Quick recap of the non-conference games

Generally a bit ugly at times in all three games, but we just have a complete team, great FG kicker, opportunistic defense that makes a big play when it needs it… flashes of greatness in the running game. The passing game is probably the weakest link, but not awful like last year.

 

What I'd like to see is this:

Some improved tackling, where we hit harder and wrap up!

More efficient passing game overall, whether it's Prince, Brehaut or KC (in that order).

LESS  PENALTIES!

Bumped. Welcome to Westwood Coach Maynard. We will be watching to see how our track team performs under his leadership in the coming years. GO BRUINS. -N

UCLA hired Boise State's Mike Maynard as its new men's track and field coach. He has solid credentials, but that's about all I know about him.

Quote from Asst. AD Toth:

"In searching for a head coach who will return the UCLA men's track program to national preeminence, we sought a candidate with a proven record of success at the Division 1 level, and the qualities common to all of our coaches, particularly leadership and character," said Toth. "Mike Maynard not only has an impressive coaching resume, but understands UCLA's philosophy regarding the cohesion of academics and athletics. With the resources available to him here, we are confident men's track will again position itself among the nation's elite programs."

More on Coach Maynard after the jump.

Continue reading this post »

 

He smoked 2 high-quality fields in the 100 and 200 meters, winning in scintillating times of 10.38 and 21.03, respectively. That is the first time ever that a CA high schooler has won the State Meet sprint double back to back.

We're talking about some outrageous superstars that have come out of CA and went on to either NFL careers and/or won Olympic gold and claimed world records, but none of them achieved what Carroll just did. This includes the likes of Charley Paddock (1916-1918) Frankie Wykoff, Foy Draper, Leamon King, Millard Hampton, Mel Gray, Clancy Edwards, Tommie Smith, Jim Hines, Henry Thomas, Mike Marsh, Quincy Watts, Curtis Conway, Napolean Kaufman, Kareem Kelley...

 

Randall's team, Cathedral, also finished in a tie for the team championship.

 

It's now wait-and-see mode if he will concentrate on FB training or do the various national HS meets and/or USA Junior (U20) meets. Being that he's the national leader in the 100, I'm sure that the Nike Nationals Meet and USATF are working overtime to convince him to run in their meets.

(I also posted this on BRO's "Other Sports" forum, so apologies if it's a repeat for those of you who read that as well.)

This was a couple hours ago at the Southern Section Finals.... Sheldon Price just keeps getting faster! That's a big PR for him.
I still see him as an IDEAL 400m runner with his long, lean frame. (To update, for those not following closely, Carroll and Price are FB recruits who will likely run track, and Dyce is a T&F-only recruit.) They are all in the top 4 in CA and all in the top 15 (non-wind-aided marks) in the U.S.

Event 38  Boys 100 M Dash Boys Division 3

================================================== ===================================

    Name                    Year School               Prelims     Finals  Wind Points

================================================== ===================================

  1 Carroll, Randall          12 Cathedral              10.65      10.39   2.0  10   

  2 Price, Sheldon            12 B. Amat                10.60      10.51   2.0   8   

Event 39  Boys 100 M Dash Boys Division 2

================================================== ===================================

    Name                    Year School               Prelims     Finals  Wind Points
================================================== ===================================

  1 Dyce, Maxwell             12 Moorpark               10.67      10.43   2.7  10   

Bumped. GO BRUINS. -N

UCLA-bound football/track star Randall Carroll sprinted to one of the fastest times in California history yesterday at his school's league meet. Oh, this is going to be fun when he's running wild in Westwood (and Pasadena).

From DyeStatCal.com, "the Internet Home for California High School Track, Field & Cross Country":

Hold on to your hats, everyone -- the level of California male sprinting has just been torqued up a few notches! Cathedral High senior Randall Carroll blasted down the straightaway to record the fastest legal 100-meter time in California in 17 years last night, roaring to a wind-legal 10.30 seconds, the fastest time in the nation this year, at the Del Rey League Finals at Serra High.

One of the guys he's chasing is former Bruin and NCAA champ Henry Thomas:

Carroll, the defending state 100m and 200m champion, relied on a strong getaway and controlled speed before reportedly easing slightly the last 10 meters. The wind was measured at +1.7 meters per second. Carroll's time was the third-fastest wind legal mark in state history, trailing only the state record 10.25 achieved by Henry "The Heat" Thomas of Hawthorne way back in 1985 and the 10.29 effort by Compton's Ricky Carrigan in 1991.

If you're in SoCal, you can watch him run, possibly faster, over the next couple weeks. Most of these great track meets are either free entry or charge like a nominal fee of $1.25 or something.

He's not thinking football (he's signed to UCLA as a running back) right now. He's focused on track." The coach also mentioned that Carroll's best remaining shot for a fast time at a Southern California venue would be at CIF-SS Finals at Cerritos College (in Norwalk) on May 23rd, mostly because of the afternoon hours and the greater chance for accompanying warm weather. At the Southern Section Masters Meet (Friday night, May 29th also at Cerritos College), the cool weather typically hinders sprint times.

The State Meet is in Clovis (central California) on June 5 and 6.

In a disastrous day for our Bruins, both Men's and Women's Track teams were upset by the Trojans. Had we won both (which, on paper, we really should have), we would have won the Gauntlet.
Woulda, shoulda, coulda, I know, but this hurts a lot, and just should never happen (read Dohn's trojie counterpart for the reasons why).

The silver lining is that the men's track team should be a lot, lot better next year with the footballers like Carroll, Thigpen, Savage (redshirting track this season) and a couple others. We've also got the nation's #1 recruit (national record in the Discus) coming in and Moopark sprinter Max Dyce (yesterday ran 10.37w). We'll also have our star hurdler, Craddock, back for his senior season (redshirting this year due to nagging injury or something and prep for US nationals). 

 

Below are the results of today's Mt. SAC relays 100-meter dash. Sheldon Price, another incoming Bruin (who'll play CB on the football team), also ran. Randall Carroll was at the meet, but I think only ran on Cathedral's relays. Anyway, Dyce's time (with 0 wind) is very, very good. Better than any Bruin trackster now or in the past several years.

It's also his fastest run ever (which means he continues to improve and get faster), and it ranks him currently #1 in the state and #8 in the nation. I think Price will do track and play FB, along with Carroll, Thigpen, Savage and Rosario. Great to see some speed coming to UCLA.



2009 51st Annual Mt. SAC Relays - 4/16/2009 to 4/18/2009
"Where the World's Best Athletes Compete"
Hilmer Lodger Stadium-Walnut, CA

Event 738 Boys 100 Meter Dash Invite
============================================================================
Name Year Team Finals Wind Points
============================================================================
Finals
1 Dyce, Maxwell Moorpark 10.51 +0.0 10
2 Middlebrooks, Kyle Fountain Valley 10.62 +0.0 8
3 Dunlap, Chris John Muir 10.87 +0.0 6
4 El-Sabawi, Bassim Torrey Pines 10.88 +0.0 4
5 Harris, Justin Upland 10.93 +0.0 3
6 Herrera, Taylor Damien 10.98 +0.0 2
7 Price, Sheldon Bishop Amat 11.01 +0.0 1
8 Morgan, D. J. William Howard Taft 11.06 +0.0
9 Saseun, Charles Rancho Cucamonga 11.40 +0.0

I mentioned this in one of Nestor's post-game threads, but I wanted to put it here also so anyone who wants can check the archives in a couple of months, will be able to do so.
UCLA will beat usc this season..

As ugly as that BYU game was 18 hours ago and as bad as we all feel, I have a very strong gut feeling that RN and co. are going to do something very special. We may have a very mediocre season overall, but I’m convinced, after some of the post-game comments and perspective, that this team is going to beat the usc thugs this season. Place your bets with co-workers/neighbors now, and buy me beer with your winnings if we ever meet up.

 

 

I hate to be a wet blanket, but give credit where credit is due to all hard-working Bruin athletes. Nestor, you do an extraordinarily fabulous job with everything here and I have the utmost respect for your loyalties! But I just wanted to point out that both the hard-working Bruin men and women tracksters are still gearing up for the NCAA championships with high hopes.

I realize that track fanatics are a special breed (I count myself among them) and it’s certainly not for everyone, but they do work as hard as any Bruin athlete and have contributed to over a dozen of our 103 NCAA titles. So when you say this about our baseballers, who I'm pulling for big time --  On to Bru-104. And we have one more shot left for the 2007-08 season  -- It makes me a bit disappointed, because they are not the only "shot" left for us.

The Bruin Nation, the Bruin Family and Bruinsnation.com also should be aware of and acknowledge our Bruin Tracksters, who put up some valiant efforts this past weekend at the West Regionals to qualify a couple dozen athletes for the NCAA championship meet in 10 days.

The Bruin men are ranked #3 in the nation and the women are #7. Both are darkhorses for the title, but then again so was our men’s Golf team....

Lots of Bruins (and future Bruins) in action on Friday evening.

FB recruits Rahim Moore of Dorsey, Aaron Hester of Dominguez and Anthony Dye Santiago-Corona are in action in this video (link below) of the 4x100 relay prelims at the CA state track meet.

http://www.dyestat.com/?pg=videos&vid=79807ABD2D63D5CA

In the video...

--Hester is the #2 runner for Dominguez (red uni) in Heat #2

--Dye is the lead-off runner for Santiago (lane 5) heat #3

--Moore is the anchor runner for Dorsey (green) in Heat #4

Moore holds onto second and qualifies for the finals, but didn't look to have great speed.

Moore and Hester's teams will go head-to-head in the 4x100 finals on Saturday afternoon.

Also,

--Drew Gordon (hoops recruit) easily qualified for the finals in the discus throw.

--Nelson Rosario (FB recruit) dominated the Long Jump prelims (over 24', which is farther than any current Bruin jumped this season) and qualified for the Triple Jump.

There are probably a few more guys here and there...