UCLA men’s, women’s pole vaulters poised to launch track and field into success

There’s more than one way to pole vault.

Freshman Sondre Guttormsen and sophomore Tate Curran are proof.

The UCLA track and field pole vaulting tandem have placed in the top three in both of its contests this year with Guttormsen sealing first-place finishes at the Dr. Sander Invitational Columbia Challenge and the New Mexico Collegiate Classic.

“(Guttormsen) jumps on really different poles. He’s got really different technique than I do,” Curran said. “I tend to stick more towards my (pole vault coach Anthony Curran’s) technique and style of training (while Guttormsen) has a different style of training. … (What) I’ve learned in training with (Guttormsen) at that high level is that there’s no one way to pole vault and there’s no one way to jump high.”

The two pole vaulters had very different backgrounds before coming to Westwood.

Guttormsen graduated from Davis Senior High School with both the indoor and outdoor CIF State Track & Field Championships pole vault records and made his name on the national stage at the 2018 European Athletics Championships. Tate Curran transferred as a sophomore from local El Camino College.

Anthony Curran, Tate Curran’s father, said Guttormsen and Tate Curran differ not only in technique but in personality.

“They’re both so good for each other,” Anthony Curran said. “Tate is kind of a laid-back surfer type of guy and (Guttormsen) is so focused in everything he does. … Tate cools out (Guttormsen) a little bit and (Guttormsen) pumps up Tate.”

Guttormsen and Tate Curran’s personal records of 5.71 meters and 5.32, respectively.

Tate Curran – who has finished third in his first two meets – said watching Guttormsen drives him in competitions.

“It’s always (a goal to go back-to-back in the pole vault),” Tate Curran said. “Everybody was going crazy. (Guttormsen) broke the national record, the meet record, all these things, all these accomplishments. He gets you to be like ‘I want to PR, I want to do well, I want to be in the mix, I want to be with those other guys, I want to be like them.’”

A dream brought to fruition

Working with your parent can be difficult, especially if they’re your coach.

That’s not the case with Tate Curran and his father and coach Anthony Curran.

“It’s been my dream since I was a little kid to have my dad as my coach,” Tate Curran said. “Growing up, a lot of people think it’s tough having your dad as your coach, but I just don’t see it that way. We have a really good relationship, father-son as well as coach-athlete relationship, so it works really well for me and it’s been a dream of mine forever.”

Anthony Curran – a former UCLA pole vault standout himself – was only able to coach his son a couple times a week while Tate Curran was in high school due to the time commitment of coaching his own pole vaulters at UCLA.

Now with his son on the team, Anthony Curran does not have to worry about that problem.

“It’s such a blessing,” Anthony Curran said. “Having the full-time access to him and being able to talk to him and travel with him has just been super blessing. I really never thought this was going to come true and I’m just having the time of my life.”

From walk-on to top-10 all-time

While the men’s pole vaulters are beginning their UCLA careers, redshirt senior Elleyse Garrett is entering her final season as a member of the women’s team.

Garrett said the camaraderie among the pole vaulters has enhanced her experience.

“The vault squad’s bond is the strongest because we spend so much time together and we’re always on the road together and we’re all supporting each other,” Garrett said. “Because we all know how hard the sport is, it makes (it) all that much closer.”

Garrett opened the season with a personal record indoor pole vault of 4.20 meters at the Dr. Sander Invitational Columbia Challenge, placing her at seventh on UCLA’s all-time indoor list.

Anthony Curran said he envisions Garrett walking away from UCLA in the top three in the women’s pole vaulting record list after joining the program in 2015.

Anthony Curran said the future for UCLA is bright because of the pole vaulters.

“After 35 years of coaching, I think these next few years are going to be the best,” Anthony Curran said. “What helps when you have great pole vaulters like Tate, (Guttormsen) and (Garrett) is it makes other kids interested in our program.”

 

Ross bounces back from early season vault stumble to achieve all-around success

Kyla Ross wasn’t going to let a stumble on vault define her season.

When No. 3 UCLA (4-0, 3-0 Pac-12) took on No. 24 Stanford (0-3, 0-3) on Jan. 17, the junior under-rotated in her vault routine, causing her to stagger backward and risk hitting her head on the table upon landing. She scored the lowest vault score of the night with a 9.325.

Coach Valorie Kondos Field said Ross was not sure that she wanted to compete on balance beam after her falter on vault during the Stanford meet.

“She just said, ‘I feel like I need to take myself off beam. I just don’t feel like I’m in it tonight,'” Kondos Field said. “That’s weird for (Ross) to say because (she) can turn it around anytime she wants. I told her I would make that decision because I knew that once she saw that the team needed her to compete, she would do well.”

Kondos Field said just moments before her turn to perform on beam, Ross approached her to confirm she was ready to compete, because she’d do anything to help her team succeed.

Ross went on to post a 9.925 on beam − the second highest score of the night for the event − and 9.900 on uneven bars − the top score for that event of the night for UCLA.

When UCLA went to Corvallis, Oregon to take on Oregon State this weekend, Ross was determined not to let the same thing happen on vault.

Ross was the fifth Bruin to complete her vault routine. She stuck her skills while she was in the air, but over-rotated just enough upon landing that it caused her to take a step forward to steady herself on the mat.

“The past two meets I’ve under-rotated on vault,” Ross said. “(Associate coach Randy Lane) said that it doesn’t matter if you take a step forward if you are going big, which I was. I was really excited when I finished. I didn’t want to think about the one that I stuck in warm-ups or I would mess it up.”

Ross posted a 9.850 for the event and the crowd went wild.

“My teammates make it so fun and easy to cheer,” said sophomore Nia Dennis. “My energy was on a different level (Saturday). I was so excited for each of my teammates. Everyone was dialed in, so each cheer felt totally natural.”

Ross followed that up with a perfect 10 on uneven bars, and 9.900s on balance beam and floor exercise. The former Olympian − who is tied for fifth in the all-around − was the only competitor to compete in the all-around competition in Corvallis.

Ross’ perfect 10 on bars against Oregon State came just three weeks after her first perfect 10 on the event at the Collegiate Challenge on Jan. 12.

“I was really excited about how solid I hit the routine,” Ross said. “I felt pretty good about it even before I got the score. It felt like I was in rhythm and I had a good flow going throughout the routine.”

Ross has scored two 10s and averages 9.945 on the event − good for the No. 2 national ranking.

Kondos Field said Ross’ national championship-worthy routines do not surprise her anymore.

“It’s gotten to a point where anytime (Ross) hits a routine, it should be a 10,” Kondos Field said. “She had one going on beam this week too, but she just got ahead of herself. Basically, our entire roster, if they can hit, they’ll get a 10.”

UCLA will meet No. 15 Washington on Sunday − and Ross is expected to compete all-around once again.

Undefeated women’s water polo looks to continue making improvements

The Bruins have been focused around one question that coach Adam Wright asks his players week after week.

“How are we progressing and getting better at the areas that we need to address?”

After a perfect start to the season, the consensus of No. 3 UCLA women’s water polo (10-0) is that there is still a lot that needs to be improved.

“This was the perfect example for our team and it was good to go through what we went through,” Wright said. “You can’t treat one game different from the next and the goal is to learn from our mistakes.”

This weekend against No. 5 Hawai’i, No. 14 Fresno State and No. 15 Loyola Marymount University tested many different aspects of the Bruins’ game.

The Bruins had to overcome a two-goal deficit in the fourth quarter against the Lions and needed a goal in the very last minute to avoid their first loss of the season.

“There needs to be consistency in how we approach every game, in how we warm up and in our mentality,” Wright said. “Until we understand how important being consistent is in our everyday approach, who we are every day and how we act in and out of the water, it’s always going to be a step backwards.”

Wright said the right preparation and consistency result in improvement, but the Bruins’ mindset standpoint affected their physical standpoint.

Offensively, 6-on-5 success has been a point of emphasis all season.

In a weekend where UCLA scored in more than half its man-up shot attempts, it struggled against LMU, shooting just 5-for-14 in that game.

“The reality is when you don’t come with the right mindset and all of a sudden there’s pressure and the game is close, you do things you shouldn’t do,” Wright said Saturday. “You don’t set yourself up to be ready to shoot and you turn the ball over. (Against Hawai’i), the attack was a lot better.”

The Bruins found power play success in the other two games, shooting 5-for-8 against the Rainbow Wahine and 8-for-13 against the Bulldogs.

Junior attacker Maddie Musselman had her fifth and sixth career five-goal games in those two games. She picked up half her goals via the 6-on-5 advantage.

“There were a lot of different openings that I tried to expose and when I took advantage of them, they went in,” Musselman said. “We work hard on those 6-on-5’s in practice and I just tried to play my role.”

UCLA held its opponents to 8-of-23 shooting in man-down situations.

The Rainbow Wahine entered Friday’s contest 14-for-20 on power play opportunities but were held to just 1-for-7 in their loss to the Bruins. On Saturday the Lions were held to eight goals, the first time this season they didn’t score in the double digits.

“I thought we did a really good job communicating, especially in the second half of the LMU game,” said senior defender Rachel Whitelegge. “We’re starting to learn everyone’s tendencies a lot more and finish out our defensive possessions more often in critical moments.”

UCLA will compete in the Triton Invitational this weekend in San Diego. Wright said that this weekend showed signs of progress.

“There’s been a progression and we’re moving in a good direction,” Wright said. “From this weekend minus some setbacks to where we were last week and then two weeks ago in Santa Barbara, we’ve gotten better and will continue to get better.”

UCLA Transportation’s inattentive investments leave plenty of room for improvement

UCLA’s transportation system works just as well as the Los Angeles Rams’ offense did Sunday in the Super Bowl: It doesn’t.

UCLA’s transportation scene has slowly been improving over the years, adding more variety to the fray. Just two years ago marked the beginning of the electric scooter era, and now there are more ways than ever to get from one place to another – Uber, Lyft, public transportation, electric scooters and the classic: Bruin Walk.

But the future of transportation at UCLA is unclear.

Traffic congestion in LA has proven to be a blight on our society. To that end, the variety of options students have in order to go to and from campus only exacerbates this problem. Hundreds of students use ride-hailing services to get to class daily, scooters are littered throughout campus and buses stop beside Ackerman Union. Amid all this, UCLA Transportation maintains transit lines that are underused, inconvenient and not extensive. The university also aims to partner with private transportation systems.

Logistically, it’s a mess to manage so many transit options, and by spreading its resources thin, UCLA Transportation has failed to perfect any one mode of transit. Resources are finite, and the department fails to prioritize goals, instead trying to maintain an impractical focus on everything at once.

UCLA Transportation has coasted for the past nine years on steady state funding and university revenue. But its long-term transportation goals are hazy at best and nonexistent at worst. If UCLA wants to provide students with quality transportation, it needs to focus on its own transportation systems rather than tossing Benjamins at Uber and Lyft.

The university has implemented multiple new initiatives to reflect students’ growing reliance on private transportation. But this is resulting in a neglect of the department’s own programs and a potential influx of vehicles coming onto campus.

David Karwaski, senior associate director of UCLA Transportation, said he has been highly cognizant of traffic congestion and what needs to be done to reduce it.

“We would like to reduce campus greenhouse gas emission, reduce traditional air pollution from cars and reduce traffic congestion in and around LA,” Karwaski said.

But while he says one thing, UCLA Transportation’s actions say another. Its most recent program was a flat-rate fare for Lyft Line for short trips on and around campus.

Granted, the purpose of the measure was to reduce rates for Lyft Lines and uberPOOLs so more students would share rides, resulting in fewer private vehicles on the streets. That’s relevant given that 1.3 percent of students use Lyft to get to class every day, and a comparable number likely use Uber.

Before implementing flat-rate charges for Lyft Line and uberPOOL, UCLA Transportation added 13 pickup spots strictly for ride-hailing services. All of these actions point to a pattern of incentivizing private transportation in the short term.

“Are we going to be pursuing further things with ride-hailing? Most likely, yes,” Karwaski said.

But the decision to partner with these private companies is short-sighted. These agreements draw resources from other aspects of transportation on UCLA’s campus. Rather than investing in private transportation, it’s time to do something that’s just common sense: investing in public transportation by narrowing in on a few specific forms of campus transportation.

Incentivizing public transportation would result in fewer students being inclined to take Ubers in the first place. For example, expanding the BruinBus route to take more students from the Hill to campus would accomplish the same goal as incentivizing private company ventures. Changes like adding more bus stops on campus would make movement at UCLA far easier, reducing the need for a quick Uber to class or a Lyft back to the dorms.

Nishanth Yeddula, a first-year applied mathematics student, said he would use BruinBus regularly if it were more convenient.

“It would be a huge development on campus to have BruinBus expanded and made more popular. The service can definitely be improved upon,” Yeddula said.

It might seem counterintuitive to decrease transportation diversity and restrict the number of ways students travel. In the long term, it makes more sense to have a wide variety of methods to travel. Or at least, it would if it weren’t for a plethora of mediocre services of uninspiring quality. Committing to a few, excellent services would result in a less crowded campus. Ubers and Lyfts are contributors to the problem, not its solution. Money going to these companies is money that isn’t going toward building more robust means of public campus transportation, advertising UCLA Transportation’s services and generally improving lackluster programs.

The issues we see today stem from an unrealistic budget plan, an overextension of resources and an irrational rush to throw money at private companies without considering the consequences.

That’s as bad as having a historic, low-scoring loss in the Super Bowl. Just ask the Rams how they feel.

Late resident assistant application impedes student search for housing

Nothing describes Westwood better than its “Hunger Games” of a housing market. And nobody knows the fight for security better than UCLA’s resident assistant applicants, who are forced to fight for a place to live.

The RA application for the 2019-2020 school year was due Jan. 4, before the start of winter quarter classes. After a grueling interview process, offers are finally sent halfway through February – the middle of Westwood’s notorious apartment-hunting season.

Many Westwood landlords and housing companies have units filling up as early as January, with waitlists overflowing by the end of the month. It is even more difficult to find available housing in February. Students applying to be RAs have few options to navigate the market without losing their money, jobs or homes – maybe even all three.

Prospective RAs are thus caught in a catch-22, in which they are forced to choose between signing a lease to secure an apartment and gambling their livelihood on whether they will be eligible for an RA position.

Students effectively must choose between certain, but expensive housing, or uncertain, yet free room and board. UCLA Housing and UCLA Residential Life need to realize the fear and stress students face because of this arbitrary deadline and move the deadline up much earlier.

The decision to secure off-campus housing is often made as students who want to live with roommates find themselves in a situation in which they can’t all sign their lease to guarantee a unit when one of them is still waiting on results from the RA application process.

Gareema Agarwal, a second-year neuroscience student, said the delay in her application results has complicated and delayed her roommate group’s apartment search, since the difference in one roommate can affect rent costs for everyone else.

“I’ve felt like a burden on my potential roommates since there’s been so much uncertainty about my application status,” Agarwal said.

Even if students proceed in apartment hunting with their potential roommates, they lose both time and money through tenuous deposits and application fees. Holding deposits, which can provide apartment guarantees anywhere from 24 hours to a few days, don’t provide potential RAs enough time to wait for confirmed answers from ResLife.

This problem is even more extreme for students left on the RA waitlist. With no idea if they’re likely to move off it or not, they face being left virtually homeless unless they quickly commit to an apartment.

Miya Eberlein, a fourth-year molecular, cell, and developmental biology student, said she didn’t learn she was on the waitlist until April. But, she remained on it because she was offered a second round of interviews to potentially move off the waitlist in June.

“I found out that I didn’t get it on June 20, 2018, but they still left me on the waitlist,” she said, “I thought I could just commute, but I realized I needed to be close to campus.”

She desperately scrambled online, scoured the UCLA Free & For Sale Facebook page for potential roommates and luckily found some willing students and joined their lease. Students who live far from campus either have to endure a daily commute or likewise have to look for an apartment as school begins.

ResLife said in an official statement that it removed the waitlist this year and created an intern position, in which students are trained alongside RAs to step in if there are potential midyear vacancies. But this still keeps students trapped in the RA application process as an alternate, since midyear vacancies are extremely rare, all while preventing them from finding off-campus housing.

The stress, uncertainty and basic concerns of this precarious housing dilemma can be avoided if ResLife and Housing move the application due date up to fall quarter. Katherine Alvarado, assistant director of UCLA Media Relations, said ResLife moved the deadline from fall to winter a few years ago to benefit students still adjusting to life at UCLA. Yet, this becomes more burdensome as students begin to think about off-campus housing as upperclassmen.

“Moving up the deadline would help people who have unforeseen circumstances with housing or those who are stuck on the waitlist,” Eberlein said.

If students have a more definitive idea of their RA application results before winter quarter, they can move forward looking for apartments without the fear of losing a future job or capitulating to undesirable living conditions just days before the academic year begins.

Moreover, ResLife said it needs time to manage and implement the RA process, as it reviews data from students’ previous years to help with recruitment. By proactively analyzing this data over summer, ResLife can review current application information over winter break and have more time to train new recruits – a win-win for students and UCLA.

Although some students may not fear the unavailability of housing because they apply to live on the Hill as second- or third-years, many upperclassmen tend to gain interest in living off campus. Not to mention, there’s only a three-year housing guarantee, so fourth-years who face this dilemma also have to worry about whether they’ll be selected in the university housing lottery.

A small adjustment to the timeline of RA applications could drastically improve students’ ability to secure housing.

And that security can be the difference between giving back to UCLA as a residential employee or being fed to the Westwood housing market piranhas.

Budding Los Angeles: Promise of a booming industry is bringing investment firm interest to cannabis

Thirty years ago, buying cannabis was difficult, expensive and illegal. Buying cannabis in 2019 is somewhere between picking up a prescription from a pharmacy and buying beer from a liquor store. Join columnist John Tudhope each week as he visits cannabis companies in Los Angeles and discusses the budding industry.

Cannabis investment is a high-risk, high-reward game. No pun intended.

The legal cannabis industry is going to be enormous, no matter how you measure it. Not only are there retailers, cultivators and manufacturers, but there are also testing labs, attorneys, technology companies and a laundry list of different businesses vying for success.

New states are opening up legal markets, Canada has federally legalized marijuana and LA, the largest city in the nation with legal cannabis, continues to expand its industry – there are literally billions of potential dollars up for grabs.

Behind most, if not all, of these emerging companies is an investment. The money can come from the business owner, the business owner’s sister, a friend or an outside company that believes the concept, product or business owner is worth giving their money to.

To learn more about the financial influence behind the budding industry, I spoke with two different cannabis investment firms. I was curious about what makes the gamble appealing, and the risks associated with investing millions of dollars into a product that can land someone in jail in certain parts of the country.

Michael Waldman of Goldstock, a cannabis investment firm, said anywhere from seven to eight out of every 10 startups will fail, including cannabis businesses. Hopeful business owners bring what are called “pitch-decks” to these investors and present their companies and products, in return, asking for an investment a la “Shark Tank.” But unlike the rehearsed pitches and theatrical presentations of “Shark Tank,” Waldman said the majority of proposals he sees are not worth his time and money, and he looks to make upward of 10 percent return for the businesses he chooses to work with.

Roger Abramson, a businessman who built a $100 million business, said his venture capital firm, Abramson Accelerator, has an opportunistic stake in the infant market. He believes it is the fastest growing industry in America and is an avid advocate for the medical benefits of the plant.

“I’m an entrepreneur at the core – I’ve been in three industries, and I see the gold rush,” he said. “I believe it is going to be much bigger than people think. I think in 25 years this is a $500 billion industry.”

Abramson said the only way to ensure his money is safe is by doing his due diligence with thorough preliminary research on the company of interest. He has slept on couches and insisted on meeting people’s families to get a comprehensive understanding of the companies he might invest in and their business plans. Abramson said he prefers stock options – owning a piece of the company – rather than cash investment returns.

Abramson predicts that strict banking regulations which prohibit cannabis businesses from using common banking services will ease in six months and that cannabis will be federally legal in 24 months. I’m looking forward to seeing if Abramson’s predictions are correct, then maybe I might ask him to invest for me.

What these two investment groups have in common is first and foremost a passion for the future of the cannabis industry. They both stress the importance of knowing what businesses have growth potential and what businesses are risky. Ultimately, they both stated that cannabis testing labs are safe and have a high potential for return, and as such, are a focus for their firms.

Abramson and Waldman both referenced an oddly specific but impactful example about where they think the industry is headed: One day, they believe cannabis may be available in 7-Eleven convenience stores. I guess it takes this kind of vision to make risking millions of dollars seem worth it. Now I hope I’m not drinking the Kool-Aid, but I think the 7-Eleven example may not be far off.

What I learned about cannabis investors is that, in many ways, they are the same as any other investors – they take money and use it to stimulate businesses for a piece of the pie in return. But what makes cannabis investors different from any run-of-the-mill financier is that they believe in the massive future of cannabis – a future in which cannabis may be sold in between the AriZona iced teas and the Budweisers.

‘SNL’ alum returns from 10-year career hiatus with own show, “Older and Wider”

Julia Sweeney took a break from Hollywood to raise her daughter in the Chicago suburbs.

Years later, the actress and comedian returned to Los Angeles with several stories to tell, ready to launch back into show business.

Sweeney’s new show “Older and Wider” will run at the Geffen Playhouse from Tuesday to Feb. 17. The show puts a comedic spin on parenting, religion, feminism, cancer and her experience playing Pat on “Saturday Night Live,” she said. The Daily Bruin’s Jordan Holman spoke to Sweeney about the transition in her career and how she integrated humor into life’s serious stages.

Daily Bruin: What is the premise of “Older and Wider”?

Julia Sweeney: It’s really a comedy show about my life over the last 10 years where I left show business to become a homemaker in a suburb in Chicago, and then moved back to LA. It’s about all the things that happened to me while I was there. It’s about getting older, and launching a kid to college.

DB: What did you experience during your 10-year hiatus from show business?

JS: I adopted my daughter on my own and then I married my husband when she was 8. He had a business in Chicago, and so we decided that my daughter and I would go to Chicago and live there until she graduated high school, and then come back to LA.

DB: How are you able to make religion, cancer and feminism comedic?

JS: I think the darker topics are right for comedy because they’re so complex and because it’s so difficult to hit the right note. My first show was about cancer, another one was about religion – I was able to find humor in those situations. What made me laugh made others laugh. I figured out a narrative and pulled pieces of my life together.

DB: How did you weave all these diverse life experiences together?

JS: The show is all about what it’s like to give up your career and move to a suburb, and all the trials and tribulations that come with that. I talk about what it’s like to not really interact with show business very much at all. The show is about what I thought was funny – being married, teaching my kid to drive, her first boyfriend, trying to get her to go to this church that I wanted her to go but she didn’t want to go to, working here and there because I did stand-up at certain places. It’s about everything I did there, and how I made my way back.

DB: Why did you decide that now was the time to lean back into comedy?

JS: I was moving back to Los Angeles and wanted to work again. I wanted to act again. I was tired of writing for other people. I started helping out with (The) Second City in Chicago. I had a friend teaching history of comedy and film there, so I started helping out with the class and got very involved in the film program. I got to know the people working there, and I knew they had a theater so I asked for it for Sunday nights and started developing a show. I knew that in June or July I’d be back in LA and I wanted to come back with a show. So that’s what I did.