For Mike Landers, the only real competition this weekend will be himself.

Landers leads the No. 15 UCLA men’s track and field team up to Palo Alto this weekend for the Pac-10 Championships with one thing on his mind: an individual pole vaulting title.

“I really don’t worry about what other people are doing,” Landers said. “I just focus on what I need to do; that is my game plan.”

The senior pole vaulter is tops in the conference in his event and will be attempting to help UCLA go for the team title with a strong showing in his event.

Currently, he and teammate David Murphy are 1-2 in the Pac-10 in the pole vault and their performances will be critical if the Bruins hope to take the conference crown. With Pac-10 heavyweights Arizona State and USC performing on all cylinders as of late, Landers and company will need everything to go their way.

“We can come out of this in first place,” Landers said. “Our team (pole vaulters) knows that we have to score big points if that is going to happen, along with the hurdles and the throws.”

Other than the pole vault, the Bruins own a big advantage in the hurdles as Kevin Craddock ranks second in 110-meter high hurdles and Brandon Johnson holds the Pac-10’s top 400m hurdle time. But even with such heavy artillery in the hurdle events, all the athletes will have to qualify in Saturday’s prelims in order to secure a spot in the finals, and the coaches know there are no guarantees

“Every event group has a goal,” sprint coach Tony Veney said. “And I think that the hurdle group just has to hold up its end of the bargain in being able to make sure that we all advance. First thing is first: You have to take care of business on Saturday to make it through to the finals on Sunday.”

The throws team has traditionally done exceptional at the conference meet, and this year looks to be no different. The Bruins have potential scorers in every throwing event, highlighted by discus throwers Darius Savage and Greg Garza, hammer specialist Boldizsar Kocsor and shot put whiz John Caulfield, all of whom are ranked in the top 12 in the nation in their respective events.

While the Bruins look to be in good shape in the aforementioned events, the team has also taken a number of blows due to some untimely injuries. Triple jumper Dominique Easterling, who holds the conference’s third best mark in the triple jump, and hurdler/jumper David Klech, a top conference 400m hurdler, will both be absent this weekend due to injuries.

This meet will serve as a springboard into the Western Regional Championships, which take place in two weeks.