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UCLA Men's Track & Field (Outdoor) - NCAA Championships (8)
1988
Another record-setting performance by the 1600-meter relay team highlighted the Bruins' eighth men's track and field title. UCLA amassed 82 points, double that of second-place Texas, at the meet in Eugene, Ore. The Bruins' relay team was the first collegiate quartet to eclipse the three-minute mark. Steve Lewis, Kevin Young, Danny Everett and Henry Thomas ran the event in 2:59.91. Everett and Young also were individual winners. Everett won the 400 meters in 44.52 and Young won the 400-meter hurdles for the second consecutive year, running in meet-record time of 47.85.
1987
The 1987 Bruins were far and away the nation's best, sweeping to the NCAA title with a record 53-point margin in the championship meet in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. UCLA won its seventh NCAA crown with 81 points, while second-place Texas had just 28. Senior decathlete Jim Connolly and junior 400-meter intermediate hurdler Kevin Young won individual titles. The Bruins' 1600-meter relay team of Anthony Washington, Young, Henry Thomas and Danny Everett ran in NCAA-record time of 3:00.55. Head coach Bob Larsen's squad also earned Track and Field News' designation as the nation's top dual-meet team for the second straight year. The Bruins' posted their third consecutive unbeaten season and extended their winning streak to 29 dual meets.
1978
Sophomore Greg Foster bested heralded Maryland freshman Renaldo Nehemiah in the 110-meter high hurdles to highlight UCLA's fourth national title of the 1970s. Foster won the hurdles in 13.22, only .01 seconds off the world record. James Owens, a running back on the football team, finished third in 13.46. The Bruins' Mike Tully, the world record holder in the pole vault, won his event at 18-1 3/4. UCLA's sixth national title actually came two years after the event in Eugene, Oregon. The Bruins originally tied for second (with Texas-El Paso) behind USC, but the Trojans forfeited the title after using an ineligible athlete. This marks the only shared NCAA Championship UCLA has.
1973
Jim Bush's squad won its third consecutive national championship, led by another winning performance from its dominant mile-relay team in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. UCLA's quartet of Ron Gaddis, Gordon Peppars, Maxie Parks and Benny Brown won the title with a time of 3:04.3. It was the fifth consecutive year that a Bruins' team won the NCAA mile relay. The Bruins' mile-relay team also won the Pac-8 title for the sixth consecutive year.
1972
John Smith's running and a trio of triple jumpers sparked UCLA to its second consecutive NCAA track and field title at Eugene, Oregon. Smith won the 400 meters and ran a leg on the winning mile-relay team that gave the Bruins an unprecedented four consecutive titles in that event. But it was in the triple jump that UCLA scored 20 of its 82 points (USC was second with just 49). James Butts won the event, Harry Freeman finished third and Milan Tiff was fourth. Warren Edmondson won the 100-meter dash, while freshman Dwight Stones placed third in the high jump.
1971
John Smith raced past USC's Edesel Garrison in the last 20 yards to win the 440-yard run and help UCLA surge past the Trojans and win the NCAA team championship at Seattle, Washington. Smith also ran a leg on the winning mile-relay team, and the Bruins got a couple of key performances late in the competition to edge USC 52-41 (another Pac-8 school, Oregon, was third with 38). Francois Tracanelli finished second in the pole vault and Denny Rogers finished third in the triple jump. Earlier, UCLA won its third consecutive conference title, its fourth in seven seasons under head coach Jim Bush.
1966
The Bruins lapped the field at the 1966 NCAA track championships, winning their second title with 81 points - 48 points more than runner-up BYU. Ron Copeland won the high hurdles with a school-record time of 13.6 and ran a leg on UCLA's winning 440-yard and mile relay teams. Tom Jones added an individual title in the 220-yard dash. In a record-setting season, the Bruins established 13 new school records, including a pair of NCAA records. UCLA also was unbeatable in dual-meet competition, and its 86-59 rout of USC at the Los Angeles Coliseum was its first-ever against its crosstown rival.
1956
The Bruins ended USC's stranglehold on men's track and field by winning their first NCAA championship. Rafer Johnson, the world record holder in the decathlon, was a prime factor in UCLA's success. He helped UCLA capture the Pacific Coast Conference championship with a victory in the low hurdles and second-place finishes in the broad jump and 100, then added second-place efforts in the broad jump and high hurdles at the NCAAs. Other key performers included Ron Drummond (the NCAA discus champion), Nick Dyer (who tied for the NCAA title in the high jump), Don Vick (shot put and discus), Bob Seaman (distance runs), Russ Ellis (sprints and relays) and Dick Knaub (broad jump). Ducky Drake was named the national coach of the year.