relay team of Jon Rankin, Craig Everhart, Nick
Thornton and Ben Aragon running 15 seconds over its best time. Once
in the top five in the nation, the team finished a disappointing
12th.
Rankin, who ran the first leg, got off to a slow start from
which the medley could not come back from.
“This being the first NCAA experience was responsible, and
it just got worse from there,” Peterson said of the relay
team that entered the weekend with high hopes.
 “Everhart ran a terrific 400m and got us close to
scoring, but Thornton also ran below his ability. It was a case of
guys being young and new to the arena, performing
typically.”
Aragon also struggled in the mile preliminary, where he failed
to qualify for the finals for the second event by two-tenths of a
second. Lacking national meet experience, the middle distance
runner was plagued after getting caught up in traffic early in the
race.
“For the runners, it was either their first or second time
running at the national level,” Peterson said. “Ben is
such a strong kid. He just needs to prove it to himself, and
validate his strength and fitness level through a solid
performance.”
But though the Bruins were not as triumphant on the track as
they had hoped, the coaching staff still view the weekend as a
success. The younger athletes were able to gain valuable national
championship experience that will come in play during the outdoor
season, which continues next weekend at Northridge, while the
seniors were still able compete with the elite athletes in their
events.
Perfection it wasn’t, but they’ll still take it.