Bruins Ready for NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships

Wednesday, June 5

Austin, TX

All Day

UCLA

NCAA Championships

Simon Litzell will compete in the javelin and ranks 12th in the NCAA.

Photo by: Kirby Lee-Image of Sport

Bruins Ready for NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships

May 30, 2019 | Track & Field

Meet Notes Meet Central Broadcast Information Live Results Meet Schedule

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LOS ANGELES – The UCLA Bruins had 19 qualifying marks at this season's NCAA West Preliminary Championships – the most since 2009, when they tallied 20.

Now, UCLA will look to score points and muster titles at the 2019 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, which will take place June 5-8 in Austin, Texas. The final meet, hosted by the University of Texas at Austin, will begin on Wednesday, June 5 at 2:30 p.m. (CT) with the men's decathlon.

Fans can tune into every minute of action on ESPN3, an online streaming service owned by ESPN. Broadcast coverage details will be updated as competition progresses. Live results will also be available, and updates will be provided on Twitter by following UCLATrack_Field.

Meet Information
Meet: NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships
Date: June 5-8
Venue: Mike A. Myers Stadium (University of Texas at Austin)
Location: Austin, Texas
Meet Schedule
Meet Central
Live Results
Live Video

Schedule
UCLA will begin competition on Wednesday, June 5 in the men's hammer throw at 4 p.m. (CT). The Bruins' first track event of the meet will be the men's 4x100m relay later that evening at 6:32 p.m.

What's in Store for UCLA
The Bruins will compete in 16 events at this season's championships. For the women, the events include the heptathlon, 400m, pole vault, shot put, discus and hammer. On the men's side, the Bruins will take the stage in the 4x100m relay, 4x400m relay, 10K, 5000m, high jump, pole vault, shot put, discus, hammer and javelin.

UCLA Qualifiers – Women
Name	Event	Mark/Time	NCAA Rank
Meleni Rodney	400m	52.06	9
Elleyse Garrett	Pole vault	4.27m	12
Alyssa Wilson	Shot put	17.31m	6
Ashlie Blake	Shot put	16.40m	17
Alyssa Wilson	Discus	60.76m	4
Alyssa Wilson	Hammer	63.95m	7
Christina Chenault	Heptathlon	5,585	19

UCLA Qualifiers – Men
Name	Event	Mark/Time	NCAA Rank
Robert Brandt	5000m	13:49.69	7
Robert Brandt	10K	29:00.43	11
4x100m*	4x100m	39.79	22
4x400m^	4x400m	3:06.49	18
Sean Lee	High jump	2.11m	24
Sondre Guttormsen	Pole vault	5.31m	10
Dotun Ogundeji	Shot put	20.00m	6
Nate Esparza	Shot put	19.21m	15
Otito Ogbonnia	Shot put	19.12m	18
Dotun Ogundeji	Discus	60.31m	2
Justin Stafford	Hammer	65.46m	20
Simon Litzell	Javelin	68.09m	12

*4x100m roster includes Leon Powell, Harrison Schrage, Myles Webb, Kenroy Higgins II, Damion Marshall, Kazmeir Allen, Matthew DeRoos and Seth Holloway
*4x400m roster includes Joe Herrera, Leon Powell, Seth Holloway, Cameron Stone, Damion Marshall, Harrison Schrage and Riley Kelly

Wild Wild West
Dotun Ogundeji won the discus, and Alyssa Wilson PR'ed in the same event by over 12 feet on the women's side to highlight the 2019 NCAA West Preliminaries, which took place May 23-25 in Sacramento, Calif. Ogundeji needed a mark of 60.31m (197-10) to seal first place, while Wilson's huge PR of 60.76m (199-4) moved her to No. 4 in the Bruin record books.

Wilson (discus, hammer, shot put), Ogundeji (shot put, discus), Leon Powell (4x100m, 4x400m) and standout distance runner Robert Brandt (10K, 5000m) were the only Bruins to qualify in more than one event. UCLA will have four freshmen (Otito Ogbonnia, shot put; Sean Lee, high jump; Seth Holloway, 4x400m; Kenroy Higgins II, 4x100m) competing at nationals. In order to reach the final site in Austin, competitors had to finish in the top 12 of their respective events.

Highest Rankings Since 2014
Both the UCLA men and women are enjoying their highest National TFRI rankings since the 2014 season. The Bruin men jumped seven spots, from No. 18 to No. 11, with a total of 138.15 points. UCLA was one of just eight teams to rise three or more spots based off their efforts in the preliminary round. On the women's side, UCLA scooted to No. 14 from No. 16 with 130.41 points. The UCLA men have their highest ranking since the 2014 preseason poll, when they were No. 9. Meanwhile, the women are also back on the rise, enjoying their highest ranking since week three of the 2014 season (No. 13).

Flashback to 2018
At last season's national meet, UCLA finished 14th on the women's side with 18 points, the program's best result since 2007. Jessie Maduka, a senior at the time, placed fourth in the triple jump with a wind-aided mark of 13.65m (44-9.5), while Alyssa Wilson went fourth in the hammer (66.99m; 219-9) and sixth in the shot put (17.21m; 56-5.75). Kendall Gustafson, now a volunteer assistant for the Bruins, earned a fourth-place finish in the heptathlon (5,800 points).

Robert Brandt helped UCLA chip in one point at last year's meet. He placed eighth in the 10K, clocking a time of 29:13.12. The Bruins had two javelin throwers compete, as Marian Spannowsky and Simon Litzell placed 11th and 14th, respectively. Justin Stafford, who will cap his UCLA career at this season's meet, tossed 64.25m (210-9) in the hammer to place 17th.

To view last year's complete results, click here.

Anderson, Wilson Garner Pac-12 Postseason Awards
Avery Anderson was named the 2019 Pac-12 Conference Men's Track & Field Coach of the Year, and Alyssa Wilson garnered Pac-12 Women's Field Athlete of the Year honors, the league announced on May 15. Anderson, in his second year at the helm, coached the UCLA men to a second-place finish at the 2019 Pac-12 Championships. UCLA compiled 140 points, the Bruins' most points since winning the 2004 title and highest placement since also finishing second in 2005. UCLA had a trio of individual titles at this year's meet, the most for the program since 2008. Those individuals included Sondre Guttormsen (pole vault), Robert Brandt (10K) and Simon Litzell (javelin). Wilson became UCLA's third recipient of the honor and first since 2006. She cemented her status as the Pac-12 Championships Women's Athlete of the Meet with a victory in the discus, as she opened with a winning throw of 56.93m (186-9) for her first title at the conference meet and the Bruins' first champion in the event since 2005. Along with her discus crown, Wilson was runner-up in the shot put (17.00m. 55-9.25) and hammer throw (67.78m; 222-4) to finish with a meet-high 26 points.

Pac-12 Championships Recap
The UCLA Bruins earned five individual titles at the 2019 Pac-12 Championships, which took place May 11-12 in Tucson, Ariz. The Bruins had to battle through multiple lightning delays and rainy conditions, but managed to pick up a second-place finish for the men and eighth-place finish for the women. UCLA won individual championships in the women's discus (Alyssa Wilson; 67.78m), women's pole vault (Elleyse Garrett; 4.36m), men's pole vault (Sondre Guttormsen; 5.36m), men's 10K (Robert Brandt; 29:08.11) and men's javelin (Simon Litzell; 74.23m). As mentioned above, the Bruin men collected the most points since 2004 and earned its highest finish since 2005.

#EventSquad Goals
UCLA's shot put department of Dotun Ogundeji, Otito Ogbonnia, Nate Esparza and Jacob Wilson lead the NCAA in the NCAA Division I USTFCCCA #EventSquad Rankings. They have averaged a season-best qualifying mark of 19.73m (64-9). The Bruin men are also fourth in the long jump, fourth in the discus, eighth in the pole vault and 11th in the 5000m. On the women's side, the Bruins rank 16th in the shot put and 27th in the javelin. USTFCCCA #EventSquad rankings places a rank order to a program's "squad" of athletes in a particular event, using the cumulative season-best qualifying marks from a team's top-four ranked athletes on the national descending-order list.