UCLA’s Track Teams Embarrass The Four Letters Against Southern Cal
by Nestor on May 2, 2010 9:33 AM PDT
in Other Sports
Email
PrintThe gory details from a giddy OC Register report (emphasis added):
The USC women emphatically posted their third consecutive dual meet victory against the Bruins with a 106-57 romp, the most one-sided triumph in the series since 1998.
Led by sprinter Ahmad Rashad, the Trojans men were nearly as dominant in winning their second in a row against UCLA, rolling to a 96-79 triumph, the biggest margin of victory in the men's meet since 2004.
UCLA dominated both sides of the rivalry for decades, the Bruins men extending a winning streak from 1978-2000, the UCLA women's victory in 2007 their 15th in succession. Saturday was the Trojans' men first triumph at Drake Stadium since 1977.
But the rivalry's dramatic reversal of fortune has produced a gap between the programs that is notable for both its width and the speed with which it was opened.
A power shift that last summer cost UCLA men's coach Art Venegas his job resulted in the Trojans no longer using their cross-town rivals as a measuring stick, instead targeting the likes of Oregon, Texas, LSU, Florida State and Texas A&M.
"The UCLA meet doesn't define our success anymore, win or lose," Trojans sprinter Judith Onyepunuka said. "We're not afraid to dream big, meaning NCAAs. This was just a step toward our goal."
In other words Trogan track team is calling out the Bruins as "Just UCLA."
The humiliation wasn't confined within the track team. The dual victories along with Southern Cal's win in women's rowing helped the Trojans clinch the 2009-10 Gauntlet trophy. Trojans have now won that trophy for the three straight seasons.
I hope Dan Guerrero realizes that how humiliating this is for the entire UCLA athletic community. We like the progress we are seeing in the football program. The basketball program is in troubled waters but we are not giving up on Ben Howland yet. We will have to wait and see how the Pauley renovation project goes in the coming years. As for rest of the athletic program, it remains to be seen how Guerrero performs in next few seasons.
Our softball program seems to be on a downward slide since the departure of Coach Sue Enquist. Our men's soccer team has become an underachieving bunch under Jorge Salcedo. The baseball team is doing all right but we will see how long they can continue that if the facilities around JRS and efforts to publicize their success are not kicked up few notches in near future.
The women's volleyball program was a mess before the new coach took over (and we have no idea how he is going to perform). The men's volleyball program is simply a shell of its former self. The track team seems to be in bad shape under its new coach. The only programs that have been performing at consistent championship level are the women's soccer team and the gymnastics team. I'd include the water polo programs in that category however we will have to see how the new coaches perform in next couple of years following the departure of Krikorian.
Anyway, I hope the alarm bells are on in Morgan Center and DG is reflecting on his performance and the performance of his programs very closely. Bru-105 was nice. However, the overall performance of his athletic program from last three years hasn't been living up to the standards of Bruin excellence. Sure hope he gets this turned around starting next season.
GO BRUINS.
30 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
I'm pretty sure I commented on this about a year ago
Our prograns are trending downward. Now, that was always going to happen because in general, more schools are better now than they’ve ever been and there is more competition in all sports. We weren’t going to continue winning national titles at the same rate as we once were with the increased competiton.
Even so, there have been issues with our operations for a few years now and we’re finally seeing the product of it. While other schools have been investing million in facilities, we have not, If you take a look at all of UCLA’s facilities, how many can be considered equivalent to the best in the country ot top 10% in the country? If we’ve had issues with paying comprable money with football assistant coaches, what do you think the odds are that we’re willing to pay for soccer or volleyball or whatever else assistant coaches?
Just being UCLA and being in LA is no longer good enough. We need to invest and commit to being the best. We haven’t been doing so and we’re paying for it. This isn’t new. This is just us finally seeing the results of what has been hurting is for years and was bound to happen.
For everything UCLA baseball, visit my UCLA baseball twitter.
by Ryan Rosenblatt on May 2, 2010 10:06 AM PDT reply actions
Something we have to keep an eye on
The need to invest puts even a bigger premium on innovating fund-raising and effective public relations on the part of UCLA. That goes back to the concept of marketing all of our programs (not just football and basketball) in an effective and innovating way. UCLA is not going to be able to get away by going half way like we did during the Dalis era. We are going to need innovative leadership with clear cut vision from the Morgan Center. It will be interesting to see how this all shapes up.
We are certainly at a very interesting time in the history of UCLA athletics.
Facilities
How do you build a new facility in the Spieker Aquatics Center, yet not have enough seats to hold an MPSF tournament? They had to bring in temporary seats for this weekends tournament, granted they haven’t even been used.
by lil eg not cs on May 2, 2010 1:13 PM PDT up reply actions
I know a lot of people
were wondering the same thing when they built the place. It’s beautiful, but if you’re gonna build a new place, finish it off with the right amount of seating.
For everything UCLA baseball, visit my UCLA baseball twitter.
by Ryan Rosenblatt on May 2, 2010 1:15 PM PDT up reply actions
There were two for each sex plus a unisex one on the other side.
They could have opened the rest rooms inside of Sunset Canyon. But for special events, portapotties are fine.
We had more in attendance for regular games with USC, Cal or Stanford than for the first 11 games of tournament games, I was told.
My understanding is they ran
out of money. Also in order to hold the MPSF Championship here, UCLA need to provide 1000 seats. None of the added seats were used, except for the final match between UCLA and USC.
UCLA jumped to a 3 goal lead and held on to a one point victory.
UCLA gets the automatic bid and most likely with have to face USC, Stanford and Cal again for the National Championship, which they did last year for the 5-consecutive championships.
Brandon Brooks is new, but he has been at UCLA for a long time, as a player in water polo and in our basketball program, as assistant coach and now head coach. He represented our country in two Olympic games. We are very proud of our ladies on the water polo team. Give them some love.
what gaunlet trophy?
I was pretty confident that the Lexus Gauntlet was canceled as of last year. Not surprising that the Trogan Times give them a non-existent award. Anything to take off the sting of the coming sanctions…
GO BRUINS!!! CHEER LIKE CHAMPIONS!!!
I believe it doesn't exist in a physical form
but in spirit. Both AD’s keep score of head-to-head matchups
"I can't believe I ate the whole thing" Homer Simpson
i also remember looking it up
and i thought it was cancelled. hopefully it officially was cause we have been sucking hard lately.
by maccabita4life on May 2, 2010 11:40 AM PDT up reply actions
I think the Lexis sponshorship has been cancelled
But as AMM noted scores have been kept in last three years. I don’t blame the Trojans for keeping scores. We should be doing the same and assessing our performances. We have been coming up short for three straight years and that is not acceptable.
agreed
we won it my freshman year and lost it the next three including this year. we def. need to do something.
by maccabita4life on May 2, 2010 1:19 PM PDT up reply actions
Gone with the bad economy
Lexus didn’t want to do it. The Cal-Stanford one was cancelled years before ours since is was too much Stanford one sided. How would you like to be a Golden Bear and see your team keep losing to the Tree?
David Klech and Mason Finley
Men’s track has lost it’s two biggest recruits of the last five years for various reasons. Both of these guys were supposed to be program-making athletes, who would almost certainly be winning individual titles. Coming out of high school, there were some who considered Klech as a potential 2008 Olympic hurdler, but he was injured his entire freshman season, and transfered to Oregon afterwards. Finley set the national discus record in high school by a ridiculous margin, but he decommitted in late June after Coach Venegas was fired, and Finley ended up at Kansas. I think the program would be in much better shape had we been able to hold on to those two, and I feel confident in the direction the program is headed in under Coach Maynard.
The women’s team, however, worries me more. Having the US National Team Head Coach, in Jeanette Bolden, should give us a huge recruiting advantage at a school that should already be able to out recruit any school in the nation, yet Coach Curran, the jumps coach, seems to be the only coach who consistently brings in and develops elite talent. Coach Bolden isn’t going anywhere soon, because you just don’t drop the National Team’s Head Coach, so it will be interesting to see if she can turn things around in the next couple of seasons.
We're havin' too much fun today. We ain't thinkin' 'bout tomorrow.
Total Disarray
Aside from losing out on Finley and Klech (who could have scored points all over the track and in the field) we’ve lost Carroll and Price to grades and All-World hurdler Kevin Craddock who left the team recently (won’t say why as I would just be paang on unsubstantiated rumors).
Sorry low for a once prestigious program...
World-class track and field athletes once trained and excelled at Drake stadium.
How far has this team fallen???? The USC dual meet showed that reaility.
Get coaches who can recruit and train athletes with the desire to at minimum become a top contender.
My gripe with the administration . . .
is that Athletics has always been a red headed step child in their eyes. The question was raised how they could raise the funds to build Spieker and not complete it correctly. IMHO there always seems to be some new construction going on in Westwood. Be it new hospitals and/or research centers that cost millions and billions.
Meanwhile worthwhile endeavors like JRS, need a serious renovation; and Pauley and Spieker could have been handled better. boggles my mind.
The best thing you can do for your children is to love their mother. John Wooden
And there's plenty of housing renovation and construction going on
I was told at Orientation that UCLA has had at least one construction project going on at all times since it was founded.
by SuperBruinMan on May 3, 2010 8:30 PM PDT up reply actions
It's similar to football...after Dorrell
Or basketball after Lavin. Venegas was a really nice guy and loyal to the program, like Dorrell, but he just wasn’t getting it done and left the program with a lot of pieces missing. I think Maynard should be given a couple seasons grace period to build it in his way, but it’s still devastating to watch during this low ebb.
Bright spots yesterday:
***Nelson Rosario winning the Long Jump in 25’ in his last jump… after USC’s Brendan Ames trash talked on live stream about how he was going to win the long jump (and he did have a big lead at the time.)
Men’s 4×100 relay team winning with a top-15 national time (without their fastest guy, Carroll), and breaking USC’s 13-year streak in that race in the dual meet.
Easy money and faithless women, red-eye whiskey for the pain...
You're our track guy, rich
I agree that we need to give Maynard time. Everything I read indicated that Venegas didn’t leave him a team ready to compete at the level UCLA should be at so I’m willing to give Maynard a couple years. In your opinion, is Maynard a guy that can get us back towards the top? Does he have the cache or teaching or recruiting skills? In his first season, has the team made some improvements and is recruiting going a little better?
For everything UCLA baseball, visit my UCLA baseball twitter.
by Ryan Rosenblatt on May 2, 2010 5:20 PM PDT up reply actions
Adding to questions Ryan posed
Rich – I think your perspective on what is going on, what we should be looking out for in next 2-3 years to assess Maynard’s performance can be really helpful. For the overwhelming majority here we are just seeing the bottomline results. It’s not fun to read about it.
Maynard is good...
I’m sorry I haven’t had the time to go into much detail, I work in the magazine business and times are tough, they are laying people off and the survivors, like me, have to take on more roles…
But back to T&F: my assessment is that Maynard is doing well, heading in the right direction, has brought in a couple high-quality assistants and has a couple of top-shelf recruits already inked (including the national leader in the Pole Vault and national leader in the Hammer Throw). The performances of the guys who are not injured, academically ineligible, or quit - (Quinn, Savage, Woepse, Bo Taylor, Hobson), (Carroll, Price), (Craddock) — have been very inspiring, with very consistent progression. That includes guys like 1500 winner Patterson, 800 winner Primm, Steeplechase winner Dylan Knight, LJ winner Rosario, TJ winner Clark, the 4×100 relay, and surprisingly, walk-on hurdler Klarer.
The fact that all these guys are doing well, and improving from week to week, is a sign of good coaching. Now it’s a matter of bringing in his kind of guys, getting people healthy and eligible; and then building on it.
I hate to sound like a woulda, coulda guy, but even the most diehard Trojan would agree with me that if we had had all 8 of those guys (above in parentheses) available and healthy (Bo Taylor competed, but was nearly useless on a bum ankle) for Saturday’s dual meet, we would have beat them … And we would have beaten #2 Oregon in our dual last month. Maynard is going in the right direction, if he can avoid all this bad luck, we’ll be okay.
Is he the guy to take us back to the top 5 in the NCAA? I’m not sure, but at this point I am optimistic.
Easy money and faithless women, red-eye whiskey for the pain...
Don't worry about the Gauntlet Trophy...
We’re going to get a bunch back when the sanctions are announced.
Have we ever been this bad across the board?
Yes, we posted title 105, and the Women’s basketball team looks to be on an upward tick, but the rest of it? Even baseball, which seemed to be our shining light this year has come back to Earth.
Can anyone remember a year as bad as this one across the board, especially in football and Men’s basketball? One doesn’t come to mind for me.
I'd say last year was worse, actually.
Basketball was better, but football was much worse. Baseball was worse, and had the Women’s Water Polo team not pulled off a miracle run in the tournament, we wouldn’t have won a single national title.
We’ve at least had national championship caliber teams from women’s soccer, men’s water polo, gymnastics, possibly men’s and women’s golf and men’s and women’s tennis. UCLA should have national championship caliber programs in every single sport, every year, but I think across the board we are in better shape than a year ago.
We're havin' too much fun today. We ain't thinkin' 'bout tomorrow.
Soccer
The Salcedo is not worthy of UCLA meme is still going strong I see.
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
Related FanPosts on Bruins Nation
Related FanShots on Bruins Nation
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
