University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
UCLA
Jim Bush Legends Meet
Bruins Win Six Events at Jim Bush Legends Meet
March 28, 2026 | Track & Field
LOS ANGELES โ The UCLA track & field team totaled six event wins and 14 top-three finishes on Saturday as part of the 2026 Jim Bush Legends Meet at Drake Stadium.
Paired with Friday night's events at the Bob Larsen Distance Carnival, UCLA totaled 16 medalists over the two-meet weekend. That trailed only California among the 22 collegiate teams in the field.
UCLA's individual event winners included Paige Sommers (women's pole vault), Kaitlyn Arciaga (women's 800m), Gabriel Clement II (men's 200m), and Valentina Fakrogha (women's high jump).
The Bruins' 4x100 relay squad on the women's side set the tone for the day with a big win in the second event of the meet, clocking in at 43.68. The quartet of Kayla McBride, Naomi Johnson, Celeste Polzonetti, and Taylor Snaer is now sitting at No. 8 on the program's all-time top-10 list.
Sommers captured the Bruins' first individual win of the day, winning the women's PV by a large margin at 4.43m (14-6.25). That mark, a PB, put her at No. 3 in UCLA school history.
Arciaga followed up with a strong showing in the women's 800m, taking that race with a time of 2:07.01 in her outdoor collegiate debut.
UCLA had a pair of historic performances occur within a short span in the middle afternoon.
In the men's 200m, Clement checked in with a winning time of 20.50, giving him a PB and the fastest time by a Bruin in that event this millennium. Clement moved to No. 10 in school history, and he's the lone member of the top-10 with a time from the 21st century.
Over at the women's long jump, Fakrogha cleared a max height of 1.87m (6-1.5) to capture a win in that event. More significantly, it marked an all-conditions PB and moved her into a tie at No. 3 in program history with the legendary Jackie Joyner-Kersee. Fakrogha cleared 1.87m โ and each preceding height โ on her very first attempt.
UCLA picked up its final win during the meet-closing 4x400 relays, as the men's squad of Clement, Shaun McCoullum, Chris Paige, and Zaire Waring sprinted out to an early lead and held off a late charge from Sacramento State to hold on with a time of 3:08.82.
The Bruins had a number of silver-medal-worthy performances during the morning events.
Hurdler Davis Davis-Lyric started off that spree in the men's 110m hurdles, setting a PB at 14.16 to finish second. Shortly after, freshman Gabriella Taylor was on the wrong end of a photo finish in the women's 400m at 53.24, settling for runner-up in her outdoor collegiate debut. Making his outright UCLA debut, Hamdi Ali hit a max clearance of 2.13m (6-11.75) in the men's high jump to take second.
Then in the afternoon, UCLA picked up further silvers from Jake Stafford (men's discus), Mackenzie Kirk (women's triple jump), and Kapiolani Coleman (women's 400m hurdles). Stafford (56.20m / 184-4) and Kirk (12.54m / 41-1.75) both set PBs.
Sydney Johnson was the last Bruin to finish competing on Saturday, notching a runner-up result in the women's high jump with a mark of 6.15m (20-2-25).
UCLA returns to action at a pair of meets next weekend, splitting for LSU's Battle on the Bayou and the Stanford Invite. Both meets run on Apr. 3-4.
Players Mentioned
