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UCLA’s Monique Henderson competes against Stanford’s Nashonme Johnson and Oregon̵

Almost everything went smoothly for the second-ranked UCLA women’s track and field team on the first day of the NCAA Championships on Wednesday.

Monique Henderson and Dawn Harper advanced to the finals with ease in their respective events. Candice Baucham cruised into the finals of the long jump. And though senior Lara Saye failed to qualify for the finals in the discus, sophomore Kamaiya Warren continued to establish herself as a contender in the event, making the third-best throw overall in the prelims.

Harper, a junior, was perhaps the most impressive of the Bruin qualifiers. Despite cool temperatures and sporadic rainfall, she recorded the third-fastest time in the semifinals of the 100-meter hurdles, equalling her personal-best time of 12.91 seconds.

Earlier in the day she won her heat in the quarterfinals of the event in 13.23 seconds.

“Today’s strategy was to run my rounds and make it to the final,” Harper said. “Stay strong in the blocks and advance. There was no time pressure on me today. I’ve run two good races in one day before, and I can do it again.”

Henderson, the top seed in the 400m, also had an easy day, advancing to Friday’s semifinals by winning heat three in 51.56 seconds. It was the top mark of the day, but nearly a second slower than Henderson’s personal best of 50.53 seconds.

“I was just looking to qualify,” Henderson said. “With the rain, I knew times were not going to be that fast. I wanted to run a time that was in the top two.”

GAMECOCKS FALTER: Perhaps the most significant news of the day was the fate of fourth-ranked South Carolina, one of the leading contenders to capture the women’s team title.

The Gamecocks failed to qualify a single athlete for the finals of the 100m or the 100m hurdles, two of their top events.