Stacked Field On Display at Drake Stadium

LOS ANGELES – The UCLA track and field team welcomed some of the nation's best on Saturday and used the opportunity to post numerous personal and season bests at the Jim Bush Collegiate Invitational at Drake Stadium.

Junior Jessie Maduka led the way for the Bruins in the women's long jump with her leap of 19-0.50 that was good for third place. On the men's side, star freshman Isaiah Holmes took second overall with a mark of 24-7.50 and, senior Austin Hazel finished fourth at 23-9.75.

Maduka's strong performance continued with a victory in the triple jump with her mark of 41.10-75. Sophomore CJ Alumbres took third in the men's competition with a mark of 46-07.25.

Senior Zaybree Haury took fifth in a loaded women's javelin field with her mark of 152-3.75. The international freshman duo of Simon Litzell (225-7.75) and Marian Spannowsky (222-11.00) went 3-4 in the men's competition.

Sophomore Ashlie Blake finished second for the Bruins with a heave of 53-10.25 in the shot put. Senior Torie Owers was close behind at 52-10, which was good for fourth overall. Similarly, sophomore Dotun Ogundeji finished second in the men's competition with a solid throw of 61-3.25 while freshman Nate Esparza took fourth with his mark of 57-4.

In the men's pole vault, junior Riley Turner finished fifth with his clearance of 15-1.25. On the women's side, sophomore Greta Wagner (13-9.50) and junior Elleyse Garrett (13-3.75) took second and third place, respectively.

The women's high jump competition featured the intriguing matchup between UCLA standout freshman Mikella Lefebvre-Oatis and Alabama sophomore Stacey Destin. Lefebvre-Oatis took second in the duel, and overall, with a height of 5-6.75.

On the men's side, senior Sage Stone led the way for the Bruins with a second place finish after clearing 6-11. Freshmen Chance Kuehnel and Isaiah Holmes tied for fourth with clearances of 6-9.

The track events began with the women's 4x100 meter relay. The women's squad that featured Ashley Lewis, Schuyler Moore, Suzie Acolatse and Jelvon Butler ran a season-best 45.00 to take third. The men's team included Rai Benjamin, Leon Powell, Brett Morman, and Damion Marshall, finished second to Texas A&M with a time of 40.10.

Junior Misana Viltz took home the victory in the men's 110-meter hurdles with a season-best time of 13.95. Sophomore Pattriana Perry finished third in the women's 100-meter hurdles with a personal best of 13.96.

Freshman Logen Casavant picked up the slack in the 400-meter dash with a lifetime best of 47.25 to take fourth overall. Benjamin rebounded to win the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 50.12. Casavant later clocked a personal-best in the 200m of 21.10.

Sophomore Julia Rizk finished third in the women's 800 meters with a near personal best time of 2:07.86. Her sophomore teammate Arturo Sotomayor grinded out a fourth place finish at 1:51.46.

In the women's 100 meters, sophomore Suzie Acolatse finished third with an impressive lifetime best of 11.65. Sophomore Schuyler Moore was close behind at 11.89, which was good for sixth. Sophomore Ashley Lewis also recorded a personal best time of 11.99.

Mt. SAC Look Back
Several Bruins started the week a little early as the multis got in a meet at the California Invitational Combined Events at Azusa Pacific while the distance squad returned to the Mt. SAC Relays.

As in previous seasons, UCLA posted some lifetime bests at both. At the California Invitational, sophomore Christina Chenault won the heptathlon with a personal best score of 5,438 points. Senior Monique Van recorded a huge collegiate personal best score as she tallied 5,096 points to finish sixth.

The distance team continued their strong 2017 as more personal bests came crumbling down. Junior Daniel De La Torre jumped all the way to fifth all-time on the UCLA 5,000m list as he ran a 13:46.14. Also posting 5,000m personal bests on the men's side was freshman Garrett Reynolds (13:57.55), senior Austin O'Neil (13:58.83), senior Jonah Diaz (14:12.43) and sophomore George Gleason (14:13.08).

In the women's 5,000m, redshirt-freshman Jackie Garner had a huge breakthrough as she clocked a 16:41.76 to win her heat.

Ogundeji Launches Discus Personal Best
Before throwing both the shot put and discus at the Jim Bush Collegiate Invitational, All-American Dotun Ogundeji launched a personal best in the discus of 184-9 at the Pacific Coast Intercollegiate in Long Beach earlier in the week.

The Bruins will return to the track when they head to the campus of UC San Diego for the Triton Invitational from April 21-22.

University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics

Stacked Field On Display at Drake Stadium

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Players Mentioned

Suzie Acolatse

CJ Alumbres

Rai Benjamin

Ashlie Blake

Jelvon Butler

Logen Casavant

Christina Chenault

Daniel De La Torre

Jonah Diaz

Nate Esparza

Jackie Garner

Elleyse Garrett

George Gleason

Zaybree Haury

Austin Hazel

Isaiah Holmes

Chance Kuehnel

Mikella Lefebvre-Oatis

Ashley Lewis

Simon Litzell

Jessie Maduka

Damion Marshall

Schuyler Moore

Brett Morman

Austin O'Neil

Dotun Ogundeji

Torie Owers

Pattriana Perry

Leon Powell

Garrett Reynolds

Julia Rizk

Arturo Sotomayor

Marian Spannowsky

Sage Stone

Riley Turner

Monique Van

Misana Viltz

Greta Wagner

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