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Albuquerque, NM – The UCLA track and field competed and saw success in a variety of events at the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Invitational hosted by the University of New Mexico on Saturday. The Bruins had first place finishes in the unseeded women’s 400m race, the women’s weight throw, women’s 60m hurdles, and both men’s and women’s 4x400m race.
UCLA also swept the top three spots in the women’s 60m qualifying race, and had a number of top-five finishes in the meet.
For full results of Saturday’s meet, please visit Live Running Results here.
Field Event Results
Graduate transfer Mayyi Mahawa showed off strong for the Bruins in the women’s weight throw, finishing first overall with a 20.16m throw.
Freshman Camryn O’Bannon and redshirt-senior Jalyn Jackson had two top-five finishes in the men’s long jump competition. O’Bannon placed first in Flight 1 with a 7.35m jump, and Jalyn Jackson placed third in Flight 3 (7.39m). Jackson finished third overall with that 24-foot, three-inch jump and O’Bannon placed just behind Jackson in fourth. Sophomore Aaron Kim soared into a third-place finish in the men’s high jump with a 2.00m jump in the event.
Freshman Michael Pinckney and sophomore Kris Emig saw success for UCLA in the men’s weight throw. Pinckney (21.22m) placed third in the event, and Emig (18.58m) finished seventh in the field.
Jalyn Jackson returned for the men’s triple jump and posted a 14.99m jump for his final result of the day, placing third among his peers. Graduate transfer Jelaani Davis competed in the event and had a 14.44m jump to place eighth.
The Bruin shot putters rounded out the field events at the MLK invite; junior Aidan Elbettar placed ninth on the men’s side with a 15.85m throw. Sophomore Lyvante Su’emai and senior Natalie Ramirez threw on the women’s side, placing fourth (Su’emai – 15.33m) and seventh (Ramirez – 14.43m) respectively in the women’s shot put competition.
Track event results
The men’s and women’s 4x400m squads put up impressive performances in their respective races, finishing in first in both relays. Antonie Nortje, Samuel Herenton, Ismail Turner and Willington Wright crossed in 3:05.03, just 0.44 seconds ahead of USC’s relay team. Naomi Johnson, Aly Conyers, Rose Pittman and Kate Jendrezak finished 0.67 seconds of the Trojans in their relay, crossing in 3:37.07 to place first in the race.
In the unseeded men’s 200m race, freshman John Robinson IV placed third after crossing the line in 21.70 seconds. The Bruins saw two sprinters finish in the top four in the unseeded women’s 200m race: sophomore Aly Conyers (2nd – 24.20s) and freshman Naomi Johnson (4th – 24.24s).
Junior Rose Pittman dominated the unseeded women’s 400m race, crossing in 56.39s for an unchallenged first-place finish. The next runner behind Pittman finished in 57.81s. Senior Kai Wingo ran in the 400m race on the men’s side, finishing third in his section in 49.98s. Wingo placed ninth overall.
Bruin newcomers Jada Jones and Yanla Ndjip-Nyemeck won their heats in the women’s 60m hurdle preliminary races, and sophomore Sonia Virk placed second in her heat after finishing in 8.87s. Sophomore Ndjip-Nyemeck improved her time in the finals, crossing in 8.17s for first place in the event.
UCLA saw seven competitors in the men’s 60m sprint. Graduate transfer Eric Allen, Jr. led the way with a 6.73s finish in the preliminary races, qualifying for the finals. Allen, Jr. went on to finish fifth in the 60m finals with a time of 6.69s. Kaden Reynolds (18th – 6.81s), Willington Wright (23rd – 6.83s), Antonie Nortje (24th – 6.86s), Ismail Turner (26th – 6.87s), Myles Misener-Daley (31st – 6.92s) and Robinson IV ( 35th – 6.97s) finished in a tight spread in the highly competitive field of sprinters.
Chinyere Okoro (1st – 7.53s), Naomi Johnson (2nd – 7.59s) and Aly Conyers (3rd – 7.65s) swept podium placements in the women’s 60m qualifying race; Alexandra Chan placed seventh (7.95s) in the sprint.
Kate Jendrezak ran in Section 3 of the women’s 400m race; the junior crossed in 53.82 for a second place finish in her race. Jendrezak’s time was good for fifth overall.
The Bruins got another first-place finish in Section 3 of the men’s 200m race. Senior Myles Misener-Daley ran a 20.68 in his section, which was the second-fastest 200m performance of the day. Marcellus Moore of Texas outran Misener-Daley by just 0.04s in the final standings. Willington Wright placed 14th in the 200m sprint with a time of 21.36.
UCLA had two runners place in the top three of their section in the women’s 200m. Sophomore Makenzy Pierre-Webster (23.75) placed first in Section 5 of the race, and senior Maddy Doane (24.96) placed third in the same race.
Up Next: Dr. Sander Invitational – Columbia Challenge (Jan. 27-28)
The Bruins head across the country to compete in the Dr. Sander Invitational on Jan. 27-28 hosted by Columbia University in New York City. The meet will be hosted at the Armory Track and Field Center in Manhattan, home to the National Track and Field Hall of Fame and Police Athletic League of New York City.
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