Saturday, October 11th, 2008

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<p>Thrower Jeremy Silverman scored a pair of regional-qualifying marks in the shot put and discus at

Thrower Jeremy Silverman scored a pair of regional-qualifying marks in the shot put and discus at

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M. track: Bruins have solid weekend at UCSD

Men’s track team finishes meet with eight regional-qualifying scores

A pair of solid races from sophomore Brandon Johnson highlighted a relatively quiet weekend for the UCLA men’s track and field team at the UCSD Triton Invitational in San Diego. Johnson continued to train for his specialty event, the 400-meter hurdles, winning both the 200 and 400 meter races. His time of 46.81 seconds in the 400m was a lifetime best and an NCAA regional-qualifying mark. In the field events, shot putter Jeremy Silverman threw a season-best 63 feet, 11 inches to place fourth, while freshman John Caulfield shattered his previous lifetime best in the discus with a mark of 179-3. In all, the Bruins finished with eight regional qualifiers during the meet, and rested the bulk of their team. The entire squad will be in action on Saturday at USC.

RECRUITING UPDATE: UCLA coach Art Venegas announced the signing of three prep athletes who signed their letters of intent on Friday. Distance runner Laef Barnes of Spokane’s Mead High School and sprinters Elijah Wells from Taft in Woodland Hills and Garland West, III of Cypress High School will all be Bruins next season. Barnes, one of the top high school distance runners in the nation, placed third overall in the two mile during the Arcadia Invitational earlier this month with a personal-best time of 9:03.13 minutes. Both West and Wells will join the Bruins’ emerging sprint squads, with West as a 100m runner and Wells specializing in the 200m and 400m. West has a personal best time of 10.66 in the 100m, while Wells currently holds top-10 times in the state in both his events – 21.56 seconds in the 200m and 47.5 seconds in the 400m. The three newest Bruins join Kevin Craddock (James Logan High) and Alexander Pearlstone (Sir Francis Drake High), who both signed in the fall.