University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
UCLA
NCAA Championships
Maduka, Gustafson Highlight Final Day of 2018 Season
June 09, 2018 | Track & Field
EUGENE, Ore. – The UCLA women's track & field team wrapped up competition for the 2018 season on Saturday in the final day of the NCAA Championships, with a trio of Bruins battling the elements at the final meet at Oregon's historic Hayward Field before its scheduled renovation this summer.
Senior Kendall Gustafson was the both the first and the last to compete on Saturday, opening the day with the long jump and javelin in the women's heptathlon before closing out the seven-event schedule with the 800m in the early evening.
Entering the day in the eighth and final scoring position, Gustafson had a solid showing despite the rain, ending the day in fourth place with a final score of 5,800.
In the first heptathlon event of the day and fifth overall, Gustafson was the 10th-place finisher in the long jump with a mark of 5.78m (18-11.75). That mark was just four centimeters off her lifetime best, set this year at the Bob Larsen/Jim Bush Invitational.
Her best result of the day came in the afternoon with the women's javelin. She improved on her throw in each of her three attempts, ending with a top result of 43.27m (141-11) which was good for sixth place but ranked just nine centimeters short of the No. 3 finisher. That result put her at No. 6 in the overall rankings heading into the last event.
In the last event as a Bruin, Gustafson set a new PR in the 800m, coming in at 2:18.27 for a seventh place finish. That result vaulted her all the way to fourth place in the overall standings, giving her UCLA's best heptathlon finish since 2001 (Michelle Perry, second) and the Bruins' highest NCAA heptathlon score since Jackie Joyner-Kersee notched a 6,390 at the 1983 Championships.
Gustafson was not the only Bruin to wrap up her collegiate career on Saturday, as Jessie Maduka finished her time at UCLA with a standout performance in the women's triple jump.
The Pac-12 individual champion in that event and the No. 3 finisher at this year's Indoor Championships, Maduka set a new outdoor lifetime best at 13.65m (44-9.75) on her very first attempt.
That mark gave her an early lead, but would wind up being good for a fourth-place finish. UCLA's first female outdoor NCAA qualifier in the triple jump since 2006, her finish was the best for the Bruins in that event since Candice Baucham was the NCAA triple jump champion in 2005.
After scoring in both the women's hammer and shot put on Thursday, Alyssa Wilson competed in her third event of the week on Saturday, the discus. UCLA's freshman phenom was the lone athlete in the entire nation to qualify for three individual events at this year's Championships. Wilson, who had to contend with the rain and slippery surfaces, ended up fouling out of the event.
Overall, the UCLA women ended the meet 14th in team scoring with 18 points, the program's best result since 2007. The men finished tied for 66th with one point.
Players Mentioned
