UCLA
Stanford Invitational
UCLA Totals 20 Event Wins at Rafer Johnson/JJK Invitational
April 05, 2025 | Track & Field
The UCLA track & field team wrapped up a busy weekend on Saturday, hosting the 2025 edition of the Rafer Johnson/Jackie Joyner-Kersee Invitational at Drake Stadium.
That followed on the heels of the Bruins' distance group competing in a number of races at the Stanford Invitational on Friday.
At the Rafer Johnson/JJK meet, UCLA totaled 20 wins over 36 scheduled events. That included a triple for thrower Lyvante Su'emai, and combined three event wins for Naomi Johnson, and doubles for Michael Pinckney and Gabriel Clement II.
The Bruins particularly dominated on relays, winning all three races in which they had entries.
Arguably the highlight of the meet was in the first very race of the day, as UCLA's women's 4x100 team of Yanla Ndjip-Nyemeck, Naomi Johnson, Aly Conyers, and Taylor Snaer won with a time of 43.74, matching the No. 8 time in school history.
The Bruins then closed out the afternoon by sweeping both the men's and women's 4x400 relays.
UCLA is next in action at the 2025 Oklahoma Throws Series, which runs Apr. 10-13 in Norman, Okla.
RAFER JOHNSON/JACKIE JOYNER-KERSEE INVITATIONAL TRACK EVENTS RECAP
Ndjip-Nyemeck brought home a win for UCLA in the first individual race of the afternoon, going 13.11 in her first 100 hurdles of the year. That time was the best by a Bruin thus far in 2025. On the men's side, Di'Niko Bates paced the Bruins with a third-place result at 13.95. It was the closest of finishes, as each of the top-three finishers crossed one-hundredth of a second after each other.
Next up, UCLA swept the 400m dashes. Kayla McBride (53.15) picked up the win on the women's side, beating out the field by nearly two full seconds. Clement (46.18) recorded the win on the men's side in his first 400m outing of the outdoor season.
Naomi Johnson (11.47) and Taylor Snaer (11.51) powered through a strong headwind to land 1-2 finishes in the women's 100m dash. Ameen Tokhi paced the men at 10.77.
Later in the afternoon, Rose Pittman (2:06.61) led a strong showing for the Bruins in the women's 800m, as she was able to pick up the event win in her first outdoor 800 of 2025. Also running his first 800 this outdoor season, Jack Rosencrans (1:53.66) led the UCLA men with a runner-up result.
Sonia Virk was the Bruins' standout in the 400m hurdles, winning the women's race and improving her PR with a time of 58.47. Zaire Waring earned runner-up on the men's side at 51.52.
UCLA's dominance in sprints continued with the 200m dashes, as Johnson (23.25) and Clement (20.88) repeated as winners.
RAFER JOHNSON/JACKIE JOYNER-KERSEE INVITATIONAL FIELD EVENTS RECAP
The meet started off on an auspicious note on the field side for UCLA, as Valentina Fakrogha (1.71m) led a 1-2-3 finish in the women's high jump alongside Sydney Johnson (1.71m) and Jordan Robinson (1.66m). All three either set or matched season-best marks.
Su'emai followed with the first of her three wins on the day, beating the field in the women's hammer with a long mark of 60.80m (199-5). In the afternoon, she added wins in the discus (53.55m) and shot put (15.22m) to complete her triple.
Allan Hunter (7.45m) was able to log a top-two finish in the men's long jump with his third-best mark of the year.
As has been common all year, Ka'Leila Abrille (4.21m) and Katerina Adamiec (4.11m) were able to snag the top-two spots in the women's pole vault. Abrille's was a season-best mark.
Shortly thereafter, UCLA's men's throwers picked up a pair of comfortable wins. First, Kris Emig topped the men's hammer field with a mark of 67.52m. Michael Pinckney – whose 64.12m mark in the hammer was a season-best and just outside the UCLA all-time top-10 – later secured a win of his own with a season-best 16.96m in the shot put.
Amber Jackson led a large UCLA contingent in the long jump, as her PR mark of 5.75m was good for third place.
In his final event of the day, Pinckney wrapped up his double by leading a 1-2-3 finish in the discus at 57.41m. He was joined on the podium by teammates Jake Stafford (52.93m) and Derek Smith (50.18m).
Cade Sommers locked down UCLA's final individual event win of the day in the pole vault, clearing 5.00m for the first time this outdoor season en route to the first place finish.
In the final field event to finish, Mackenzie Kirk logged a PR of 12.30m in the triple jump to lead UCLA.
STANFORD INVITATIONAL TRACK EVENTS RECAP
Though only a small number of Bruins competed at the Stanford Invitational on Friday night, several were able to break into UCLA's all-time top-10 lists.
First up was Ailish Hawkins, who set a PR in the 3,000m steeplechase at 10:12.37. That time was good for fourth in her section, and also put her at No. 4 in school history for that event.
Later on, Michael Mireles checked in with a time of 13:37.12 in the men's 5,000m, pushing up to No. 4 in the school annals.
Lastly, Annika Salz made her debut on the all-time top-10 lists with a strong performance in the women's 10,000m, finishing that race in 34:49.25. That was good for seventh in school history.
Other notable Bruin performances came from Olivia Foody in the women's 5k (16:41.66) and Bennett Booth-Genthe in the men's 1,500m (3:46.19).
Players Mentioned
