Season kicks off in Washington
The UCLA track and field team kicked off the 2003 indoor season
last weekend at the Husky Invitational at Dempsey Indoor Track
Stadium at the University of Washington.
Competing with over 60 teams, the Bruins were able to qualify
several athletes for the NCAA indoor championships and were also
able to shake the rust off from months of off-season training.
“I was real pleased with the results,” men’s
head coach Art Venegas said.
“Normally I’m rather apprehensive about opening
meets because athletes normally haven’t found their rhythm,
but this time we had real breakthroughs all-around.”
Women on the Track
The women’s distance medley relay team, the defending NCAA
indoor champions, have already secured their bid for this season’s
championship with an automatic qualifying mark of 11:07.16. Junior
Lena Nilsson (1200 meters), sophomore Monique Henderson (400),
senior Tiffany Burgess (800) and sophomore Alejandra Barrientos
(1600) finished second behind Stanford.
Nilsson, the defending NCAA outdoor 1500-meter champion,
finished third in the 3000 meters with a personal-best time of
9:13.15, qualifying her for another national bid and now puts her
at No. 5 in UCLA history in the event.
Burgess also claimed another NCAA-qualifying mark in the 800
meters with a winning time of 2:05.28.
Field Division
Junior Jessica Cosby, the defending NCAA outdoor shot put
champion, was the highest placing collegian with a mark of 54 feet,
8 inches. That mark qualified her automatically for the NCAA
finals.
There were also big wins by senior Julie Stevenson in the high
jump (5-10), freshman pole vaulter Chelsea Johnson (13-1.5), and
junior weight thrower Cari Soong (64-2.25)
The men were led by 2002 All-American junior Dan Ames. As the
highest placing collegian in the shot put, Ames also qualified for
an NCAA automatic bid in the 35-pound weight throw.
Freshman sprinter Matt Bruno started his UCLA career by
finishing as the fastest collegian in the 60m in a time of 6.82 and
also finished second in the 200 meters.
University honors Gaskins
Junior sprinter Nicole Gaskins was awarded the Charles E. and
Sue K. Young Undergraduate Student Award Scholarship. The honor is
given by the UCLA College of Letters and Sciences to
“undergraduates who have achieved distinction in their
studies, demonstrate research potential, and are active in the
university.”
Gaskins, an alternate on UCLA’s relay at the 2002 NCAA
Outdoor Championships, has a cumulative grade point of 3.813, the
highest GPA on the women’s track and field team. She
currently is involved with research studying the “Speaking
Fundamental Frequency Characteristics and Perceived Characteristics
of Black and White Women.”
Compiled by Jessica Bach, Daily Bruin Contributor.