March 18, 2000
LOS ANGELES -- The UCLA men's and women's track and field teams hosted their outdoor season opener on Saturday afternoon at the newly renovated Drake Stadium on the UCLA campus. In women's competition, the Bruins won the triangular meet with a score of 170, followed by Washington (107.5) and California (104.5). In dual meet format scoring, UCLA defeated Cal 116-70, and Washington by a score of 119-72. California and Washington tied with a score of 91.5-91.5.
The men's competition saw California win the triangular meet with a score of 144.5, followed by Washington (142) and UCLA (123.5). The dual meet scoring broke down as follows: California 99.5, UCLA 97.5, Washington 109, UCLA 90, Washington 100, California 99.
The women's meet saw the Bruin 4x100m Relay team of Tamar Cherebin, Keyon Soley, Michelle Perry and Shakedia Jones win in a time of 44.64. Individually on the track, Perry won the 100m Hurdles in 13.70, while Shakedia Jones was the other Bruin track event winner, taking the 200m dash in 23.93.
In the field events, the Bruin women captured six event titles, including a 1-2-3 finish in the women's pole vault and a mark of 200-1 by Seilala Sua to win the discus throw, a mark that exceeded the NCAA automatic qualifying standard by 5.00 meters (16-4.75 feet). Tracy O'Hara, the NCAA Indoor Champion, won the pole vault with a clearance of 13-7. Teammates Heather Sickler and Erica Hoernig finished second and third, both with a clearance of 11-11.75.
Other women's field event winners for the Bruins were Christina Tolson in the shot put (52-6.75) and hammer throw (201-6), Darnesha Griffith in the high jump (5-10.5) and NCAA Indoor Champion Keyon Soley in the long jump (20-0.25).
On the men's side, Jess Strutzel turned in an impressive performance for the Bruins on the track, winning the 1,500m Run in a time of 3:46.99, and ran the second leg of the UCLA 4x400m Relay which won in a time of 3:12.46. Strutzel was joined by Tom Jonsson, Kyle Erickson and John Hall on the relay. The other Bruin individual track champion was Hall, who won the 400m Hurdels with a 51.62. Scott Moser won the hammer throw with a mark of 189-8 and was the only Bruin to win a field event on the day.