UCLA
Aztec Invitational
Bruins Begin Outdoor Season at Aztec Invitational
March 21, 2018 | Track & Field
Aztec Invitational
Date: March 22-24, 2018
Location: San Diego, Calif. (hosted by San Diego State)
Venue: Aztec Sports Deck
Tickets: $5
Live Results: finishedresults.com
UCLA's MEET SCHEDULE
Thursday, Mar. 22
12 pm - Heptathlon
Friday, Mar. 23
8 am - Men's and Women's Hammer at UCSD
9 am - Heptathlon resumes
9:30 am - Track events begin
Saturday, Mar. 24
9 am - Field events begin
9:50 am - Track events begin
UCLA OPENS OUTDOOR SEASON AT AZTEC INVITATIONAL
UCLA will open the 2018 outdoor season at the 40th Annual Aztec Invitational, hosted by San Diego State at the Aztec Sports Deck. The invitational will begin on Thursday, Mar. 22 with multi-events and will conclude on Saturday, Mar. 24. Live results will be available at finishedresults.com.
AZTEC INVITATIONAL PREVIEW
The Bruin men will be led by All-American Dotun Ogunedji, who will compete in the shot put and discus. Ogundeji holds a top shot put mark of 20.19m (66-3) at the Trito Invitational and a top discus mark of 57.04m. Also competing in two events will be Idrees Bernard (100m, long jump), Tyler Janes (800m, 1500m), Logen Casavant (200m, 400m) and Darius Smith (100m, 200m). CJ Alumbres will compete in three events, participating in the 100m, long jump and triple jump.
The UCLA women will be led by MPSF Indoor pentathlon champion Kendall Gustafson, who begins competition on Thursday in the heptathlon, and Indoor All-Americans Ashlie Blake and Alyssa Wilson, who are each competing in the shot put and discus. Wilson will also compete in the hammer. Sophomore Mikella Lefebvre-Oatis leads the field in the high jump with a best mark of 1.85m. Pattriana Perry and Dominique Beltrez are slated to compete in both the 100m and 100m hurdles, and Jacquelyn Hill is scheduled to race the 400m and 1500m, while Paige Carter is entered in the 400m and 800m.
PRESEASON RANKINGS
The Bruin men enter the outdoor season ranked No. 21 in the USTFCCCA preseason rankings. The UCLA women are just a shade out of the Top 25, checking in at No. 26. Other ranked teams competing in the Aztec Invitational include the No. 1 Oregon men and No. 2 Oregon women, the No. 17 Oklahoma women, the No. 21 San Diego State women and the No. 23 BYU men.
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.
LOOKING AHEAD
The Bruins will compete at home for the first time in 2018 when they host the Bob Larsen Distance Carnival on March 30 and the Jim Bush Legends Invitational on March 31 at Drake Stadium.
Players Mentioned
