New York, N.Y. – UCLA excelled in the field events at the Columbia Challenge at the NYC Armory, winning the women's shot put and placing student-athletes in the Top 5 in six additional field contests.
The Bruins dominated in the shot put, with freshman Alyssa Wilson and junior Ashlie Blake going 1-2 in the women's competition and redshirt freshman Nate Esparza and junior Dotun Ogundeji finishing second and fourth, respectively, in the men's competition. Wilson threw a lifetime best of 16.75m (54-11.50) to top the field, while Blake threw 16.62m (54-06.50) to finish second. On the men's side, Esparza recorded a second-place throw of 19.35m (63-06.00), while Ogundeji threw for 18.80m (61-08.25) to finish fourth.
Junior Justin Stafford was the runner-up in the men's weight throw with a mark of 19.41m (63-08.25), good for a second consecutive lifetime-best throw. Wilson also set a career-best in the women's competition, throwing 18.73m (61-05.50) to finish fifth. This mark moves him into seventh place all-time in UCLA indoor history.
Senior Elleyse Garrett earned a third-place finish in the women's pole vault, clearing 4.05m (13-03.50). On the men's side, senior Reed Scale earned a ninth-place finish, clearing 4.85m (15-11.00).
Sophomore Mikella Lefebvre-Oatis placed third collegiately and fourth overall in the high jump with a height of 1.77m (5-09.75). Junior Lillianna Hebert also scored for the Bruins, placing seventh collegiately and ninth overall with a height of 1.69m (5-06.50). Junior Kaelin Davis placed 15th collegiately and 17th overall, clearing 1.60m (5-03.00). The men's competition saw junior Michael Burke finish 11th with a clearance of 2.03m (6-08.00).
Both the Bruin men and women had success in the triple jump. Senior Idrees Bernard finished fifth in the triple jump in his first competition since the 2017 Columbia Challenge, posting a mark of 15.40m (50-06.25). Sophomore CJ Alumbres finished in seventh place at 14.82m (48-07.50). Senior Efe Agege placed fifth in the women's triple jump with a mark of 11.96m (39-03.00).
Sophomore Isaiah Holmes led the way for the Bruin men in the long jump, finishing sixth overall with a jump of 7.16m (23-06.00). Bernard completed his double with a jump of 6.83m (22-05.00), good for 10th overall.
In her first meet as a Bruin, junior transfer Meleni Rodney placed 11th in the 400m, clocking in at 55:18.
Junior Robert Brandt made his UCLA indoor track and field debut and finished in 12th place in the men's 3,000m in a time of 8:01.89. Sophomore George Gleason was 30th, finishing in 8:13.84. On the women's side, freshman Christina Rice led UCLA in her first collegiate 3,000m, finishing in 33rd place with a time of 9:51.79. She was followed by fellow debutant Claire Markey in 43rd (10:01.94) and junior Roni Yamane in 49th (10:15.40).
Jelvon Butler finished 20th in the women's 200m dash in a time of 24.77, while Darnell Roberson ran 22.54 in the men's 200m to place 23rd.
In the women's 800m, sophomore Cassandra Durgy led the Bruins with a 48th-place finish and time of 2:20.33. Freshman Jacquelyn Hill was close behind, clocking in a 50th-place time of 2:20.48. On the men's side, sophomore Riley Kelly was 16th overall and fifth collegiately with a lifetime-best time of 1:51.83. Carter Blunt finished in 24th overall and 13th collegiately (1:53.78).
Kelly Bernd ran a 5:00.91 in the 1 Mile to finish 32nd in the women's race, while Scott Snow was 37th (4:13.31) and Daniel De La Torre 53rd (4:20.10) in the men's race.
UCLA will be splitting squad for their next weekend of competition, as the Bruins will be competing at the Don Kirby Invite (Albuquerque, N.M.) and the Husky Classic (Seattle, Wash.). Both meets will begin on Friday, Feb. 9.