NCAA West Regional track
This is from UCLA, where a pair of Bruins qualified for the national championships, and football player Darius Savage is in a wait-and-see mode.
Caulfield & Hobson Punch Tickets To NCAA Track Championships At West Region Meet
Caulfield places 4th in shot put; Hobson tied for fourth in high jump
May 30, 2008
Senior John Caulfield and freshman Taylor Hobson became the first Bruin men to punch tickets to the NCAA Track & Field Championships as they finished fourth in their respective events to earn automatic bids at the NCAA West Region Championships in Northridge. Caulfield was fourth in the shot put with a throw of 61-1.25, while Hobson tied for fourth in the high jump, equaling his lifetime-best with a season-best mark of 6-11.
Freshman Bo Taylor was ninth in the shot put with a throw of 58-3.75 and is eligible for an at-large spot to Nationals. Freshman Darius Savage was 12th overall with a mark of 56-10.75 and is also eligible for an at-large spot. He will most likely earn the spot because he ranks 15th on the national list with a mark of 61-6.75 (the top six through 12th-place finishers are eligible for at-large bids).
In the prelim rounds, several Bruins advanced to Saturday's finals led by Kevin Craddock's top run in the high hurdles. He ran the fastest time of the day to automatically advance to the finals (13.68). Junior Laef Barnes finished seventh in the prelims of the 1500m to advance to Saturday's final as he ran 3:45.06. In the 800m, freshman Cory Primm was the seventh-fastest time of the day (1:49.21) to advance to the finals on Saturday. Fellow freshman Scott Crawford missed the finals by one spot as he placed ninth in a time of 1:49.98.
In other events, senior Elijah Wells concluded his career with his 11th-place run of 47.79 in the 400m. Sophomore Stan Griffin missed making the finals of the 200m by one spot as he finished ninth in a time of 21.52.
Competition continues on Saturday with the finals of all running events, including the steeplechase in which UCLA has six athletes entered. The pole vault, discus, triple jump and hammer will also be held.
100m - no entries.
200m - 9. Stan Griffin, 21.52.
400m - 11. Elijah Wells, 47.79.
800m - 7. Cory Primm, 1:49.21; 9. Scott Crawford, 1:49.98.
1500m - 7. Laef Barnes, 3:45.06; 18. Marlon Patterson, 3:55.01.
5000m - no entries.
110m Hurdles - 1. Kevin Craddock, 13.68
400m Hurdles - no entries.
4x100m - no entries.
High Jump - 4T. Taylor Hobson (6-11/2.11m)
Shot Put - 4. John Caulfield (61-1.25/18.62m); 9. Bo Taylor (58-3.75/17.77m); 12. Darius Savage (56-10.75/17.34m)
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About Inside UCLA
This is Brian Dohn's sixth season covering UCLA after spending 4 1/2 years covering the Dodgers for the Daily News and other Los Angeles Newspaper Group papers. He graduated from Rutgers, where the first college football game was played in 1869. Sure, the Scarlet Knights suffered for a long time, but now RU is doing what Jerseyans always thought was possible. Winning at Rutgers also proves winning is possible everywhere else in the nation, so underachieving coaches better be careful. Now, if only men's hoops can turn it around.
It's not a wait-and-see mode for Darius Savage. He WILL get an at-large berth. All four regionals are done. They invite the top 26 guys in the nation. Darius is #12 on the list of best marks. It's a no-brainer.
It's tantamount to saying, "Stanford's men's Basketball team (this year when they finished 2nd in the P-10 tourney) was in a 'wait-and-see mode' to get into the NCAA tournament."