Bruins Shatter Personal Bests, Shake Up Record Book at West Coast Classic

Tucson, Ariz. / Eugene, Ore. – UCLA Track & Field put on a show at the West Coast Classic, as the Bruins shook up the program's all-time record book and notched event victories across the meet program in Tucson and Eugene.
 
Sprints
The Bruin sprinters opened their day in impressive fashion, as the quartet of Chinyere Okoro, Shae Anderson, Catherine Leger, and Maddy Doane combined to win the women's 4x100m relay with a time of 43.89. It was a season-best mark for UCLA's relay squad and is the ninth-best time in the nation this season. The men followed up with a second-place performance with a time of 39.29, the eighth-fastest time in school history in the event. Kenroy Higgins II, Ismail Turner, Cristian Moore, and Harrison Schrage combined for the ninth-fastest collegiate time in the nation this season.
 
Anderson was masterful in the 200m, edging out Oregon's Kemba Nelson for the win in a blazing time of 22.96. It was a career-best time for Anderson, who is now in seventh place all-time at UCLA in the event. She also becomes just the 14th collegiate athlete in the country to break the 23-second barrier this year.
 
Higgins II went on to take third place in the 100m, clocking a big PR with a time of 10.33. He demolished his previous best of 10.46, which he set at the 2019 Pac-12 Championships. Okoro finished fifth in the women's competition, posting a career-best time of 11.57. Doane was seventh at 11.67. Higgins II also finished third in the men's 200m, crossing with a personal-best time of 20.88.
 
Meleni Rodney was the class of the women's 400m, gliding to the victory with a lifetime-best time of 51.97. She solidifies her No. 9 position on UCLA's all-time list in the event and becomes the ninth woman in school history to break the 52-second barrier. Myles Misener-Daley was the Bruins' top performer in the men's competition, clocking a time of 47.07 for second place overall. Christopher Hill was eighth, crossing at 48.86.
 
The Bruins' dominance in the sprints continued into the 4x400m relays, as the and women's and men's squads capped off the night with a sweep. UCLA's quartet of Rodney, Leger, Makenzy Pierre-Webster, and Anderson posted a winning time of 3:30.16, the sixth-fastest time in school history and the fastest relay time for the Bruins since 2004 (3:28.85). The men's squad – consisting of Hill, Turner, Josh Pikes, and Misener-Daley – picked up the win with a time of 3:09.62.
 
Jumps/Pole Vault
Harrison Schrage stole the show in the men's long jump competition, clearing a career-best 7.97m (26-01.75). Schrage notched lifetime-best marks on each of his last two jumps to secure the event victory and move into a tie for sixth place all-time in UCLA history in the event. It's also the sixth-best collegiate mark in the nation this season. Alex Enos also had a career day in the pit, going 7.19m (23-07.25) for a seventh place and a personal-best mark in the event. Aiden Lieb took 10th place (6.88m, 22-07.00) in his first collegiate appearance in the event.
 
Katerina Adamiec was the Bruins' top finisher in the women's pole vault, clearing 3.85m (12-07.50) for a tie for sixth place overall. Camryn Thomson also cleared 3.85m, but finished eighth on attempts. Kyle Brown finished tied for third in the men's competition with a clearance of 5.00m (16-04.75).
 
Throws
Ilaria Casarotto emerged victorious in the women's javelin competition, posting a winning throw of 49.93m (163-09) on her first attempt. Lauren McFall was third overall, going a lifetime-best 48.62m (159-06) to solidify her No. 5 position on UCLA's all-time javelin list.
 
Alyssa Wilson notched her best hammer throw performance of the season, taking second place overall with a toss of 69.58m (228-03). The mark was just three inches behind her career-best and school-record throw of 70.63m (231-08), set back in 2019. It's also the second-best mark in the nation this year. Natalie Ramirez finished 10th in the event, clearing 48.52m (159-02) on her first attempt for a lifetime-best mark.
 
Dayne Gordien was the Bruins' top finisher in the men's discus, going a season-best 51.53m (169-00) for sixth place overall. Jacob Wilson was seventh with a toss of 50.13m (164-05).  Alyssa Wilson took third in the women's competition with a mark of 52.54m (172-04), while Ramirez secured a fifth-place finish with a lifetime-best mark of 50.07m (164-03). Ramirez picked up her third PR of the day with her performance in the shot put, going 15.27m (50-01.25) for the first 50+ foot throw of her career. She took fifth place overall. Jacob Wilson was third in the men's field at 18.14m (59-06.25).
 
Middle Distance/Distance
Peter Herold posted a career-best performance in the steeplechase, taking third place with a time of 8:54.93. It was an improvement of more than four seconds from his season-opener at the Stanford Invite (8:59.05). Kira Loren (11:07.90) and Claire Selleck (11:28.11) finished fourth and fifth, respectively, in the women's competition.
 
Jett Charvet ducked under 1:53.00 in the 800m for the first time in his career, clocking a time of 1:52.43 for seventh place in Eugene. Kate Jendrezak toed the line in the women's 800m in Tucson, posting a season-best time of 2:10.53. The women's 1500m saw Gwyn George finish ninth place overall, crossing with a lifetime-best time of 4:26.71.