SportsScope : Veteran, Talented Bruin Thinclads Open Seasons in Triangular Meets

The UCLA women’s and men’s track teams will open their seasons Saturday in triangulars with Cal State Los Angeles and San Diego State at Drake Stadium. The women will begin at noon and the men at 1.

UCLA men’s Coach Bob Larsen has 25 lettermen, including 6 All-Americans, returning from a squad that was 9-0 in dual meets and named the nation’s top team for such competition by Track and Field News. The Bruins finished eighth at the NCAA meet. They have won 20 consecutive dual meets dating to 1984.

Bob Kersee, whose Bruin women were seventh at the NCAAs, has all the performers who scored at the NCAA meet, including national discus champion Toni Lutjens, all-around star Gayle Devers and hurdler Gayle Kellon.

Devers was second in the long jump, fourth in the 100 hurdles and set an NCAA meet record of 11.12 for the 100 before scratching from the finals with a hamstring injury. Kellon was seventh in the 400 hurdles.

Bruin male All-Americans from the NCAAs are junior Kevin Young, who finished second in the 400-meter intermediate hurdles; sophomore Danny Everett, anchor on the Bruins’ second-place 1,600 relay team and fifth at 400 meters; senior Jim Connolly, fourth in the decathlon; senior Jim Banich, sixth in the shot put, and senior John Stanich and junior Anthony Washington, who were members of the 1,600 team with Young and Everett.

For complimentary tickets to Saturday’s meets, call 206-6744.