This post was updated March 3 at 2:55 p.m.
Midterms in the classroom test one’s ability to understand content up to that point.
Yet the Bruins faced a different type of test that may allow them to see what improvements must be made moving forward.
UCLA track and field competed in the 2026 Big Ten Indoor Track and Field Championships from Thursday through Saturday in Indianapolis. Forty Bruins competed across 19 different events in a competition that included 18 track and field programs.
The conference competition marked the second-to-last meet of the indoor season before the outdoor season begins March 6. This midseason test proved strenuous for the Bruins, as the men’s squad finished in last place out of 15 teams, while the women’s group took sixth in a field of 18.
Junior sprinter Taylor Snaer placed second overall in the 200-meter dash with a time of 23.12. She ran in a heat of eight and stood on the podium next to USC sprinters Christine Mallard and Mia Brahe-Pedersen, who took first and third, respectively.
Senior sprinter Naomi Johnson placed third in the women’s 400-meter dash with a 52.29 mark. She was seeded as the fastest time coming into the finals after finishing first in the preliminaries, yet Trojan sprinter Madison Whyte finished ahead of her to set a meet record with a time of 51.31.
Graduate student sprinter/hurdler Yanla Ndjip-Nyemeck ran the women’s 60-meter hurdles and crossed the line second, earning a time of eight seconds flat. Sophomore sprinter/hurdler Celeste Polzonetti also competed in that final, running an 8.21 to finish fifth.
The women’s squad boasted a 4×400-meter relay, which included sprinters junior Ava Simms, Snaer, sophomore Kayla McBride and Johnson, that finished third with a time of 3:30.93.
While competition was tough on the track, field events also challenged the Bruins.
Sophomore jumper Valentina Fakrogha tied for third place in the women’s high jump with a 1.81-meter mark, and graduate student vaulter Paige Sommers earned fourth in the women’s pole vault with a vault of 4.35 meters. Graduate student Sydney Johnson took eighth in the women’s long jump with a 6.26-meter mark.
Although the men’s squad finished last place in team scores, the bunch still had some bright spots.
Sophomore distance runner Everett Capelle placed sixth in the men’s 3000-meter run with a time of 8:03.13, and he competed in a loaded finals field of 33 athletes.
Junior sprinter Gabriel Clement II finished eighth in the men’s 400-meter dash with a time of 46.79, and sprinter/hurdler Otto Laing placed sixth in the men’s 60-meter hurdles with a 7.99-second mark.
The men’s group also had athletes compete in the relays.
The men’s 4×400-meter team consisted of Clement II, graduate student sprinter/hurdler Chris Paige, senior sprinter/hurdler Tamaal Myers and senior sprinter/hurdler Zaire Waring. They finished in ninth place with a 3:08.81 mark. Capelle, Paige, freshman distance runner Arrin Sagiraju and redshirt freshman Jack Falkowski competed in the distance medley relay. Falkowski, who anchored the squad, crossed the line to earn the team a time of 9:43.61.
“The distance medley really went well for each of us as individuals and also as a collective,” Sagiraju said. “Everyone played their role and did a good job in executing what they were supposed to.”
Standout senior thrower Michael Pinckney threw 22.72 meters in the men’s weight throw to earn second place. Graduate student vaulter Eitan Goore finished in sixth place in the men’s pole vault with a 5.43-meter mark, and freshman jumper Nicolas Alexis recorded a 7.30-meter jump to finish ninth in the men’s long jump.
The Bruins will compete at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships on March 13 and March 14 to close out their indoor campaign.
“Seeing how much more I can improve and how much more my teammates can as well, both individually and collectively, seeing where we can take this program,” Sagiraju said.
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