Bruins Head to Oregon for NCAA Championships

Wednesday, June 6

Eugene, Ore.

All Day

UCLA

NCAA Championships

Justin Stafford (above) has one of UCLA's nine NCAA entries this week

Photo by: Don Liebig/ASUCLA

Bruins Head to Oregon for NCAA Championships

June 04, 2018 | Track & Field

Start Lists/Results Meet Notes (PDF)

BRUINS HEAD TO EUGENE FOR NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
After a week off following the conclusion of the NCAA West Preliminaries, UCLA this week heads to Eugene, Ore. for the 2018 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, hosted by Oregon at Hayward Field. The meet features the top-12 finishers from both the West and East Preliminaries, giving each event 24 competitors or relay teams.

TV COVERAGE
The 2018 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships will be streamed live by ESPN3. Links to the broadcast can be found each day on espn.com/watch or on UCLABruins.com. Portions of the meet will also appear on the ESPN family of networks. Coverage will begin at 4:30 pm on Wednesday (ESPN2), 4:00 p.m. on Thursday (ESPN2), 5:30 on Friday (ESPN), and 4:00 p.m. on Saturday (ESPN).

WOMEN'S TRACK AND FIELD STAYS IN THE POLLS
Heading into the final meet of the year, the UCLA women's track & field team is ranked No. 24 in the country by the USTFCCCA, the fifth consecutive week in which the squad has been ranked. The Bruins were a season-high No. 20 before the Pac-12 Championships. In the latest USTFCCCA regional rankings, the women's team was ranked No. 4 in the West while the men's team was tabbed at No. 10.

BRUINS SENDING SEVEN TO NCAAS
UCLA will be sending seven student-athletes across eight events to this week's Championships. On the women's side, three athletes across five events will be competing. On the men's side, four athletes will compete across three events. A full list of entrants can be found below:

Women's Qualifying List (Seed)
Triple Jump: Jessie Maduka (7)
Shot Put: Alyssa Wilson (20)
Discus Throw: Alyssa Wilson (12)
Hammer Throw: Alyssa Wilson (7)
Heptathlon: Kendall Gustafson (7)

Men's Qualifying List (Seed)
10,000m: Robert Brandt (8)
Hammer Throw: Justin Stafford (18)
Javelin Throw: Simon Litzell (9), Marian Spannowsky (12)

BREAKOUT FRESHMAN SEASON CONTINUES FOR WILSON
A true freshman, Alyssa Wilson's debut season in Westwood keeps getting more and more impressive each week. Arguably her best week of the 2018 outdoor season came last week, as she qualified in all three events in which she competed - discus, hammer, and shot put - to become the lone athlete to triple qualify from the Pac-12 and the only athlete nationwide to qualify in three throwing events. She is also believed to be the first female Bruin freshman to triple qualify for the NCAAs. During the regular season, WIlson won eight events - including a triple at the Rafer Johnson/Jackie Joyner-Kersee Invite - and finished first or second in 75% of the events in which she competed (12-16). In her signature event, the hammer, she has the No. 3 mark in UCLA history at 66.53m (218-3), set at the Pac-12 Championships. The hammer is also her highest-seeded event, as she heads to Eugene as the No. 7 seed.

BRUIN DUO TO VIE FOR THE JAVELIN TITLE
With a pair of top-10 finishes in the men's javelin at the NCAA West Preliminaries, sophomores Simon Litzell and Marian Spannowsky each qualified for the NCAA Championships for the second straight year. With the qualifications, Spannowsky's and Litzell's entries in the men's javelin represents UCLA's only multi-competitor event at NCAAs. The duo will be looking to improve on last year's Championships, where Litzell finished 16th and Spannowsky 23rd. Both have recorded UCLA all-time top-10 marks this season, as Litzell had a PR 74.46m (244-3) throw to win the Pac-12 individual championship and take the No. 5 mark in Bruins lore while Spannowsky comes in at No. 8 with his 70.54m (231-5) throw at the Rafer Johnson/Jackie Joyner-Kersee Invitational on Apr. 14. Litzell's performance at the Pac-12s was dominant, as his mark was almost eight meters better than the No. 2 finisher while he had the only two 70-meter throws among the entire field. Spannowsky joined him on the podium with a third-place finish at 66.11m (216-11).

MADUKA IN A GROOVE
The No. 2 triple jumper in UCLA history, Jessie Maduka was limited to just two meets in the 2018 outdoor regular season. However, she has proven she is no worse for wear since returning to the field. She won her triple jump debut - at the USC dual meet - with a 13.62m (44-8.25) mark, then followed that up with a 13.59m (44-7) result at the Pac-12 Championships, giving her a league individual title. Finally, she recorded a 13.42m (44-0.5) jump at the West Regionals, sending her to the NCAA Championships for the third time in her career (she was a two-time entrant in the 4X100 relay and also competed in the long jump in 2016). Her lifetime best in the triple jump came at this year's NCAA Indoor Championships, where she had a 13.81m (45-3.75) mark that landed her in third place. She is one of three No. 7 seeds for UCLA at this week's Championships.

GUSTAFSON LOOKS TO FOLLOW UP ON STANDOUT PAC-12 HEPTATHLON
UCLA senior heptathlete Kendall Gustafson had a performance to remember at the Pac-12 Multis, winning three of seven events and setting three PRs en route to a second-place finish with 5,886 points, which garnered her the No. 7 seed at the NCAA Championships. Her total heptathlon score ranked second on UCLA's all-time top-10 list, only trailing the legendary Jackie Joyner (6,718, set in 1985). On day one, Gustafson won the high jump with a mark of 1.80m (5-10.75), a career-best and the top mark in that event by a Pac-12 athlete this year. Before the day was up, she also won the shot put (13.08, 42-11) and PR'd in the 100m hurdles (14.08) and 200m dash (25.02). Gustafson's top day-two performance came in the javelin, as each of three attempts went further than any throw from any other athlete in the field. Her top mark was 5.72m (18-9.25). Redshirt sophomore Christina Chenault, the fourth-place finisher in last year's Pac-12 Multis, finished in eighth despite being limited by injuries to just three events this outdoor season, none of which were track events.

BRANDT CAPS OFF FIRST YEAR AT UCLA
Junior Robert Brandt has transitioned seamlessly to UCLA in 2018 after transfering from Cal, as he has been one of the Bruins' top distance runners all year. A double qualifier into Regionals, Brandt will race in the 10.000m at NCAAs, an event in which he is the No. 8 seed. His top 10K time this season was at the Jim Bush/Bob Larsen Invitational, where he came in at 29:02.14. Brandt has finished under 30 minutes in all three of his 10,000m outings this year. This is Brandt's first career appearance at the NCAA Outdoor Championships (he has competed at the NCAA Cross Country Championships on three occasions).

STAFFORD REWARDED WITH NCAA SPOT
One of UCLA's most steady performers of the entire 2018 season, junior thrower Justin Stafford was rewarded for his consistency with the No. 18 seed in the men's hammer throw after his 64.65m (212-1) mark in the NCAA West Regionals, which took sixth place. Stafford was the first-place finisher in the hammer in five of the six regular season meets he competed in, and has gone over 64 meters in three of his last four outings, including a lifetime-best 64.92m (213-0) launch at the USC Dual Meet that ranks fifth all-time at UCLA. He has made regionals in each of the last two seasons but this week represents his first career trip to the NCAAs.

WEST REGIONALS RECAP
UCLA had 23 athletes and 28 entries in the NCAA West Preliminaries hosted by Sacramento State at Hornet Stadium. With 14, the Bruins had the third-most women's entries among Pac-12 programs. On day one, Wilson (shot put) and Stafford gave UCLA two qualifiers in its first two events. Brandt led the field in the men's 10,000m for most of the race to secure a top-10 spot and a place in NCAAs. Joe Herrera (400m) and Riley Kelly (800) survived prelims in their respective events to compete later in the weekend while Christina Rice set a new PR and logged the No. 4 time in UCLA history with a 34:14.42 finish in the women's 10,000m. Wilson took seventh in the discus to highlight UCLA's Friday, while Jelvon Butler matched her best non-wind-aided 200m time at 23.79, missing out on an NCAA-qualifying time by .08 seconds. The Bruins added four qualifiers on Saturday, including Wilson's historic third of the weekend. Litzell and Spannowsky both advanced in the men's javelin and Maduka defended her No. 3 seed in the triple jump to wrap up a solid field meet for the Bruins. Brandt in the 5000, UCLA's 4X100 women's relay team, and CJ Alumbres in the men's triple jump each earned top-20 finishes, narrowly missing out on NCAA bids.

PAC-12 CHAMPIONSHIPS IN REVIEW
UCLA concluded the Pac-12 Championships, held at Stanford, in sixth place on the women's side and ninth on the men's side. Overall, the Bruins had a pair of individual champions (Simon Litzell - men's javelin, Jessie Maduka - women's triple jump) and seven podium finishes.

SEVENTEEN EARN MPSF ALL-ACADEMIC HONORS, SEVEN HONORED AT SCHOLAR-ATLETE BANQUET
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.
On May 15, seven track & field student-athletes were honored at UCLA's annual scholar-athlete banquet. Daniel De La Torre was the Rose Gilbert Courage and Character Award recipient, while Leon Powell and Patrianna Perry swept the Bruin Leadership Awards. Kendall Gustafson, Jessie Maduka, and Roni Yamane received Athletic Director's Academic Excellence Awards (3.0+ GPA, enrolled in 12+ graded units) and Scott Snow and Gustafson were named to the UCLA All-Academic Team (individual from each program with top cumulative GPA).

NINE BRUINS ENTER ALL-TIME TOP-10 IN 2018
Nine Bruins have made their way into the UCLA Top-10 list with their performances this season. Most recently, freshman Christina Rice logged the fourth-best women's 10,000 meter time at 34:14.52 at the NCAA West Preliminaries, her third sub-35-minute mark of the season. At the Pac-12 Championships, Simon Litzell recorded the all-time No. 5 mark in the men's javelin at 74.46m (244-03). Before that, Gustafson had the second-best heptathlon score in school history at the Pac-12 Multis at 5,886, which trails only Jackie Joyner (6,718). At the John Jacobs Invitational, Stafford (64.67m, 212-02, sixth) and Wilson (61.43m, 201-6) set the No. 6 best throws all-time in the hammer. Marian Spannowsky's entered the top-10 at the Rafer Johnson/Jackie Joyner-Kersee Invitational with a 70.54m (231-05) javelin throw, which ranks eighth. Ilaria Casarotto had the No. 4 women's javelin throw in program history at 48.17m (158-0.25) at the same meet. Robert Brandt posted the No. 3 5000m time (13:41.23) at the Mt. SAC Relays and 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.

INDOOR RECAP
UCLA finished the indoor season with five All-America honors and a 27th-place finish for the women at the NCAA Indoor Championships. Senior Jessie Maduka earned first-team All-America acclaim in the triple jump with a third-place finish at the NCAAs after a UCLA indoor school record jump of 13.81m (45-03.75). Maduka also won the MPSF Indoor triple jump title. Junior Ashlie Blake also made it to the podium, placing seventh in the shot put with a throw of 17.07m (56-0). Receiving second-team All-America acclaim were freshman Alyssa Wilson in the shot put (14th overall) and redshirt freshman Nate Esparza (12th) and Dotun Ogundeji (13th).
At the MPSF Championships, the Bruin men placed fourth, while the women were fifth. UCLA captured four event titles, with Isaiah Holmes winning the long jump, Kendall Gustafson winning the pentathlon with a school record point total of 4084, Maduka winning the triple jump, and the men's squad of Scott Snow, Darnell Roberson, Riley Kelly and Carter Blunt winning the distance medley relay.

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.