W. track: Sprinter shakes off injury to clear events
NORTHRIDGE — Sani Roseby has had her share of bad breaks during an injury-plagued career, but the UCLA sprinter’s latest ailment tops all of them. Fresh off the best meet of her career at the Pac-10 Championships last month, Roseby appeared primed for a big weekend at the West Regional Championships until disaster struck midway through Friday’s 100-meter hurdle prelims. Roseby, a senior, flung back her right hand as she cleared the fifth hurdle, and it struck the hurdle, breaking bones in several places. “It was a very freakish thing,” UCLA coach Jeanette Bolden said. “I’ve never seen that happen before.” Somehow Roseby finished the race on adrenaline before heading to the trainer’s tent for X-rays. Once the UCLA medical staff had fitted her with a soft cast, she was back on the track practicing her block starts and preparing for the 4x400-meter relay. The following day Roseby was back on the track in near-top form. Though she did not quite duplicate her marks from the Pac-10 Championships, she still managed to anchor the Bruins’ third-place 4x100-meter relay team and qualify for the NCAA Championships in the 100m and the 100m hurdles. “Sani was the most inspirational part of the team (Saturday),” Bolden said. “When you have someone that does four events with a cast on their arm, that has to lift everyone.”
TAKING PRECAUTIONS: Injuries have ravaged the UCLA jumps corps all season, so jumps coach Robert Johnson was particularly cautious with junior Candice Baucham this weekend. Baucham made a combined three jumps in the long jump and triple jump, passing on her remaining attempts once she had secured a mark likely to qualify her for Nationals. The strategy worked. She stayed healthy, taking fourth in the long jump and second in the triple jump, paving the way for her to double at the NCAA championships if she chooses.
HOME SWEET HOME: Competing in front of a large contingent of friends and family members, Thousands Oaks native Melissa McBain qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships for the first time in her career. McBain, a senior, ran a lifetime-best 4:18.08 to take fourth place in the 1500m finals Saturday, earning her a berth in the event at Nationals. “There are very few people in this program that I’ve coached that have gone from as far away as she was when I recruited her to as excellent as she is at this point in time,” UCLA distance coach Eric Peterson said. “I’m thrilled for her.”
LIVING AT-LARGE: Freshman Kamaiya Warren, who failed to automatically qualify for Nationals in either the shot put or the discus, appears to be a likely candidate for an at-large bid in the shot. Warren owns the nation’s 13th best throw. Only Aymara Albury of Alabama has thrown further this season, but did not earn an automatic berth. Approximately six at-large bids will be awarded in each event. UCLA has at-large candidates in two other events. Jackie Nguyen is a long shot for a bid in the pole vault, while the Bruin 4x400m relay team will almost certainly receive one.


