TRACK AND FIELD: NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS : Top-10 Finish Would Meet UCLA Goal

Great expectations have dwindled to modest goals for the UCLA men in the NCAA Track and Field Championships, which begin today in Durham, N.C.

“Realistically, we’re looking at a top-10 finish,” UCLA Coach Bob Larsen said. “I don’t think we’re in the running for the top five.”

The Bruins, who won the NCAA meet in 1987 and ’88 with overwhelming totals of 81 and 82 points, respectively, have been hampered by injuries this season.

Depth, however, isn’t the determining factor in the NCAA meet, as it is in a dual meet or in the Pacific 10 Conference championships.

To win at the NCAA level, a team must have athletes who are capable of finishing in at least the top three, taking advantage of the 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 scoring formula.

The Bruins had such athletes--Danny Everett, Kevin Young, Steve Lewis, Henry Thomas and the relay teams--when they won those successive titles.

Now, only Lewis, the gold medalist in the 400 meters at the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games, remains from that group.

Lewis missed last year’s NCAA meet and some earlier meets this year because of a hamstring injury. However, he won the 400 meters at the Pac-10 meet in 46.10 seconds in windy conditions and is close to regaining his top form.

Other Bruins with a reasonable chance to score are Brian Blutreich in the discus, John Knight in the hammer throw, Derek Knight in the 110-meter high hurdles, Mark Dani in the 5,000 meters and Mike Stevenson in the 400.

UCLA did not qualify a relay team.

The Bruin women have one of the favored teams. Janeene Vickers is the defending NCAA champion in the 400-meter hurdles and figures to score in the 100-meter hurdles.

Tracie Millett is favored to win the discus with a best mark of 190 feet 2 inches and probably will be among the top three in the shotput. The Bruins are also favored in the 400-meter relay if Caryl Smith recovers from a hamstring injury she suffered in the Pac-10 meet.

Freshman sprinter Angela Burnham could score in the 200 meters, as could Tonya Sedwick in the 400 meters and on the 1,600-meter relay team.

“I’d like to see it come down to the mile (1,600) relay with a healthy Caryl,” Coach Bob Kersee said. “Then I would be as happy as anybody.”

The UCLA women finished second the past two years and haven’t won since 1983.

USC will have only five athletes in the men’s competition. However, the Trojans could have a shot at finishing in the top 10.

George Porter is the defending champion in the 400-meter intermediate hurdles. Quincy Watts and Travis Hannah are capable of scoring in the 200 and 400 meters, respectively.

Dietmar Haaf of West Germany also has a shot in the long jump if he regains the form he showed in winning the European Indoor championship last February with a jump of 26 feet 7 1/4 inches. However, he has had only one legal jump (25-2) during the outdoor season and fouled on all of his jumps in the Pac-10 meet.

Mark Crear is considered one of the nation’s top collegiate high hurdlers with a wind-aided time of 13.51 seconds.

The USC women will be represented by javelin thrower Ashley Selman and Leslie Maxie in the 400. Selman has the second best collegiate mark this year with a throw of 184-10.

Maxie, an Olympian in the 400 hurdles, hasn’t been able to compete in her specialty because of a hamstring injury.

Houston’s Leroy Burrell is regarded as the top individual performer in the meet at Wallace Wade Stadium on the campus of Duke University.

He has wind-aided times of 9.94 in the 100 meters and 19.61 in the 200, the latter the best-ever time under any conditions. He also has a 27-foot long jump.

Louisiana State, Texas A&M;, Florida, Arkansas, Baylor and Oregon are the favored teams in the men’s division. UCLA’s women will be challenged by Louisiana State, Texas, Arizona State and Florida. LSU’s men and women are the defending champions.

Track and Field Notes

Qualifying begins today, with the first final, the women’s 10,000 meters, scheduled Thursday night. . . . If there aren’t enough athletes meeting an event’s automatic standard or better, the field will be filled by those with the best provisional marks. For example, among UCLA’s eight-man team, two athletes--Eric Bergreen in the shotput and Peter Thompson in the discus--are provisional qualifiers.

Travis Hannah, in the 400, is the only provisional qualifier for USC. . . . The Trojans won the 1943 NCAA championship with only four athletes. USC has won a record 26 NCAA titles, the last in 1976. The Trojans finished first in 1978 but were stripped of the team title for using ineligible athletes. . . . UCLA is the runner-up in NCAA track and field titles with eight.

Randy Barnes will make his next assault on his world record in the shotput next Tuesday in Milan, Italy. He has the two best throws ever, 75-10 1/4 and 75-9 1/2. . . . Miler Steve Scott has abandoned plans to move up to the 5,000. “I don’t like it, or the time it takes to train for it,” Scott said. “Economically, it’s better to be the 10th-ranked miler than being ranked second in the 5,000. More people relate to the mile.”