Monday, 5/12/97 Bruins race to personal victories at Occidental
Invitational Bruins race to personal victories at Occidental
Invitational
By Emmanuelle Ejercito Daily Bruin Staff The UCLA men’s track
and field distance corps travelled to the Occidental Invitational
last Saturday and came home having set a few personal bests and
having taken a couple of first-place finishes. For Ritch Pitchford,
taking first place in the high jump is nothing new. Two Saturdays
ago, he earned five pivotal points for the Bruins against USC,
jumping 7 feet, 1 3/4 inches to finish first. At Occidental,
Pitchford did not need to break the 7-foot mark to claim a victory
in the high jump. Pitchford cleared 6-10 3/4, which was good enough
to win the event. Meanwhile, Mark Hauser posted his second-fastest
time of the season in the 1,500 meters. His 3:46.54 was fast enough
to take first place for the Bruins. Junior Matt Olin posted a
lifetime best in the 3,000-meter steeplechase for the second week
in a row. Olin, who ran a 9:14.4 during the triangular at USC,
bettered his time by one-tenth of a second at Occidental. Olin
improved his personal record to 9:14.3. Also shaving a few tenths
of a second off his personal best, sophomore Jesse Camp ran 1:51.60
in the 800. His previous career-best time had been 1:51.96. Making
the biggest gain on Saturday was Derek Loudenback. In the 400-meter
intermediate hurdles, Loudenback had previously held a best time of
53.8. However, last Saturday Loudenback pared his best time down to
52.48. Notably absent from last Saturday’s competition were juniors
Mebrahtom Keflezighi and Devin Elizondo. Keflezighi, who has
already automatically qualified for the NCAA championships in the
5,000- and 10,000-meter races, took the weekend off to recover from
a cold. Meanwhile, Elizondo has been nursing a leg injury and has
not competed in weeks. Elizondo’s best time of 9:10.11 this season
in the steeplechase is only one second off the qualifying time for
the Pac-10 championships, which will take place May 24-25. Faster
than a speeding bullet is an understatement when talking about
former Bruin sprinter Ato Boldon. Last Saturday at the Modesto meet
in which the UCLA throwing and sprinting squad also participated
in, Boldon verified his place as one of the world’s top sprinters
in his first outdoor 100 meter run of the day. Boldon crossed the
line in 9.89, being only the sixth man ever to run the 100 meters
in under 9.9. The women’s track team also had athletes
participating in the meets that took place this weekend in
Occidental and Modesto. Their results were unavailable at press
time.