Pacific 10 Track and Field Meet : Throwers Help UCLA Take First-Day Lead

It was like monitoring the stock market on election day. That’s how wildly the fortunes of the UCLA men’s team fluctuated Saturday, the first day of the Pacific 10 Track and Field Championships at Stanford Stadium.

There were alternating wild moments of despair and exultation for the Bruins, the defending champions, as the team’s fate rose and fell in dizzying sequence. At the end of the day, UCLA led with 67 points, Oregon was second with 51 and Washington was third with 45.

“It’s been difficult, going up and down like this,” UCLA Coach Bob Larsen said.

With many Bruin sprinters injured and used sparingly, and without hurdler Derrick Knight, Larsen had downplayed his team’s chances. Oregon, Larsen said, was the favorite. At times Saturday, it seemed he was right. After getting off to a good start early on a sunny day, the Bruins crashed in the 400 relay and the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Then they came back with surprises in the javelin and pole vault. Then there was a disappointment when Mike Wisnovsky failed to qualify in the 800.

A breakthrough in the shotput--where the Bruins were 2-3-4--and the long jump--where they were 2-3--changed their fortunes again.

UCLA’s women were right where Coach Bob Kersee wanted them to be after the first day.

“We didn’t have any major problems,” Kersee said.

The Bruin women were following form by following the exploits of Tonya Sedwick, who won the seven-event hepathalon here earlier in the week. She won the long jump Saturday by equaling her best performance ever with a leap of 20 feet 7 3/4 inches, a mark that qualifies her for the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. championships. She won her heat in the 400-meter qualifying round and she won her heat in the 200 qualifying.

In addition to those races, she will run two relays today.

The Bruins, who have won this championship the last two years, were in second behind Arizona, which had 48 points, UCLA had 40 and Oregon had 39. USC’s women had 12 points.

Things went badly for USC’s women, when Michelle Taylor appeared to win the 400 meters but was later disqualified for running out of lane. A highlight for the Trojans came in the day’s last field event. Freshman Ashley Selman won the javelin throw on her last attempt, setting a school record with a personal best of 176 feet 10 inches.

The best is yet to come, as far as UCLA is concerned--Kersee regards his team as being stronger on the second day.

It was bleak for the Bruin men until late in the meet, when McArthur Anderson and Derrick Baker exploded for personal bests in the long jump. Anderson was second with 25-11 1/2 and Baker was third with 25-8.

The performance in the shot was less surprising but still welcome. David Wilson was second with a throw of 64-0 1/2, Eric Bergreen was third in 62-5 1/2 and Brian Blutreich was fourth in 61-4. Their performances gave UCLA 18 points. UCLA already had 11 points in the hammer and six in the javelin. Out of the Bruins’ 67 points, 35 were from the throwers.

UCLA suffered its heaviest blows back-to-back. The first came in the steeplechase. Jim Ortiz had told Larsen he felt ready, enough to go out with the leaders. Larsen had figured Ortiz was capable of placing fourth or fifth.

“The problem with going out with the leaders is that if the pace is fast, then you are vulnerable to people behind you,” Larsen said.

That’s the way it played out. The race was one of the day’s fastest, with the top six runners racing to personal best times. Ortiz was only 0.03 of a second off his best. Rick Mestler of Oregon took sixth and Ortiz was seventh.

The Ducks got nine unexpected points and the Bruins, who had hoped for four got none.

Then it got worse for UCLA.

The 400-meter relay, which had not yet qualified for the NCAA championships, missed another opportunity Saturday when the team was disqualified in the qualifying heats. According to meet officials, UCLA’s leadoff runner, Kevin Williams, ran out of lane during the handoff to Chuckie Brooks. However, no red flag was raised by lane judges at the time and UCLA continued to run. The team placed second in the heat to USC.

Larsen was baffled by the ruling. “It surprised all of us because there was no flag,” he said. Officials later made the ruling.

It was a significant setback, because Larsen had intended to use sprint ace Mike Marsh if the team advanced to the final. Marsh, who has a hamstring injury and is limited to running the 400, has been the Pac-10 100 meters champion two of the last three years. The Bruins won the 400-meter relay in the conference championships last season.

Larsen surveyed the wreckage in the early afternoon and frowned from underneath his sun hat.

“We were doing so good in the field events, we were making progress,” he said. “This hurts.”

The Bruins got off to a good start in Saturday’s first event, the hammer throw, which Wilson won. Wilson was not the favorite in the event as John Billingsley of Washington State had thrown farther this season. But Wilson opened the competition with a throw of 224-8, a personal best and school record. The mark stood up the rest of the competition.

Billingsley finished second with a throw of 223-0.

UCLA picked up another point when John Knight threw 202-7 for sixth. The final tally in the event gave UCLA 11 points, but Oregon gained 10 points by placing third and fourth.

After five events, UCLA was in third place behind Oregon and Washington State. USC had scored only two points at that juncture.

As the day wore on the Bruins rallied in two unlooked for quarters--the javelin and the pole vault. David Bunevarz was the Bruins’ unlikely hero in the javelin. Bunevarz, a sophomore, had not qualified for this meet but was competing as the at large entrant that each team was allowed. His previous best was 209-10. Saturday he shocked the field by throwing 220-11 and placing third, despite not being allowed a full warmup throw. Bunevarz took only two standing throws before the competition began.

Darryl Roberson of Washington won in 238-4.

In the pole vault, freshman Jay Bettinger cleared 17 feet for the first time and placed third at 17-0 3/4. USC freshman Todd Lehman was fourth with 16-4 3/4.

It was a 12-point swing over two events and a breakthrough, one of a handful on the day, for UCLA.