UCLA
Indoor Big Ten Championships
UCLA Scores in 14 Events at Big Ten Indoor Championships
March 01, 2025 | Track & Field
INDIANAPOLIS – The UCLA track & field completed competition at the 2025 Big Ten Indoor Championships on Saturday, totaling another 10 scoring athletes/relays for a two-day total of 15 scorers over 14 events.
Overall, UCLA finished tied for 10th on the women's side with 31 points, and 11th on the men's side with 28 points.
Saturday's performances were highlighted by third-place finishes from the women's 4x400m relay squad and Yanla Ndjip-Nyemeck in the women's 60m hurdles.
Ndjip-Nyemeck was the first Bruin to record a top-three finish on the weekend, dropping .05 seconds from her prelims time and finishing the race in 8.09.
The Bruins then closed out the weekend with a strong outing in the women's 4x4, as the quartet of Aly Conyers, Taylor Snaer, Kayla McBride, and Naomi Johnson finished third with a time of 3:31.11. That time was just 1.14 seconds off the meet record, and they were nearly five seconds faster than the fourth-place Michigan squad. In addition, that time earned the No. 4 spot in UCLA's all-time indoor top-10 list.
Gabriel Clement II was the first Bruin to put points on the board on Saturday, placing fourth in the men's 400m with a time of 46.36. Conyers was also able to score in the 400m on the women's side, placing eighth with a time of 53.29.
Di'Niko Bates followed up with the No. 2 60m hurdles time in school history at 7.81, which was good for fifth place overall.
Both Snaer and Johnson reached the final of the women's 200m, the lone event in which UCLA had multiple scorers. Snaer (22.82) led the way, winning her heat and breaking 23 seconds for the third time this year en route to a fourth-place finish. Johnson was eighth at 23.32.
Michael Mireles later became the first individual from the distance group to score, coming in sixth in the men's 3,000m with a time of 7:59.97. It was his second time in as many tries breaking eight minutes in that race so far this season.
The final Bruin individual to score was Asha Fletcher, who turned in her second-best mark of the season in the triple jump at 13.21m (43-04.25) to secure a fourth-place finish.
Prior to the women's relay squad hitting the podium, the men's 4x400 squad of Clement, Kojo Manu, John Robinson IV, and Zaire Waring grabbed sixth place with a time of 3:10.26. UCLA finished just three-hundredths of a second out of a top-five spot.
Men's Team Standings
1. Oregon, 106
2. USC, 99.5
3. Wisconsin, 83
4. Washington, 67
T-5. Iowa, 62
T-5. Nebraska, 62
7. Purdue, 38.5
8. Michigan, 35
9. Indiana, 31
10. Illinois, 29.5
11. UCLA, 28
12. Penn State, 25
13. Rutgers, 13
14. Ohio State, 10.5
15. Michigan State, 9
Women's Team Standings
1. Oregon, 131
2. Illinois, 82
3. USC, 76
4. Iowa, 51
5. Washington, 50
6. Nebraska, 48
7. Penn State, 41
8. Minnesota, 38
9. Michigan State, 32
T-10. UCLA, 31
T-10. Michigan, 31
T-12. Ohio State, 19
T-12. Purdue, 19
T-12. Rutgers, 19
15. Wisconsin, 15
16. Indiana, 14
17. Maryland, 5
DAY ONE RECAP
The UCLA track & field team started competition at its first-ever Big Ten Indoor Championships on Friday, with the Bruins amassing two school records, five scorers, and eight new entries on the school's all-time indoor top-10 lists.
The two school records came courtesy of Sydney Johnson in the women's pentathlon and Taylor Snaer in the women's 200m. Both re-broke records they set themselves earlier in the year.
Johnson had a performance to remember in the pentathlon, setting PRs in the 60m hurdles (8.65) and long jump (6.40m / 21-0) en route to a final score of 4,171. That total was nearly 100 points higher than her previous record of 4,090, set at the New Mexico Collegiate Classic earlier this month.
Her long jump mark was by far the longest by a Bruin this season, and moved her up to No. 5 in school history. Johnson finished first in that event, and was also top-10 in the 800m (2:22.33) and high jump (1.67m / 5-05.75).
Meanwhile, Snaer (22.75) dropped nearly a quarter-second from her previous record time, winning her heat and ending up third overall in the women's 200m prelims. She'll be joined in the 200m final on Saturday by teammate Naomi Johnson, who grabbed the eighth and final spot at 23.33.
Camryn O'Bannon was the first Bruin to score on Friday, earning a fifth-place finish in the men's long jump with a mark of 7.55m (24-09.25).
Michael Pinckney made it two scorers in as many field events for the Bruins after finishing fourth in the men's weight throw. His mark of 21.89m (71-10.00) was a season-long, and he now owns the four longest weight throws in program history.
Ka'Leila Abrille became the third Bruin field athlete to score after clearing 4.26m (13-11.75) in the pole vault en route to a seventh-place finish.
The Bruins closed out day one with a scoring relay in the men's DMR, as the quartet of Andreas Dybdahl, Tamaal Myers II, Parker Raymond, and Bennett Booth-Genthe was able to finish fifth with a time of 9:40.17.
At the conclusion of Friday's events, UCLA sat in a tie for seventh in the men's team standings with 13 points, and 11th on the women's side with seven points.
Overall, six Bruin runners clinched spots in finals during Friday's preliminary rounds.
Gabriel Clement II was the first to secure a spot in finals, posting a time of 46.14 in the 400m prelims to finish fourth. It was his second-best time of the year.
UCLA stood out on the women's side of the 400m as well, with Aly Conyers turning in a time of 52.70 – incrementally improving on her PR and No. 2 slot in the UCLA all-time top-10 – to qualify for the final. Though she didn't earn a spot in the top-eight, Kayla McBride hit a PR of her own at 53.75 and moved up to No. 5 in school history.
Di'Niko Bates kept up the momentum with a qualifying performance in the men's 60m hurdles. Bates finished that race in 7.88, his second-best time of the year, to finish third in his heat and seventh overall. Yanla Ndjip-Nyemeck followed that up with an 8.14 on the women's side which was good enough to win her heat and clinch a spot in Saturday's final.
Though her 200m performance got the spotlight, Snaer started off her day with a strong 60m dash, as her 7.34 in that race led the Bruins and matched the No. 3 time in school history.
The 5K saw notable outings from Michael Mireles (14:05.52), who won his heat, and Ailish Hawkins, who debuted on UCLA's top-10 list at No. 8 with a time of 16:51.18.
Friday's track events got underway with the men's mile, which saw Andreas Dybdahl (4:01.44) debut on the program's top-10 list at No. 7. Tristan Amell also PR'd at 4:11.24.
Angus Harrington (1:48.65) and Parker Raymond (1:48.88) both recorded their second-best times of the year in the men's 800m. Likewise, Rose Pittman (2:07.46) logged her second-best time of the year to pace the Bruins.
In the 600m, Myers posted a season-best time at 1:19.24. On the women's side, Sonia Virk's 1:31.70 was her second-best time so far this season.
In the men's pole vault, both Hunter O'Brien (5.15m / 16-10.75) and Cade Sommers (5.00m / 16-04.75) were able to notch their second-highest clearances of the year.
Lyvante Su'emai closed out the Bruins' field events with a 17.78m (58-04.00) mark in the women's weight throw.
Players Mentioned
