LOS ANGELES – UCLA track and field will continue its 2018 indoor campaign at the New York City Armory Track this weekend, competing in the Columbia Challenge at the Dr. Sander Invitational. The three-day meet will begin on Thursday, Jan. 25 and continue through Saturday. The competition will be hosted by the University of Columbia.
The Bruins will get a chance to face a strong collection of teams this weekend, a field headlined by fellow west-coast travelers Oregon, whose men's team is 14th and women's squad is No. 1 in the nation in the latest USTFCCCA poll. The Ivy League will also be represented at the Armory, with Columbia, Harvard, and Penn all toeing the line.
UCLA is coming off an impressive season opener at the MLK Invite that featured five event victories for the Bruins and numerous personal-best marks. Senior Jessie Maduka made UCLA history over the weekend, posting a lifetime-best mark of 45-01.00 (13.74m) in the triple jump to set an indoor school record in the event. In the shot put, junior Ashlie Blake posted an indoor-best throw of 55-01.50 (16.80m) to finish third overall and place her eighth all-time in UCLA indoor history.
The men's team performance highlights included a victory in the weight throw by junior Justin Stafford, whose launch of 63-04.25 (19.31m) was good for seventh in school history. Sophomore Logen Casavant finished third overall in the 400m with an indoor-best time of 47.81.
Senior Kendall Gustafson and junior Christina Chenault will compete in the Bruins' first full pentathlon of the 2018 season. Gustafson (3,958 points) and Chenault (3,689 points) placed second and fourth, respectively, at the 2017 MPSF Championships. The pentathlon will be held on Thursday, Jan. 25.
Following her UCLA debut that saw her finish fourth in the shot put and fifth in the weight throw, freshman Alyssa Wilson is slated to be in both events again this weekend. Wilson, the New Jersey native, made history at the Armory Track in February of 2017, where she set the girls' all-time national high school shot put record with a throw of 57-05.50 at the Eastern States Indoor Championships.
Making his UCLA track debut in the 3,000m this weekend will be junior transfer Robert Brandt. Brandt, who transferred from California prior to the 2017 cross country season, was the Bruins' top runner in three cross country meets, including the NCAA Championships. Brandt also took home two victories in the 3,000m for the Golden Bears during his sophomore track season.
The Columbia Challenge/Dr. Sander Invitational will be broadcast live on NBC Sports Gold from 1:00pm-3:00pm on Saturday. A fee-based livestream of the competition will be provided by usatf.tv.