UCLA men’s track and field coach Mike Maynard got his first taste of the revitalized dual meet between his Bruins and the men of Oregon last week at Hayward Field and was pleased with what he saw.
That is, unless he caught a glance at the scoreboard. The Ducks ran away with the meet, 92-71, for the third victory in three consecutive iterations of the dual meet.
“We had some great performances today,” said Maynard, the former head coach at Boise State. “These meets are truly about score, so we’re disappointed with the score at the end. We thought we’d make at least a closer meet out of it. But we really had some pretty good stuff.”
After the meet, Maynard and assistant athletic director Vin Lananna spoke briefly about the meet and its future.
“We talked for a few minutes today about what we might do,” Lananna said.
The two coaches have a number of options. Among them are continuing the dual meet in its present format at Hayward Field, altering the format or arranging for a home-and-home schedule in the near future. The last option does not appeal to Lananna.
“We like the dual meet concept. We like the UCLA concept,” Lananna said. “On our end, we’d like to have this meet. But we’d like to have it in Eugene, and I don’t know if it’s fair to ask a team to come here year-in and year-out.
“I don’t think we have an interest in going down to L.A. I think we only have an interest in having the meet here. I think we can be assured a really good crowd, and just makes sense for the University of Oregon to host this meet. I don’t think it makes sense to do
a home-and-home.”
Maynard expressed his support for the UCLA-Oregon concept after Saturday’s meet.
“I’m a true track geek,” he said. “I just like scoring meets. I like it when it means something.
“We haven’t made any decisions yet, but I’m just completely committed to this style of meet, whether it’s here or in Los Angeles and whether it’s a dual or triangular or a quad (meet). I kind of lose interest as it goes above a quad. You can keep a triangular on this kind of pace, and it’s kind of exciting. A multi-dual (multiple teams scored head-to-head against one another) is great as well.”
Another option that may be pursued by the two coaches is a dual meet including both women’s track and field teams. Understandably, this idea is popular among the athletes competing in the event.
“I wish that they’d incorporate the women,” said senior Ashton Eaton, who won the 100 meters and 200 meters at the UCLA dual meet and was a member of the runner-up 4×100-meter relay team. “Not only because it would be better, I think, but it also gives the athletes more rest time. Almost every half an hour today, there’s been a race (for me).” The dual meet took just two hours and 15 minutes to complete.
Lananna approved of the idea.
“I really do want it men and women,” he said. “Maybe, if that’s what we’re doing down in L.A., maybe I would rethink (a home-and-home series).”
Unlike the Ducks, UCLA has separate head coaches for its men’s and women’s track and field teams, meaning Bruins women’s head coach Jeanette Bolden would have to approve their inclusion into the meet. Maynard stands by the idea of incorporating the women all the same.
“That’s really to be seen. Coach Bolden has her own philosophy and kind of her own thing going,” he said.
Discussions will continue into the future, as nothing is expected to be set immediately. Both schools will fine-tune the current agreement if they see improvement upon the competitive nature of the meet and the profile of the sport itself.
“Whether it’s here or in Los Angeles or wherever, I think Coach Lananna has the right idea for reviving interest in track and field,” Maynard said. “I’m completely committed to the dual, triangular, quad-type scoring formatted meet. I think it’s great.”
“As of April 17, 2010, we plan for this to be a meet next year on the corresponding weekend,” Lananna said.
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