University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
UCLA
Rafer Johnson/Jackie Joyner Kersee Invitational
Giovannoni Wins RJ/JJK Decathlon With New Meet Record
April 08, 2011 | Track & Field
April 8, 2011
In the UCLA meet named after two of the greatest athletes in the sport of track and field, it was only fitting that a Bruin took home first in the multi-event competition at the Rafer Johnson/Jackie Joyner Kersee Invitational. Sophomore Dominic Giovannoni won the decathlon after two days of competition with an impressive score of 7192 points, smashing the meet record set in 2010 by Sam Schur of Sacramento State (6888 pts.). Giovannoni wasn't the only one to break the meet record as junior Trent Perez's score also would have set a new mark (6992 pts.).
Giovannoni led from start to finish as he posted a lifetime-best score of 7192 points (previous best was 6507 pts). The transfer from Northern Arizona University, tallied three event wins during the 10-event competition. On Friday, he opened up with a win in the 110m hurdles with a lifetime-best run of 14.91 (860 pts.). After fouling his first two attempts in the discus, Giovannoni pulled out a fair throw on his last try, finishing third in the event with a mark of 121-8 (605 pts.).
The pole vault was a big event for the sophomore as he cleared a lifetime-best of 15-1 to finish third overall for 790 pts. (previous best was 14-7.25). He was third in the javelin with a throw of 158-9 (565 pts.). In the final event of the competition, the 1500m, Giovannoni needed to run under 5:46 to break the meet record and he easily surpassed that time as he clocked 4:41.00 for 674 pts. His score of 7192 points is one of the top 15 scores in the NCAA this season.
Perez had a career day as well as he narrowly missed the 7000 point barrier by finishing second with a score of 6992 points. He started the day off with a fifth-place finish in the high hurdles, running 16.08 for 724 pts. In the discus, Perez was seventh overall with a throw of 105-0 (504 pts.). The pole vault, which is one of his strongest events, saw Perez finish second overall with a season-best mark of 15-9 (849 pts.). He threw a lifetime-best of 164-10 in the javelin to finish second overall and pick up 592 pts. In the final event of the day, the 1500m, Perez finished first with a time of 4:21.54 (801 pts.) to give him a final score of 6992 points.
The third Bruin decathlete competing, David Thomas, also posted a lifetime-best score as he placed sixth with 6256 points. The sophomore was sixth in both the high hurdles (16.21/709 pts.) and discus (113-3/554 pts.). He had a huge day in the pole vault as he continued to clear bar after bar. Thomas ended the day with the winning vault as he cleared 16-00.75. That was a lifetime-best by nearly a foot and gave him 880 pts. In the javelin, he was forced to throw left-handed due to an elbow injury and he finished seventh with a mark of 68-2 (172 pts.). He ended the day with the fourth-fastest 1500m time (5:01.25) to pick up 553 points towards his lifetime-best score of 6256.
The multi-event athletes weren't the only ones in action on Friday as distance runners, javelin throwers and a pole vaulter were also in action. In the open pole vault, senior Eric White tied for seventh with a clearance of 14-1.25. In the javelin, senior Andreas Drbal was second (194-4), sophomore Carlo Valdes was third (194-1) and freshman Matthew Kosecki was fourth (193-1).
Freshman Jacob Wood was the sole competitor in the steeplechase as he ran a lifetime-best by nearly 40 seconds, clocking 9:35.36. In the open section of the 1500m, sophomore Alec Govi was eighth (3:55.22), freshman Jordan Senko was 10th (3:57.56) and sophomore Zack Torres was 13th (4:00.31). Senior Jake Matthews was the top collegiate finisher in the 5000m (2nd overall) as he ran 14:35.52. Sophomore Jun Reichl was sixth (lifetime-best, 14:55.92), freshman Daniel Rosales was seventh (15:04.85) and sophomore Amjed Aboukhadijeh was eighth (lifetime-best, 15:10.48).
Competition concludes on Saturday with the invitational sections of the meet. Field events begin at 10:00 am with the hammer, while running events start at 12:15 pm.
Players Mentioned
