University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
UCLA
Rafer Johnson/Jackie Joyner-Kersee Invitational
UCLA Hosts Rafer Johnson/JJK Invitational Saturday
April 12, 2018 | Track & Field
MEET INFORMATION
Location: Los Angeles, Calif.
Venue: Drake Stadium
Tickets: $8 adults/$5 youth
Live Results: finishedresults.com
MEET SCHEDULE
Saturday, Mar. 31
8:30 am - Field events begin
2:35 pm - National anthem
2:40 pm - Track events begin
UCLA HOSTS RAFER JOHNSON/JACKIE JOYNER-KERSEE INVITATIONAL
UCLA will host the annual Rafer Johnson/Jackie Joyner-Kersee Invitational on Saturday, Apr. 14. The meet begins with the men's hammer at 8:30am. Track events begin at 2:40pm with the women's 3,000m steeplechase and concludes with the men's 4x400 relay at 6pm. Live results will be available at finishedresults.com.
TRAFFIC ALERT
Campus traffic and parking may be impacted on Saturday due to UCLA Bruin Day, which will welcome incoming freshmen and their families to campus. Fans are advised to arrive early.
PARTICIPATING TEAMS
Participating collegiate teams at the invitational include Cal Poly, Glendale Community College, Mount San Antonio College, Riverside Community College, Sacramento State, San Francisco, and Texas A&M.
MEET PREVIEW
The Bruins will send out a strong squad on the men's and women's sides for the Rafer Johnson/JJK Invite. Senior Joe Herrera will be making his outdoor debut, toeing the line in the men's 200m and 400m competitions. He has lifetime bests of 21.70 and 46.84 in the events, respectively. Sophomore Riley Kelly is slated to represent the Bruins in the men's 800m, an event in which he posted a lifetime-best time of 1:49.94 at the Jim Bush Legends Invitational. Junior Justin Stafford is in the men's hammer for UCLA, an event in which he holds a career best of 62.24m (204-2.25). Outdoor All-Americans Simon Litzell and Marian Spannowsky will lead the way for the Bruins in the men's javelin, as the pair is coming off a 1-2 performance at the Pomona-Pitzer Invite. Ashlie Blake will lead the UCLA women's squad in the shot put, as her lifetime-best mark of 17.73m (58-2) is good for second in the nation. Freshman Christina Rice is in action Saturday in the 1,500m, her first race since moving into sixth place all-time in school history in the 10,000m (34:49.87) at the Bob Larsen Distance Carnival. The Bruins will also post their first 4x400m relay team of the season, as Suzie Acolatse, Jelvon Butler, Ashley Lewis, and Jessie Maduka will exchange the baton for UCLA.
TWO TRACK LEGENDS HONORED
The meet this weekend is named in honor of two UCLA and USA Track and Field icons - Rafer Johnson and Jackie Joyner-Kersee. Johnson won two Olympic decathlon medals and led UCLA to its first-ever NCAA track and field championship in 1956. A two-sport athlete, he played for two coaching legends in track and field's Ducky Drake and basketball's John Wooden. While at UCLA, Johnson won a silver medal in the decathlon at the 1956 Olympic Games despite being handicapped by a knee injury and torn stomach muscle that kept him out of competition in the broad jump. He reached the pinnacle of his Olympic achievements in 1960 as the U.S. team captain, flag-bearer, and gold-medal winning decathlete. At the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, he was selected to light the Olympic Cauldron. Johnson is a member of the inaugural classes of the U.S. Track and Field (1974) and UCLA Athletics (1984) Halls of Fame. He was recently inducted into the Pac-12 Hall of Honor.
Joyner-Kersee is considered one of the greatest female athletes of all-time. She was honored in April 2001 by the Honda Award as the Top Women's Collegiate Athlete of the Last 25 years. In January 2001, she was named the World's Greatest Female Athlete of the 20th Century by Sports Illustrated for Women, and she was also named the Summer Olympian of the Century by the Associated Press in December 1999. The world record-holder in the heptathlon, Joyner-Kersee's six Olympic medals, including three gold, represented the highest total ever won by a U.S. woman (Bruin alumnae Florence Griffith-Joyner and Evelyn Ashford were second with five apiece). Joyner-Kersee was inducted into the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame in 1996. She maintains UCLA all-time Top-10 marks in seven events: 100m hurdles, 400m hurdles, high jump, long jump, triple jump, heptathlon, and 4x400m relay.
LAST WEEK
The Bruin throws team shined in Pomona Saturday, with UCLA student-athletes taking home event victories in the men's hammer and javelin competitions and three additional Top-5 finishes on the day. Junior Justin Stafford continued his stellar outdoor campaign with a victory in the men's hammer throw, throwing 60.56m (198-08) for the win, his second victory in three competitions this season. In his season debut, sophomore Simon Litzell led the way for UCLA in the men's javelin, posting the best collegiate mark of the day with a throw of 67.89m (222-09), the best throw of the 2018 season for the Bruins. Also making his debut was sophomore Marian Spannowsky, who finished second in the collegiate competition with a throw of 66.29m (217-06). Sophomore Connor Deverian threw 53.92m (176-11) for fourth place in the collegiate competition. Freshman Alyssa Wilson represented the Bruins in the women's discus, finishing second collegiately with a throw of 44.22m (145-01) for her third-straight Top 3 finish.
SEVENTEEN EARN MPSF ALL-ACADEMIC HONORS
The UCLA track and field team placed 17 student-athletes on the MPSF Indoor Track and Field All-Academic teams for 2018. Ten women were named to the squad - redshirt junior pole vaulter Elleyse Garrett, senior pentathlete Kendall Gustafson, senior sprinter/jumper Jessie Maduka, senior hurdler Pattriana Perry, senior sprinter Jelvon Butler, senior jumper Efe Agege, redshirt junior high jumper Kaelin Davis, sophomore high jumper Mikella Lefebvre-Oatis, and redshirt freshmen distance runners Claire Markey and Kelly Bernd. Garrett and Maduka each received their third career honor, while Gustafson, Perry and Butler earned their second.
Seven UCLA men received all-academic honors, including six distance runners in senior Daniel De La Torre, redshirt junior Scott Snow, redshirt sophomore George Gleason, sophomores Riley Kelly and Millen Trujillo, and redshirt freshman Chris Morzenti. Joining them is redshirt freshman thrower Nate Esparza. Snow, Gleason and Trujillo earned their second consecutive all-academic honors.
FOUR BRUINS POST TOP 10 MARKS
Four Bruins have posted Top 10 national marks this season. Junior Ashlie Blake holds the second-best shot put in the country at 17.73m (58-2), a mark she set in an event victory at the Jim Bush Legends Invite. Kendall Gustafson compiled 5,691 points in the heptathlon at the season-opening Aztec Invitational, a lifetime-best total that is currently the fifth-best mark in the nation. At the Bob Larsen Distance Carnival, junior George Gleason (4:05.69) and sophomore Carter Blunt (4:06.31) posted the sixth and eighth-best mile times in the country, respectively.
Additionally, six Bruins have made their way into the UCLA Top 10 list with their performances this season. Robert Brandt posted the No. 6 all-time mark in the 10,000m with a 29:02.14 at the Bob Larsen Distance Carnival. Also at that meet, Christina Rice posted the No. 6 mark in the 10,000m on the women's side with a 34:49.87. Ashlie Blake's 17.73m (58-2) shotput throw at the Jim Bush Legends Invitational ranks No. 5 all-time. At the Aztec Invitational, three Bruins recorded Top 10 marks - Alyssa Wilson moved into No. 8 on the hammer list with a throw of 198-8. Ilaria Casarotto threw the No. 5 mark in the javelin with a throw of 153-8, and Kendall Gustafson's heptathlon score of 5691 ranks No. 7 overall.
LOOKING AHEAD
The Bruins will have competitors at the Bryan Clay Invitational Multi on Apr. 18-19, the Mt. SAC Relays on Apr. 19-21 and the John Jacobs Invitational in Oklahoma on Apr. 20-21.
Players Mentioned
