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By Christina Teller

Daily Bruin Contributor

Ranked first nationally after winning the Pac-10 Championship two weeks ago in Eugene, the UCLA women’s track and field team will have a chance this weekend to win its second national championship of the year.

Having already won the NCAA Indoor title in March, the Bruins come to Durham, North Carolina with 12 athletes. Led by nine field competitors, this year’s UCLA squad is hoping to avenge last year’s two-point loss to Texas in the outdoor championships.

“The field is the strong point of our team right now,” UCLA women’s head coach Jeanette Bolden said. “Our throwers and the vaulters are really doing well.”

The strength in the field coupled with the maturity of this year’s team will be an advantage over last year’s squad, Bolden said.

“We are a mature and older team this year. With the exception of our one frosh, everyone has been here before,” she said.

Last year the national title came down to the 4x400 meter relay. With UCLA leading Texas by two points before the race, 54 to 52, it was their third place finish in the event, behind both Texas and USC, that dropped them behind the Longhorns.

With Texas, who has twice narrowly defeated the Bruins, as one of their foes in this championship meet as well, Bolden has told her team to look at it as if they were competing in a series of dual meets.

“I told them to pretend that we’re in a dual meet against Texas, USC, South Carolina and LSU,” Bolden said. “We’ve already beat USC in a dual meet, and they’re going to be one of our toughest rivals out there. We just have to keep it in perspective.”

Dual meets are the arena that Bolden’s Bruins have always dominated. Bolden, recently named Western Regional Coach of the Year by the USTCA for the second consecutive year, is undefeated in dual meets in her career with a score of 57-0 and 7-0 against USC, a perfect record in her seven years as a head coach.

In her final NCAA championship, senior thrower Seilala Sua looks to defend her three-time discus title and her 1999 shot put title.

“As long as she’s been at UCLA, she’s given us her all,” Bolden said. “She’s a fierce competitor.”

Sitting atop the NCAA discus competition, leading her nearest competitor – Summer Pierson of Stanford – by more than five meters, Sua is highly favored to take the crown again.

“She’s carried this team for four years. I’m glad that we gave her the Indoor Championship, and I look forward to a great ending,” Bolden added.

If Sua should win both the discus and shot put competitions, she would become the second woman in NCAA history to have won an individual event for four consecutive years.

Last year’s performance earned Sua Most Outstanding Female Competitor honors of the Outdoor Championships.

Entering this year’s meet is also a trio of pole vaulters:Tracy O’Hara, Erika Hoernig and Heather Sickler.

“It doesn’t necessarily denote where they’re going to end up,” pole vault coach Anthony Curran said. “Sometimes we’re on, and we’ll jump higher than we were predicted to.”

Having challenged the world record earlier this season, O’Hara could sweep the competition.

“In the last couple of weeks, Erica and Heather have gotten a couple of personal records,” Curran said. “Tracy set hers early on, and now she’s back to the point where she’s ready to peak again.”

Hoernig also has the potential to finish well above her current rank of No. 6.

Sickler, ranked eighth nationally, gave a heroic performance at the Pac-10 Championships, battling both her conference competitors and a 102 degree fever. With Sickler’s third place finish in the meet, the Bruins swept the event to snatch the Pac-10 crown away from the Trojans.

Facing the Trojans again will be junior Shakedia Jones. Up against a tough group of competition in the 100 meters, Jones is ranked fourth nationally with a time of 11.26, a quarter of a second behind national leader Angela Williams of USC. Jones will also compete in the 200 meters this week.

Recently crowned the Pac-10 champion in the 100 meter hurdles, Michelle Perry finished in 13.03 seconds, placing ahead of USC’s Natasha Danvers. Perry improved her dash by an impressive .17 seconds from her performance at the UCLA-USC dual meet.

Should the Bruins win the outdoor title, they will be the third women’s team in NCAA history to win both the Indoor and Outdoor championships. Texas and LSU have accomplished the feat three and eight times, respectively.

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