Friday, May 29, 1998
Seniors graduate with championship in pocket
SENIORS: Bruins strike again, capture third Pac-10 championship
in four years
By Donald Morrison
Daily Bruin Contributor
For the seniors of the UCLA men’s track and field team, the
Pacific-10 Championships at Stanford this past weekend gave them
something to remember for a long time.
The 11 competing seniors returned to winning form, after the
team placed second at last year’s conference meet, and captured
their third team championship in four years at UCLA.
Ten of the 11 seniors scored points for the Bruins at the Pac-10
meet, but all 11 had solid years and contributed to the team’s
winning effort.
The seniors came through in clutch situations this past weekend;
some, like hurdler Gerimi Burleigh, knew that it was their last
chance to shine.
"Knowing that this was my last race, I was able to run better,"
Burleigh said. "Everything else you’ve done up to (the Pac-10
Championships) doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter how you’re going
to go out so you just kind of let go and run."
Burleigh let go in his last race ever in a Bruin uniform and
finished fifth in the 110-meter hurdles at 14.41 seconds. This was
Burleigh’s fourth time placing in the top eight at the Pac-10
Championships. Burleigh placed eighth his freshman year, then
seventh the next year and sixth in 1997.
Devin Elizondo is another of four seniors that competed for the
last time in a Bruin uniform and made the most of his last Pac-10
meet.
After being injured for much of last season, missing last year’s
conference meet and injuring himself in the 3,000-meter
steeplechase final at the 1996 Pac-10 Championships, Elizondo
recovered this year, returning with a career-best performance in
the 3,000-meter steeplechase.
Elizondo, arguably, ran the best race of his career, finishing
third in a personal best of 8 minutes, 56.75 seconds. In his last
race, Elizondo eclipsed the nine minute barrier which he had strove
to break during his four years of running at UCLA.
"This is my last year, and to finish up and go out with a bang,
and bring back another Pac-10 Championship to where it should be,
is special," Elizondo said.
Matt Olin also ran in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and, despite
not scoring, finished ninth in 9:17.61. Olin ended his career with
his strongest cross country season ever, as well as his strongest
track season ever.
Earlier this year, Olin set a personal record in the
steeplechase when he ran 9:07.25.
Mel Moultry finally earned what he wanted during his tenure at
UCLA – a Pac-10 Championship. Moultry, in dramatic fashion, used
his final jump of the day in the triple jump and leaped 52 feet, 2
1/2 inches for a Pac-10 crown. Moultry upset favorites Gregg
Bleankey of Oregon and Kedjeloba Mambo of USC.
However, Moultry’s season is not over, yet. Moultry is headed
for Buffalo, N.Y. to compete in his first ever outdoor NCAA track
championships. Moultry, though, says he’ll do nothing different to
prepare for the big meet.
"The one thing that I like about going to the NCAA Championships
is that the pressure now is not on us as a team," Moultry said.
"Nobody really knows who I am, so I can go out and have fun."
One person familiar to most of the nation is four-time NCAA
Champion Mebrahtom Keflezighi. Keflezighi competed only in the
10,000 meters at the Pac-10 meet, but is gearing his energy toward
winning another NCAA title.
Keflezighi finished second in the 10,000 meters on Saturday in
28:38.48.
He was upset by Arizona’s Abdi Abdirahman, but Keflezighi has
had his share of Pac-10 titles. In 1996 and 1997, he won the 5,000
meter titles.
Keflezighi’s cross country teammate, Mark Hauser, also competed.
Hauser said he came out Sunday ready to run, and accomplished his
goal of scoring 10 points at his Pac-10 track meet. Hauser’s leg
speed enabled him to capture second in the 1,500 meters and eight
points for the team.
Hauser also scored two points by finishing seventh in the 5,000
meters. Hauser has one more chance to shine as a Bruin track
athlete when he runs the 5,000 meters at the NCAA
Championships.
All-American Scott Slover earned his second Pac-10 title in
three years in the pole vault. His winning effort earned the Bruins
their first individual title of the meet. He vaulted 18-2 1/2.
Slover is ranked second in the nation in the pole vault and hopes
to garner his first ever national title.
All-American Josh Johnson placed second in the javelin after
winning the event last year, but threw 235-2, his second best throw
ever. He was the first American Pac-10 finisher, as winner Esko
Mikkla hails from Finland.
Johnson will get one more shot at the NCAA Championships for a
personal record.
Ritch Pitchford, a Pac-10 high jump champion in 1995, placed
seventh with a leap of 6-8 3/4. Pitchford was bothered all year by
nagging injuries and illness. He ended his career at UCLA with a
personal best of 7-2 1/2.
Senior sprinters Brandon Thomas and Jim McElroy will represent
UCLA in the 4 x 100 meter relay at the NCAA Championships. The two
sprinters ran excellent legs in the 400-meter relay. The team upset
perennial sprinting power USC, emerging victorious in 39.57
seconds.
Thomas had his best meet ever. After struggling about two weeks
ago, Thomas came into the Pac-10s and finished fifth in the 100
meters in 10.50 seconds. The Long Beach State transfer tasted a
Pac-10 title for the first time.
McElroy ended his Pac-10 career by finishing fifth in 21.22
seconds.
McElroy, a recent signee of the Chicago Bears, said the
400-meter relay started the Bruin drive to a conference
championship.
"We talked at dinner last night and how we had to come through,"
McElroy said. "We knew it was going to be a close meet and we
needed all the points we could get."
The seniors gave UCLA 76 of the 135.5 points it earned at the
meet. Seven of the seniors have one more competition left in UCLA
uniforms, and they want to make it special. For those that are
done, like Olin, competing in these championships was an experience
that he’ll never forget.
"Yesterday I was a freshman," Olin said. "Time flew by. I had so
much fun. This was just a great way to finish. I couldn’t imagine a
better way.
"I did the best I could. Team-wise, it couldn’t have been any
better."
DERRICK KUDO/Daily Bruin
Senior Josh Johnson competes in the javelin throw.