UCLA
NCAA Indoor Championships
UCLA Heads to College Station for NCAA Indoors
March 07, 2018 | Track & Field
NCAA Indoor Championships
March 9-10, 2018
College Station, Texas (hosted by Texas A&M)
MEET INFORMATION
Venue: Gilliam Indoor Stadium
Television: ESPN2 (delayed 3/11, 4pm PT)
Internet Video: WatchESPN (3/9 - 3:30pm PT, 3/10 - 2pm PT)
Live Results: ncaa.com
UCLA's MEET SCHEDULE
Friday, Mar. 9
3:15 pm PT - Women's Shot Put (Blake, Wilson)
5:20 pm PT - Men's Shot Put (Esparza, Ogundeji)
Saturday, Mar. 10
1:30 pm PT - Women's Triple Jump (Maduka)
FIVE BRUINS HEAD TO NCAA INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS
UCLA has qualified five student-athletes to the NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships, which will be held Mar. 9-10 at Gilliam Indoor Stadium on the campus of Texas A&M. The Bruin women will be represented by Jessie Maduka in the triple jump and Ashlie Blake and Alyssa Wilson in the shot put. Nate Esparza and Dotun Ogundeji will represent the Bruin men in the shot put.
MEET SCHEDULE
The shot put trials and finals will take place on Friday, Mar. 9, with the women beginning at 5:15pm CT/3:15pm PT and the men starting at 7:20pm CT/5:20pm PT. The women's triple jump contests on Saturday, Mar. 10 at 3:30pm CT/1:30pm PT.
FOLLOW THE ACTION
The meet will be streamed live on WatchESPN on Friday starting at 5:30pm CT/3:30pm PT and on Saturday beginning at 4pm CT/2pm PT. A re-air of the championship will take place on ESPN2 starting at 4pm PT on Sunday, March 11. Live results can be found at NCAA.com.
MADUKA JUMPS INTO CONTENTION
Senior Jessie Maduka enters the championships with the No. 4 mark in the nation this year, a school record 45-1 (13.74m) set on Jan. 20 to take first place at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Invitational. She has triple jumped just one other time during the indoor season, also claiming the MPSF Indoor Championship with a mark of 43-06 (13.25m). Maduka also competed in the long jump (seventh place) and 60m dash at the MPSF Indoors.
SHOT PUT STRENGTH CONTINUES
UCLA will have two competitors each in the men's and women's shot put, marking the fourth consecutive year that a Bruin has competed in that event at the NCAA Indoors. Junior Ashlie Blake enters her first NCAA Indoor Championships ranked No. 9 with a season-best mark of 56-11.5 (17.36m), set in a runner-up effort at the Don Kirby Invitational. That mark was good for fifth on UCLA's all-time indoor list. Blake finished in third place at the MPSF Championships. Alyssa Wilson comes into the NCAA Championships as the nation's top-ranked freshman in the shot put. She also achieved her season-best of 56-9.25 (17.30m) at the Don Kirby Invitational, where she finished third. Her mark was good for sixth on UCLA's all-time indoor list. Wilson, who has also been competing in the weight throw during the season, won the shot put at the Columbia Challenge and finished fourth at the MPSF Championships.
Junior Dotun Ogundeji is making his third appearance at the NCAA Indoors. He finished 12th as a freshman in 2016 and 15th in 2017, earning second-team All-America honors each time. Ogundeji ranks No. 13 nationally with a season-high mark of 63-6.75 (19.37m), set in a runner-up performance at the MLK Invitational. He was the runner-up at the Don Kirby Invitational and placed fourth at the MPSF Championships. Ogundeji's career-best mark is 64-11.50, set in a winning effort at the 2017 MPSF Indoor Championships, which currently stands as UCLA's No. 5 all-time indoor mark. Redshirt freshman Nate Esparza is making his first NCAA Indoor appearance. His meet-winning throw of 63-11.50 (19.49m) at the MLK Invitational qualified him to NCAAs in the No. 12 position. The throw also puts him in seventh on UCLA's all-time indoor list. Esparza was the runner-up in the shot put at the Columbia Challenge and placed sixth at the MPSF Championships.
UCLA has produced a total of 11 NCAA Indoor champions in the shot put - seven women (Christina Tolson in 2001, Seilala Sua in 2000, Valeyta Althouse in 1996, Dawn Dumble in 1995 and 1992, and Tracie Millett in 1991 and 1990) and four men (Jonathan Ogden in 1996, John Godina in 1995 and 1994, and Eric Bergreen in 1991).
ANDERSON BEGINS FIRST SEASON
UCLA graduate and track and field/football alumnus Avery Anderson is in his first year as the Director of Track & Field and Cross Country, having assumed the position on July 6, 2017. Anderson returned to his alma mater after spending nearly 13 years in various coaching roles at CSUN, including the Director of Track & Field and Cross Country from July 2011-July 2017. Prior to coaching at CSUN, Anderson was a volunteer assistant track coach at Kansas State from 2002-04 and at UCLA from 2001-02. During his tenure at CSUN, Anderson led Matador student-athletes to 13 team conference championship titles, 91 individual conference championship titles and 21 NCAA All-America honors. He established a conference record for team championship titles, was named the Big West Conference Women's Track & Field Coach of the Year in 2017 and 2015, and coached the only individual male NCAA Division I champions in CSUN history, in any sport, long jumpers Dashalle Andrews and Reindell Cole.
Players Mentioned
