Feb. 21, 2013

Los Angeles, Calif. - The Bruins track and field teams head north to Seattle for the third time this season to compete at the 21st Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championships at the University of Washington's Dempsey Indoor Facility. This is the 11th consecutive year that this event has been held at Dempsey.

The Bruins have gained momentum at their indoor competitions over the past several weeks and are looking to make a run at the conference title. Currently, the men's and women's teams boast a combined 12 athletes who hold national seedings in their individual events, as reported by the US Track & Field/Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).

In 2012, the Bruin men (49 pts.) and women (35.33 pts.) took seventh and eighth, respectively, in the team category. However, they did have strong individual performances and were able to capture several individual event titles. Both the men's and women's weight throw events were won by Bruins, as Ida Storm (69-7/21.21) and Alec Faldermeyer (70-4.5/21.45) each tossed their way to the weight throw crown. Neither will travel this weekend to defend their crowns.

Junior captain Mike Woepse was another Bruin to emerge victorious last year in Seattle. Tied for the nation's no. 1 seed in this event, the then sophomore Woepse claimed the pole vault title (17-7.75/5.38) amongst a field that included two other Bruins. Finally, heptathlete Marcus Nilsson finished first in the men's heptathlon (5,700 pts.) by capturing three of seven first place finishes. Both Woepse and Nilsson return to Seattle this weekend to defend their titles.

Other Bruins to look out for:

• Kylie Price finished fourth in last year's women's 60m dash and will be one of five Bruins (Brea Buchanan, Sydney Lewis, Kelly Rhines and Maya Brown) to compete in the 60m this weekend. Price will also compete in the long jump. Currently, she is the nation's 15th seed in the 60m and T-6th in the long jump
• Seven Bruin women will race in the 3,000m race (Jen Owen, Meghan Marvin, Katja Goldring, Bronte Golick, Sarah Toberty, Kelsey Smith and Annie Mooney). Of the seven, Katja Goldring and Kelsey Smith will compete in this event for the second year in a row
• Tatum Souza will see action in the women's pentathlete as well as the shot put. In 2012, Souza took fifth in the indoor pentathlon (3,698 pts.)
• Distance runners Dustin Fay and Lane Werley are two of five Bruins competing in the men's 5,000m race. Currently they hold the nation's 19th and 25th seeds, respectively. Last year, Fay took tenth (14:02.59)
• Julian Wruck and no. 28 seed Nicholas Scarvelis will compete in the men's shot put. This will be Wruck's first conference event as a Bruin.
• Senior Dominic Giovannoni will join Nilsson in the field of the men's heptathlon. The nation's 21st seeded haptathlete, Giovannoni looks to improve upon his 18th place finish at MPSF's in 2012 (4,380 pts.)

Events begin Feb. 22 at 12pm, and will resume for day two on Saturday, Feb. 23 at 10:30am. This year's championships will be streamed by Flotrack.org. For the Flotrack event page, click here.