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By Will Whitehorn

Daily Bruin Contributor

The No. 1 UCLA women’s track machine just keeps plugging along.

Looking to scout the competition for the upcoming NCAA Championships, the Bruins traveled to Philadelphia for the 107th annual Penn Relays at the University of Pennsylvania, one of track’s oldest and most prestigious tournaments.

“Being on the West Coast, we don’t get an opportunity to see some of the teams that we’re going to compete against in the NCAAs,” said UCLA Head Coach Jeanette Bolden at an April 23 press conference. “With us winning (indoor) nationals, it’s a good idea for me to take my team to a track meet where they can see a lot of competition.”

The Relays allowed the rest of the country to see what kind of competition UCLA would be as well. The Bruins held their own in the City of Brotherly Love, placing strong in several individual and team events in a field of over 250 schools.

In the women’s high jump championship, junior Darnesha Griffith tied for fourth with a leap of 1.73m. Griffith was one of six contestants to achieve that mark, which fell shy of Harvard’s Dora Gyoffry, whose jump of 1.91m easily took first place.

Freshman Sheena Johnston narrowly missed a first-place finish in the 400-meter hurdles. Johnson’s respectable time of 56.23 was just a fraction of a second slower than Harvard’s Brenda Taylor, who clocked in at 56.11.

“You have to let freshmen make mistakes and grow at the same time,” said Bolden of Johnson’s performance. “She did a fantastic job. She should be ranked in the top three in the country with that particular mark. (But) she still has room to grow.”

The Bruins’ junior Ysanne Williams finished fourth with a time of 57.59 in the event, giving UCLA two of the top five finishes in the race.

Senior sprinter Shakedia Jones qualified for the 100m championships in Friday’s events by finishing first in her heat with a time of 11.41, the second-fastest time of the afternoon. Jones’ ensuing mark of 11.45 in the championship was a tad slower, however, and she was unable to best Louisiana State’s Muna Lee, who edged Jones with a time of 11.24 to claim first place.

UCLA finished third in Saturday’s 4 x 800m relay, behind runner-up Georgetown and first place Florida. UCLA’s Jessica Marr tightened the event in the second leg of the relay, distancing the Hoyas’ Tyrona Heath and the Gators’ Kristina Bratton with a time of 2:06.2. However, Florida’s Nona Allen’s mark of 2:05.4 in the third leg was two seconds faster then the rest of the field, and ultimately cleared the way for a narrow first-place finish.

The remainder of the women’s squad competed in the Cal-Nevada Track & Field Meet at UC Irvine over the weekend, where their tally of 58.67 earned a fourth-place finish. Senior thrower Christina Tolson, whose performance at last week’s Mt. SAC Relays garnered Pac-10 Player of the Week honors, was victorious in the shot put and hammer throw events.

Tolson’s throw of 56-feet, 7 1/4 inches in the shot put and 211-10 in the hammer throw prompted her selection as Cal/Nevada Field Athlete of the Year.

Junior pole vaulter Tracy O’Hara also found first place with a season-best leap of 14-6. O’Hara’s feat was tops in the nation this season and earned her an automatic berth to the NCAA championships next month.  Junior Heather Sickler also came on strong with a third-place finish, clearing the bar at the 12-8 1/4 mark.

“(It was) a spectacular performance by Tracy O’Hara,” said pole caulting coach Anthony Curran.  “Heather Sickler almost moved up in the nationals, and came close to a personal best. What we’ve been working on in practice has really shown up in the meets.”

The Bruins will boast a complete roster next week when they venture across town for their annual meet with USC, currently ranked No. 2.

According to Curran, motivation for the meet shouldn’t be a problem.

“(The teams) are real fired up for ’SC next week,” he said. “Everyone is continuing to perform better at this time of the year, and they’re waiting for next week to perform well.”

• • •

Over the weekend, Olympic record holder and multi-gold medal winner Michael Johnson also used the Penn Relays as a stage to announce his retirement. Johnson was the anchor for the U.S. team’s 4 x 400m relay win over Jamaica this weekend, his final performance in the U.S.

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