COLLEGES / ALAN OTA : Bruin Says He Has a Jump on His Rivals

UCLA senior Charles Rogers, the defending Pacific 10 Conference champion in the triple jump, is hopeful that he has worked out some technical problems in preparation for the conference meet this weekend at Berkeley.

Rogers has the nation’s ninth-best jump and is ranked first in the Pac-10.

Last month at the Sun Angel Invitational at Tempe, Ariz., he improved his personal best to 53-feet-5 1/2.

“On the long jump phase, I’ve had problems bringing up my knees to my chest before extending and I’m losing at least two feet,” Rogers said. “After I’ve worked that out, I think I should be in the 55- to 56-foot range.”

Rogers, who attended Baldwin Park High, decided to concentrate on track after injuring his right shoulder playing football. He had earned All-San Gabriel Valley honors as a safety and tied for the area lead in interceptions.

“Every time I got hit, I had less feeling,” Rogers said of his arm. “It went limp all the time.”

He attended Mt. San Antonio College and improved in the triple jump by two feet under Charles Yendork, who is now an assistant at UCLA.

Rogers placed second with a jump of 52-2 1/2 at the 1991 community college state meet.

After winning the Pac-10 title last year, Rogers placed seventh in the NCAA meet with a wind-aided 53-7.

Rogers, 22, said he has learned by studying videotapes of Willie Banks, the former Bruin standout and world-record holder.

“I could see how his arms and legs are always synchronized,” Rogers said. “That gives him greater balance and gives him great results. The triple jump is all about balance.”

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Jennifer Choi, a sophomore from Beverly Hills High, shot a career-low 216 for three rounds to lead the UCLA women’s golf team at the West Regionals at Tucson last weekend.

The Bruins qualified for next week’s NCAA Championships at the University of Georgia.

Choi had an all-time low score of 70 on the last day of the tournament at the Randolph North Golf Course. She had been four-under par before hitting a shot into the water on the final hole.

“That will be stuck in my head for the rest of my life,” she said. “And this was after shooting even for the front nine and getting five birdies on the back side.”

Choi started a conditioning program five months ago to help her in such tournaments.

“I usually didn’t even have enough energy to practice afterward,” Choi said. “Now it’s really easy to concentrate out there.”

Choi, who was a classical pianist as a youth, started playing golf when she was 13. She liked the idea of being outdoors after years of practicing the piano for eight hours a day at home. She became interested in the game after watching her father play.

She played on the junior varsity team at Beverly Hills as a ninth-grader and became a three-time All-Southern Section selection.

Choi realizes the game has a lot of promise for her.

“In high school it wasn’t a big deal and I wasn’t concerned with winning,” said Choi, who hopes to play on the women’s tour in Asia after graduating in two years. “Now it’s a lot closer to your future.”

Notes

The 13th-ranked UCLA and 29th-ranked Pepperdine men’s golf teams are competing this week at the NCAA West Regional at the Riverside Country Club in Provo, Utah. The three-day tournament ends Friday. The top nine teams and two individuals will advance to the national championships in Lexington, Ky., on June 2-5. Pepperdine’s top players in stroke average are senior Lars Herne (74.65) and freshman Carson Mooney (74.73). UCLA senior Ted Gleason is averaging 73.91 and senior Jorgen Aker is second at 73.88.

The top-ranked UCLA softball team (44-3) will play host to 15th-seeded Cal State Fullerton (37-19) in a best-of-three-game series on Friday and Saturday for the right to advance to the College World Series in Oklahoma City on May 27-31. Friday’s game begins at 3 p.m. and Saturday’s will start at 1 p.m. If needed, a third game is scheduled to begin 30 minutes after game two.

Pepperdine senior Steve Duda, the all-time career leader in victories in the West Coast Conference, was named 1993 conference pitcher of the year. He has a career record of 43-8 and was 11-3 this year with a league-leading 1.76 earned-run average. He is the fifth Wave to earn the honor in six years. Sixth-year Pepperdine Coach Andy Lopez shared his third consecutive coach-of-the-year award with John Cunningham of San Diego. Wave right-hander Jason LeBlanc was named freshman of the year.