Venegas Threw Himself Into His Job From Start

Art Venegas has been the throwing coach for the UCLA track and field team since 1981. In his 15 seasons with the Bruins, he has coached several world and American record holders and 20 NCAA champions.

Not bad for someone who says he was only a mediocre college thrower himself.

“I wasn’t even a shot-putter or a discus thrower because I wasn’t that big in college,” said Venegas, who competed for Cal State Northridge in the early 1970s. “I threw the hammer, but I was a very low-level thrower, whose best mark was 171-2.”

On Saturday, Venegas will have several throwers in the L.A. Invitational track and field meet at the Sports Arena, including Valeyta Althouse, Rachelle Noble, Nade Kawai, Mark Parlin and football standout Jonathan Ogden.

“I am glad to have a meet like this still going on because I do not believe that track is dying,” said Venegas, who recruits only in the United States, rare for a top-notch college program. “If you look at the performances of the elite athletes that we have, people are going to be surprised how strong the sport is going to be.”

Venegas became one of the youngest coaches in the nation when he took over Northridge throwers at the age of 23. It did not take long before he gained the reputation of being a “thrower’s” coach.

“I think that I had immediate success because I found a comfortable level with athletes in that they could tell that I have something to offer,” Venegas said. “I helped them develop a dream . . . develop a vision.”

Venegas coached several good throwers, including Joe Staub, at Northridge before he became Long Beach State’s coach in 1980. The next season, UCLA Coach Jim Bush hired Venegas.

Venegas had immediate impact once he opened a weightlifting room exclusively for his throwers.

“I wanted to create a serious environment for our throwers,” Venegas said. “I have very strict demands where I wanted our athletes totally into lifting.”

John Brenner, who graduated in 1984, was Venegas’ first Olympic-caliber thrower. Since then, Venegas has helped produce a steady line of NCAA champions, including shot-putters Randy Barnes, John Godina, Dawn Dumble and Althouse.

Venegas says that the key to his coaching is that all of his throwers believe in his theory that all phases of training are equally important, from weight training and running to technique and mental preparation.

“It’s a combination of all factors,” Venegas said. “You can’t take one thing out and be successful. In order to have an edge, they have to do all of the little things well.”

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UCLA and USC will have a large number of athletes in the L.A. Invitational. Along with Venegas’ throwers, the Bruins will have Mebratom Keflezighi in the 3,000 meters, Ibrahim Hussein in the 500 and Scott Slover in the pole vault. UCLA freshman Andrea Anderson will compete in the women’s 50 meters. The Trojans’ competitors include Kenny Alade’fa in the 50-meter hurdles, Brandon Pacheco in the mile and Isaac Turner in the 880.

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Loyola Marymount women’s basketball Coach Julie Wilhoit has had an interesting first season.

After taking over a team that finished 6-21 last season, Wilhoit’s Lions took a 9-4 record into West Coast Conference play.

Since then, Loyola Marymount has struggled, going 3-9 in the WCC to fall to 12-13 overall.

Junior Nicole Gaines and senior Marlee Webb have been the biggest bright spots for Wilhoit. Gaines leads the team with 15.3 points, nine rebounds and 1.2 blocked shots per game and is shooting 52.4% from the field. Webb, averaging 14.2 points and 4.8 assists, last week broke the school record in career assists with 431.

College Division Notes

USC will play host to No. 1 Hawaii in men’s volleyball Thursday at 4 p.m. in the North gym and on Friday at 7 p.m. in the Lyon Center. The Trojans, No. 8, are 4-4 and have played five consecutive five-game matches. Junior Chris Guigliano leads the Trojans in kills with 198, and 6-8 freshman Gabe Gardner has 167. . . . Long Beach State, ranked No. 2 in men’s volleyball before traveling to Hawaii over the weekend, lost two four-game matches. . . . The Long Beach State men’s volleyball team, ranked No. 2, was swept by No. 1 Hawaii in two four-game matches in Honolulu last week. . . . George Jefferson, UCLA’s first Olympic track and field medal winner, died last week of heart failure. Jefferson won a bronze medal in the pole vault in 1932.