Track teams perform in weekend invitational
The men’s and women’s track teams had a number of event wins this weekend at their respective invitationals.
The Bruin men traveled to Flagstaff, Ariz., for the NAU Invitational, winning seven events with many players hitting lifetime bests and starting off their collegiate track and field careers with strong times.
On the women’s side, the Bruins traveled to New York for the two-day New Balance Invitational, facing tougher competition from across the nation.
Next up for the women’s team is Friday and Saturday’s Boise State Team Invitational in Nampa, Idaho, where they will be joined by some of the men’s team. The rest of the men’s track and field team will head to Seattle for the Husky Classic.
Women’s water polo loses at Stanford Invitational
Playing at the Stanford Invitational in Palo Alto, the No. 5 UCLA women’s water polo team dropped a 13-3 decision on Sunday afternoon to No. 2 USC to close out an up-and-down weekend of action.
UCLA (5-3) opened the weekend with a nail-biting 4-3 defeat at the hands of No. 4 Cal and sandwiched a pair of victories in between their two losses, a 9-8 decision over No. 3 Hawai’i Saturday evening and 7-6 victory over No. 9 Arizona State early Sunday.
Men’s golf team loses lead in Hawaii
The No. 14 UCLA men’s golf team finished at 885 (+21) for eighth place in the Mauna Lani Invitational, falling from an early lead before the weather turned windy.
The tournament featured a multitude of talented teams and was one of the best fields the Bruins will face all year. But no team lived up to expectations, with the wind and course conditions skewing every team’s score. No team went under par, and collegiate golf’s powerhouse, No. 2 Stanford, took home the trophy by shooting 866 (+2).
Two familiar Pac-10 opponents for the Bruins, Oregon and Washington, finished tied for second, both shooting 869 (+5). The Ducks may have been the surprise of the tournament as they came into the event ranked at No. 29.
Texas’ Bobby Hudson fired a 66 in Friday’s final round to claim the individual title with a scoring total of 209 (-7).
Sophomore Gregor Main finished at 217 (+1), which tied him for 10th place.
Fellow sophomore Alex Shi Yup Kim wasn’t far behind at 218 (+2), tied for 16th. Freshman Pontus Widegren carded a 77 in Friday’s final round to drop him to six-over-par overall and Pedro Figueiredo carded an uncharacteristic 230 (+14).
Compiled by Bruin Sports senior staff. Read the full version of these stories on dailybruin.com/sports