UCLA’s Yoo Kim broke his own Korean national record in the pole vault Saturday in Seattle, helping the Bruins capture their fourth consecutive MPSF Indoor Championship. Kim, a senior, cleared the bar at a lifetime-best 18 feet, 4.75 inches on his second attempt to easily surpass second-place Tyson Byers of Washington State. UCLA’s 15.5 points in the pole vault, the second-to-last event of the meet, allowed the Bruins to vault past Stanford and into first place for good. Having already cleared the bar at 18 feet, 1 inch at the Husky Invitational last month, Kim, a top contender for the NCAA indoor title in two weeks, was very comfortable competing in Seattle. He continued his hot streak on Saturday, taking three attempts at UCLA’s school record of 18 feet, 5.25 inches, but coming up short. Kim was one of UCLA’s three individual event winners Saturday, along with senior Nicholas Thornton (800m) and junior Craig Everhart (400m). Sprinters Mario Bassani and Denye’ Versher, hurdler Jonathan Williams and thrower Jeremy Silverman also had standout performances. Bassani and Versher, both seniors, ran indoor lifetime bests in the preliminaries of the 400 meters, taking sixth and seventh place, respectively. Williams, a senior, followed a lifetime-best 7.91 seconds in the preliminaries of the 60-meter hurdles Friday with a 7.93-second time in the finals, and Silverman broke out of his early slump to take fourth place in the weight throw with a lifetime-best mark of 57 feet, 10.25 inches. UCLA won with 117.50 points, followed by Stanford (93.5), Arizona (93) and Cal (90). The Bruins will open the outdoor season at home this Saturday at the UCLA Invitational before heading to Arkansas for the NCAA Indoor Championships.
WOMEN’S TRACK: Kamaiya Warren and Dawn Harper each captured conference titles on Saturday, but the shorthanded UCLA women’s track team could not win the MPSF Championship, taking fourth place on Saturday in Seattle. Warren, a sophomore, took first place in the shot put with a lifetime-best mark of 52 feet, 6 inches. Harper also posted a lifetime best, continuing her quick start by posting a time of 8.12 seconds in the 60-meter hurdles. Stanford took first place at the MPSF meet with 180.5 points, followed by Cal, Washington and UCLA. Perhaps the most significant performance of the weekend for the Bruins came from junior Chelsea Johnson, who was making her indoor season debut after injuring her hamstring last month. In her only chance to qualify for this month’s NCAA Indoor Championships, Johnson succeeded, taking sixth place with a mark of 12 feet, 11 inches. Johnson, the collegiate record-holder in the pole vault and defending NCAA Outdoor Champion, was the runner-up at indoors a year ago.
Compiled by Jeff Eisenberg, Bruin Sports senior staff.