Four Bruins Advance to Quarters on Day One of NCAA Regionals
May 28, 2025 | Track & Field
COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS โ Four members of the men's track & field team secured spots in quarterfinals as the Bruins opened up action at the 2025 NCAA West First Round on Wednesday at Texas A&M's E.B. Cushing Stadium.
Di'Niko Bates (110m hurdles), Gabriel Clement II (400m), Bennett Booth-Genthe (800m), and Tamaal Myers II (400m hurdles) all recorded qualifying times in their first-round races on Wednesday, and will advance to the quarterfinals of their respective events on Friday afternoon.
Half of the 24 quarterfinalists in each race will advance to the Outdoor NCAA Championships next month in Eugene, Ore. (the top-three finishers of each three heats, and the next three best times).
Clement was the Bruins' top individual performer on day one of regionals, winning his heat and finishing ninth overall with his second-best 400m time of the year at 45.93.
Bates was the first Bruin to clinch a quarters spot, placing fifth in his 110mH heat and 23rd overall with a time of 13.81. That race was the first to be run at the meet.
Later on, Booth-Genthe grabbed one of the qualifying spots in the 800m after finishing fourth in his heat at 1:48.44. It marked his third-best time of the year in that event.
Last but not least, Myers secured an auto-bid into quarters after finishing runner-up in Heat 2 with a time of 50.47. That was just one-hundredth of a second off his PR, accomplished earlier this year in the USC dual meet.
The Bruins also competed in two field events on Wednesday, though no Bruin landed a NCAA Championships berth with a top-12 finish.
Michael Pinckney and Kris Emig were the first UCLA student-athletes to compete on Wednesday, finishing 15th and 18th, respectively, in the men's hammer. Pinckney reached a personal-best and the No. 8 mark in school history on his first throw (64.91m / 212-11).
Allan Hunter represented the Bruins in the long jump, finishing with a mark of 7.31m (23-11.75).
UCLA returns to action at the NCAA West Regionals on Thursday with day one of competition on the women's side. The Bruins have entries in four of the five scheduled field events, and will also compete in five First Round track races โ the 100mH, 400m, 800m, 400mH, and 200m.
Players Mentioned
