Johnson Leads Successful Bruin Day

Sheena Johnson has found herself in a new role this season for the UCLA women’s track and field team. As the reigning NCAA champion in the 400-meter hurdles, the senior is the new target of all her opponents.

Being the hunted instead of the hunter has improved her performance. Before 2,287 people at the West Regional qualifying meet Saturday at Cal State Northridge, Johnson raced to easy wins in the 100 and 400 hurdles to lead a strong Bruin contingent that has eyes on its first NCAA outdoor team title since 1983.

The UCLA track program overwhelmed its competitors at the Matador Track Complex. The Bruin women retained their regional title with 141 points, easily outdistancing USC, which had 79.

The men qualified 15 athletes for the NCAA meet, the most in any one season, and had 141 points. USC finished second with 82 and Brigham Young had 79 1/2 points.

“It’s been a really great day for the women and the men’s team,” UCLA women’s Coach Jeanette Bolden said.

UCLA’s chances at defeating other top title contenders in Louisiana State and Texas in two weeks will ride partly on the shoulders of their two biggest talents, Johnson and junior sprinter Monique Henderson.

Johnson won the 400 hurdles in 54.91 seconds, not far off her NCAA-winning mark of 54.24 last season in Sacramento that set a national meet record.

“Last year was a big confidence booster,” she said. “I hadn’t really run that fast in a while.”

Bolden said Johnson was just beginning to peak. “She definitely has a lot left,” the Bruin coach said.

The end of Johnson’s college career is proving far more fruitful than when it started. She continues to use her freshman season as motivation in each meet.

After running the top 400 hurdles mark in the nation during the season, she sat in the stands with tear-stained eyes after failing to qualify for the NCAA final. Earlier in that meet, she failed to get the baton from Sani Roseby in the 400-meter relay.

When she won in Sacramento last year, Johnson called Bolden, who constantly reminded her of that experience.

“I always remember that,” Johnson said. “I always think about not letting that happen again.”

Said Bolden: “When an athlete has that kind of experience, what they’ll always have inside them is the thinking that ‘Hey, this is what happened to me then and I can get through it.’ ”

Henderson continued to show that she is in top form after a two-year slump following her record-breaking high school career at San Diego Morse. She ran a personal-best 50.65 in the 400 meters Saturday, shaving nine-hundredths of a second off her mark in 2000 that at the time set a national scholastic record.

The 50.65 is the third-fastest mark in the world this season.

“It’s taken me four years to reach my [personal best],” Henderson said. “It’s definitely a great accomplishment for me at this time in my career. This is just proof that I’m determined and I’m going to have a great year.”

UCLA senior Dan Ames pulled off a rare trifecta by adding the discus title to his shot-put and hammer-throw wins Friday.

UCLA’s Craig Everhart won the 400 in a personal-best 44.89, and teammate Brandon Johnson won the 400 hurdles in 49.64.

USC qualified 17 athletes; four won individual titles. Allen Simms, an Olympic hopeful and the U.S. indoor champion in the triple jump, won that event Saturday after winning the long jump Friday.

The Trojans also won the sprint events, Phillip Francis in the 100 and Wes Felix in the 200. Iryna Vashchuk won the 1,500.

Tetlo Ermen and Ben Armel gave UC Santa Barbara a one-two finish in the men’s 800. Doug Lefler of Long Beach State won the men’s javelin. On Friday, UCLA’s Jessica Cosby won the women’s hammer and Chelsea Johnson won the pole vault.