University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
UCLA
NCAA West Preliminary Round
UCLA Adds Four Qualifiers on Final Day of Regionals
May 26, 2018 | Track & Field
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The UCLA track & field teams wrapped up action in the NCAA West Regional on Saturday with their most successful day of the meet, producing four NCAA qualifiers to bring the program's total to nine bids into next months NCAA Championships in Eugene, Ore.
Three of UCLA's four Saturday qualifiers came in the first two field events of the day: women's hammer and men's javelin.
Alyssa Wilson opened the day for the Bruins by making history. With a 63.85 (209-5) launch – the second-best of her collegiate career – Wilson took fifth place and an NCAA qualifying spot in the women's hammer. Having already qualified for the shot put on Thursday and the discus on Friday, Wilson became UCLA's first-ever freshman student-athlete to triple qualify in throwing events. She is also the only female athlete nationwide to do so this season.
Broadening the scope of her accomplishment, Wilson joins an exclusive club of all-time Bruin triple qualifiers. She is just the fifth female at UCLA ever to qualify for three individual events in one season, and the first since 1985. That small group includes Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Julie Brown, Kate Keyes, and Francie Larrieu.
"This was an incredible weekend of accomplishment for Alyssa," said UCLA Director of Track & Field Avery Anderson. "It's tough enough to come here and qualify for one event, but to do it in three speaks to the caliber of her talent. Nobody cares if you're a freshman or not. You don't get credit for that so you have to be prepared to compete with the best. She did a great job of staying focused and executed with nerves of steel. Where she may have lacked experience in this meet, [UCLA throws coach John] Frazier had plenty and was able to get her prepared."
While Wilson was making history, a pair of Bruins made marks of their own not 50 feet away in the men's javelin throw.
Fresh off a Pac-12 individual championship in the jav, sophomore Simon Litzell uncorked a top mark of 69.60m (228-4) in the fourth and final flight to grab sixth place and a spot in the NCAA Championships for the second straight year. Saturday's mark was the second-best of his collegiate career, trailing only the lifetime-best 74.46m (244-3) effort that landed him the Pac-12 title.
Competing in the same flight, Marian Spannowsky recorded a top-10 finish of his own to give UCLA its sole multi-bid event of the week, coming in ninth at 68.37m (224-3) with his second-best mark of the 2018 outdoor season. Like Litzell, Spannowsky also qualified for NCAAs for the second straight year.
Senior Jessie Maduka gave UCLA its final NCAA qualifier of the day, validating her No. 3 seed in the women's triple jump with a top mark of 13.42m (44-0.5) that was good for fourth place, the highest finish by a Bruin all week. The Pac-12 champion in the triple jump, Saturday's effort clinched the third career NCAA Championships appearance for Maduka, who has now qualified in three separate events (long jump, 4X100 relay).
After the early field competitions, UCLA wrapped up its track events for the week.
First, the UCLA women's 4X100m relay team raced to a 17th place finish at 45.16, missing out on the final qualifying spot by less than a quarter-second.
Then, a trio of Bruins competed in the men's 5000m run, one of two events in which three Bruins competed (men's 1500m).
Aiming for a double qualification, Robert Brandt (qualified in the men's 10K on Thursday) led the pack for a solid portion of the race but ended up 11th in the second heat and 19th overall with a time of 13:59.21. Senior Daniel De La Torre, in his final race as a Bruin, came in right behind Brandt at 14:00.37 for 20th place. Sophomore Colin Burke rounded out UCLA's 5000m runners at 14:09.05, good for 29th place.
Junior CJ Alumbres closed out UCLA's action for the day and for the meet in the men's triple jump, taking a 19th place finish with a top mark of 15.38m (50-5.5).
The advancing Bruins will travel to Eugene, Ore. for the NCAA Championships, held from Jun. 6-9 on the campus of the University of Oregon.
UCLA's 2018 NCAA Championships Qualifiers
Kendall Gustafson: women's heptathlon
Justin Stafford: men's hammer
Alyssa Wilson: women's discus, hammer, shot put
Robert Brandt: men's 10,000 meters
Simon Litzell: men's javelin
Marian Spannowsky: men's javelin
Jessie Maduka: women's triple jump
Players Mentioned
