UCLA This Weekend At Occidental And Modesto T & F Invitationals This Weekend

UCLA This Weekend At Occidental And Modesto T & F Invitationals This Weekend

May 7, 2002

The Bruin women will also be preparing for the upcoming 2002 Pacific-10 Championships, May 18-19 in Pullman, WA and hosted by Washington State. Last year in Berkeley, the Bruin women won the Pac-10 title for the fifth consecutive time (seven total during Bolden's 8+ years) and the UCLA men placed third.

Bruins Beat USC Last Saturday (May 4) at Drake Stadium
Both the Bruin women and men defeated USC last Saturday (May 4) before 8,094 at UCLA's Drake Stadium in the traditional dual meet between the two schools. The Bruin women won for the 10th consecutive time, 111-92 and the UCLA men avenged last year's loss to USC, beating the Trojans 121-81.

UCLA Women Beat USC

Bolden's UCLA women's track & field team, ranked No. 4 in the U. S., defeated USC, rated No. 1 in the country. Leading the UCLA women were junior Tiffany Burgess, sophomore Sheena Johnson and freshman Monique Henderson.

Burgess, from Van Nuys Birmingham HS, won the 800m, in a collegiate best time of 2:03.73 (personal-best, NCAA automatic qualifier, and a new Bruin school record, breaking the old mark of 2:04.73, Francie Larrieu, 1974). Burgess also placed fifth in the 1500m (4:39.85).

Johnson, from Stafford, VA Garfield HS, won the 400m hurdles in the second-best collegiate mark of the season (56.56, season-best, NCAA automatic qualifier). Johnson also placed second in the 100m hurdles (13.53, season-best, NCAA provisional qualifier) and ran on both of UCLA's relays (third leg, 4 X 100m, second-place, 44.85, season-best, NCAA provisional qualifier; third leg, 4 X 400m relay, first-place, 3:32.02, season-best, NCAA automatic qualifier, No. 5 in school history).

Henderson, from Morse HS in San Diego, recorded the third-fastest time in the world this season in the 400m, winning the event in 51.33 (season-best, NCAA automatic qualifier, No. 2 in school history). Henderson, the prep 400m national record-holder (50.74), also anchored both of UCLA's relays.

UCLA's other winners on the track were ' freshman Carolyn Shea in the 3000m steeplechase (10:57.18), freshman Alejandra Barrientos in the 5000m (17:23.26) who was also second in the 1500m (4:31.83) and sophomore Lena Nilsson, who won the 1500m (4:26.66) and placed second in the 800m (2:03.89, personal-best, NCAA automatic qualifier, No. 2 current collegiate mark, No. 2 in school history).

In the field, the Bruins were led by sophomore Cari Soong, who won the hammer throw (209-1, meet record, old mark, 207-3, Christina Tolson, UCLA, 2001); senior Darnesha Griffith, winning the high jump (5-8 3/4), placing third in the triple jump (38-2 1/4, season-legal best) and fourth in the long jump (19-9 1/2, personal-best); freshman Jessica Cosby, taking first place in the shot put (54-10, personal-best, NCAA automatic qualifier, No. 7 in school history) and third in the hammer throw (185-9); senior Tracy O'Hara in the pole vault (13-0 3/4) and junior Chaniqua Ross, winning the discus (178-10, season-best, NCAA automatic qualifier) and placing fifth in the shot put (51-8 1/4, season outdoor opener, NCAA provisional qualifier).

The only women's double individual event winner was USC senior Angela Williams, who won both the 100m (11.30) and 200 (23.56). She also ran the first leg on USC's winning 4 X 100m relay (43.71, tied for the No. 1 mark on the current collegiate chart).

The Bruin women lead the overall series with USC 16-3. In the 2002 outdoor season, UCLA is 5-0 in dual meets and in her eight+ year career as the UCLA women's head coach, Bolden is now 68-0 overall, including a 9-0 mark vs. USC.

Looking Ahead
The Bruins and Trojans will continue to battle throughout the remainder of the 2002 outdoor collegiate season. After the Pac-10 Championships in Pullman, the 2002 NCAA T & F Championships will take place May 29-June 1 in Baton Rouge, LA, hosted by Louisiana State. In 2001, the UCLA women won the NCAA Indoor title, beat USC in the dual meet and at the Pac-10, but the Trojan women won the NCAA Outdoor title, with UCLA placing second. In men's competition last year, USC placed second at the Pac-10 and UCLA was third.