University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
UCLA
USC Dual Meet
Track & Field Splits Dual Meet at USC
May 03, 2026 | Track & Field
LOS ANGELES โ The UCLA track & field team split its annual dual meet with crosstown rival USC on Sunday at Allyson Felix Field in DTLA, taking the men's side by a score of 87-76 but falling on the women's side, 94-69.
It marked the second straight year that the UCLA men claimed victory in the dual meet, a first for the program since the 2016-17 campaigns. The Bruins were coming off a dual meet sweep at Drake Stadium in 2025, UCLA's first since 2013.
The UCLA men and women totaled nine event wins apiece, including sweeps in the 3000m, steeplechase, 100/110m hurdles, 400m hurdles, and long jump. The combined 18 wins came from 18 different Bruins.
Distance runner Aaron Cantu and jumper Terrence Sweetman co-led UCLA with seven individual points, competing in off-events to help the Bruins record the team victory. Cantu won the steeplechase while placing third in the 3000m and 110m hurdles, while Sweetman won the triple jump and had clearances in the high jump and pole vault to secure two extra points for UCLA. ย
Five other Bruin men โ distance runners Joshua Chu, Jack Falkowski, and Arrin Sagiragu, and throwers Derek Smith and Xavier Hastenrath โ finished with six individual points. A trio of distance runners on the women's side โ Evie Marheineke, Ella McGillis, and Olivia Foody โ notched a team-high six points apiece.
UCLA clinched the men's win with the final non-relay race of the day, the men's 3000m. The Bruins finished 1-2-3 in that race, led by Henry Coughlan's time of 8:34.91.
The meet was technically a two-day affair, with the hammer and discus being held off-site in Wilmington, Calif. on Saturday afternoon. The remainder of the meet was held Sunday on USC's campus.
This weekend marked UCLA's final full-team meet of the regular season. Select Bruins will head to the San Gabriel Valley next week for the Azusa Pacific Last Chance Meet on May 6-7. Championship season gets underway with the Big Ten Outdoor Championships in Lincoln, Neb. from May 15-17.
TRACK EVENTS RECAP
UCLA opened up Sunday with a pair of sweeps in the steeplechase, as USC had no entries in those races. Marheineke (10:53.11) grabbed gold for the women while Cantu (9:33.55) paced the men.
Following that, UCLA finished second in both 4x100 relays despite the women posting a season-best time of 43.66. The quartet of Kayla McBride, Naomi Johnson, Celeste Polzonetti, and Taylor Snaer moved into a tie for the seventh-fastest 4x100 in school history.
In the 1500, the Bruins went 1-2-3 on the men's side and 2-3-4 on the women's. Falkowski picked up the win for the men with a PB time of 3:42.87, and Kaho Cichon (4:24.23) just missed out on a new PB while leading the Bruin women.
Celeste Polzonetti had one of the Bruins' top results of the day in the 100m hurdles, finishing under 13 seconds for the first time in her career (12.98) and finishing over a quarter second ahead of the runner-up. Davis Davis-Lyric made it a sweep for UCLA after clocking in at a wind-aided 13.95 in the 110mH.
Naomi Johnson was the Bruins' top racer in the 400m, hitting a PB at 51.79 and jumping up to No. 8 in program history. On the men's side, Gabriel Clement II (45.25) finished one-hundredth of a second off his PB.
Despite not scoring, Taylor Snaer (11.28) dropped .02 seconds from her PB in the women's 100m dash.
Kapiolani Coleman had one of the most dramatic wins of the day in the women's 400m hurdles, battling down to the wire with USC's Falyn Lott in adjacent lanes. Coleman got the win in that race by a lean while Lott lost her footing at the finish line. Tamaal Myers (50.14) turned in the second-best time of his career to land the win for the men.
In the closest race of the day, Snaer eked out a win by one-hundredth of a second in the 200m dash after clocking in at 22.78.
The Bruins closed out the individual races with a dominant showing in the 3000m, sweeping both ends. Olivia Foody won the women's race by nearly 30 seconds and set a meet record at 9:36.04 (beating the previous record by over 20 seconds). Coughlan (8:34.91) then had his clinching effort on the men's side.
UCLA then closed out the meet with a pair of runner-up finishes in the 4x400. The Bruins led for much of the men's race, but ultimately ended up finishing second by about three-quarters of a second.
FIELD EVENTS RECAP
Jake Stafford was the Bruins' top performer on Saturday, as he hit a mark of 55.74m (182-10) in the discus at the Colich Throwing Center in Wilmington to finish third. He was the lone Bruin to score on day one of the dual meet. Though he didn't score on Sunday, Stafford did go on to set PBs in both the shot put and hammer.
The Sommers siblings led a pole vault sweep for the Bruins, who competed without any Trojan entrants. Paige Sommers was the headline performer on the women's side, securing a meet and facility record at 4.42m (14-6). It was the third time this outdoor season that she's cleared at least 14 and a half feet. Cade Sommers (5.02m / 16-5.5) was the victor on the men's side, clearing a few inches more than teammate Hunter O'Brien (4.92m / 16-1.75).
Despite nursing an injury, Maya Rush was able to record a win for the Bruins in the women's javelin at 42.98m (141-0). Derek Smith and Xavier Hastenrath were able to muster a 2-3 finish on the men's side for the Bruins, who don't have a male javelin specialist on the roster.
Sydney Johnson posted an exciting win for the Bruins in the women's long jump, which had some late drama. Johnson led for much of the event, but was overtaken on the penultimate jump of round six by USC's Alyssa Hope. However, Johnson rallied on the final jump of the event and jumped back past Hope with a mark of 6.37m (20-10.75) for the win. Michael Haugo logged the win for the men with a wind-aided mark of 7.54m (24-9).
Valentina Fakrogha got the win for the Bruins in the women's high jump at 1.77m (5-9.75). Hamdi Ali (2.11m / 6-11) finished runner-up in a spirited battle on the men's side with USC's Elias Gerald.
The Bruin men finished 1-2-4 in the shot put, paced by Xavier Hastenrath's 18.45m (60-6.5).
UCLA finished up with an uncontested 1-2-3 finish in the men's triple jump, led by Terrence Sweetman's mark of 15.39m (50-6).
Players Mentioned
