Thursday, May 7, 1998
M. track notes
MTRACK
Big rivalry makes for big crowds
The men’s track team is pleased with its performance after
Saturday’s wins over USC and Brigham Young University. The team can
now rest easy knowing that USC has to carry the burden of another
defeat to its cross-town rival for another year.
"Losing to USC is the biggest disgrace that UCLA can suffer,”
said Jess Strutzel after the meet.
What didn’t suffer was the attendance of the UCLA-USC-BYU
tri-meet. Three thousand people showed up, making it the largest
crowd to pack into Drake Stadium since the Pac-10 Championships in
1996.
Bruins post record-breaking meet results
Saturday’s meet also brought out top performances, as head coach
Bob Larsen alluded to this week.
"The quality of that meet was exceptional when you look back on
it," said Larsen.
Four runners ran under 10.4 seconds in the 100-meters, three
athletes under 21 seconds in the 200 meters and a 1 minute, 47
second 800-meter time. That doesn’t include two meet records broken
on the men’s side in the pole vault and the 1,500 meter
competition.
Former Bruin John Godina competed in the meet as a non-scorer in
the shot put and discus. His throw of 220 feet, 5 inches in the
discus places him second in the world.
Godina, a world champion in the shot put and silver medalist in
the 1996 Olympics, had a mark of 70 feet, 10 inches in the shot
put, placing him in the top five in the world in the event.
Bruin injury report
Freshman sprinter Bryan Harrison injured his hamstring running
the second leg of the 400-meter relays on Saturday. He is
recovering and should be all right in a few days but will not
compete this weekend, according to coach Larsen.
Damian Allen, another sprinter, sat out the USC meet because of
soreness and minor injuries he received from spring football
practice on Thursday. Ibrahim Hasan will not race this weekend. He
still has soreness in his legs and needs more work, said
Larsen.
Trying for record in Trinidad
Assistant coach John Smith will be in Trinidad this week along
with Trinidad native and former Bruin Ato Bolden. Bolden will try
to set the world record in the 100 meter dash in his home
country.
Bolden, the 1997 200-meter world champion, will try to break
Donovan Bailey’s record of 9.84 seconds, set in 1996.
Notes compiled by Donald Morrison, Daily Bruin contributor.