This post was updated May 19 at 9:12 p.m.
Many people are afraid of heights.
But sophomore jumper Valentina Fakrogha proved that heights can elicit success, as she won the women’s high jump with a meet-record 1.89-meter mark.
UCLA track and field competed in the Big Ten Outdoor Championships over the weekend in Lincoln. The women’s squad placed eighth, and the men’s team placed 16th, both in a 17-team field.
Fakrogha’s effort marked the first time in program history that a woman achieved an individual Big Ten Championship win.
Alongside Fakrogha, junior sprinter Taylor Snaer placed fourth in the women’s 100-meter dash and second in the 200-meter competition, clocking 11.37-second and 22.07-second performances, respectively.
But only one other Bruin medaled across the three-day meet.
Graduate student jumper Hamdi Ali headlined the Bruin men competitors, as he levitated up 2.12 meters to clear the bar for a third-place finish in the men’s high jump.
Graduate student thrower Maya Rush earned a personal-best 47.59-meter toss on her second attempt in the women’s javelin throw. Rush took 12th place in the conference competition while notching the eighth-best mark in program history. Graduate student pole vaulter Paige Sommers tied for eighth in the women’s pole vault as she cleared 4.33 meters, and freshman pole vaulter Avery Boyse achieved a personal-best 4.03-meter mark in the same event.
But graduate student multis athlete Sydney Johnson faltered in the women’s long jump, leaping to a 6.14-meter finish on her third attempt of the day, her second shortest jump of the 2026 outdoor campaign.
Senior sprinter Naomi Johnson placed second in the qualifying heats to advance to the women’s 400-meter final, but she placed eighth in the championship event. Junior distance runner Ailish Hawkins also recorded an eighth-place finish after crossing the finish line in the women’s 3000-meter steeplechase.
Supplementing Ali’s field success, jumpers graduate student Gavin Champ, senior Terrence Sweetman and freshman Nicolas Alexis also competed in the men’s triple jump, earning 10th, 13th and 19th, respectively. Sophomore pole vaulter Cade Sommers cleared 5.22 meters in the men’s pole vault for a season-high mark and an 11th-place finish.
On the track, senior sprinter/hurdler Tamaal Myers finished fourth in the men’s 400-meter hurdles with a 51.35-second mark, and graduate student sprinter/hurdler Chris Paige also competed in the same race, finishing ninth with a 52.39-second tally.
Junior sprinter Gabriel Clement II finished seventh in the men’s 400-meter dash with a 46.94-second result.
Both the men and women’s squads competed in the 4×400-meter relay. The men’s team – consisting of Clement, Paige, Myers II and senior sprinter/hurdler Zaire Waring – placed 10th overall with a 3:11.66-second time, which marked the relay’s slowest performance of the outdoor campaign. The women’s team made up of junior sprinter Ava Simms, Snaer, sophomore sprinter Kayla McBride and senior sprinter Naomi Johnson placed fifth with a 3:31.99-second finish, nearly a second faster than its UCLA-USC dual meet outing May 3.
The women also boasted a 4×100-meter relay, which consisted of the same team excluding Simms, whom sophomore sprinter/hurdler Celeste Polzonetti replaced. The bunch crossed the finish line in fourth with a 43.91-second result.
The Bruins are slated to compete in just two more meets in 2026. UCLA will take the track next at the NCAA West Regionals from May 27-30.
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