The UCLA track and field team looked to continue its strong start this weekend at the Texas A&M; Aggie Invitational.
The men recorded eight top-five finishes with one victory, whereas the women also recorded eight top-five finishes but had two event victories.
Junior sprinter/jumper Kylie Price and redshirt sophomore thrower Nicholas Scarvelis, who led the way for the Bruins, were the highlights of the weekend.
“Overall, I thought we did a good job with a few key performances. Kylie Price in the 60-meter dash beat an excellent field, and Nick Scarvelis came through on his last throw,” said track and field director Mike Maynard.
Price finished first in the women’s 60m dash and Scarvelis finished first in the men’s shot put with a new lifetime best score of 62 feet, 4 1/2 inches.
“I feel quite pleased. I hit a distance goal that I’ve been chasing for a while and I hit qualifying position for the NCAA men’s indoor championships also,” Scarvelis said.
Another strong area for the Bruins this week was the women’s high jump as freshman jumper Caroline Gyllenbern and junior jumper Zibby Boyer finished first and second respectively.
Senior heptathlete Tatum Souza displayed a strong performance by finishing third overall in the women’s pentathlon just behind LSU’s Therese Jernbeck and Texas A&M;’s Jena Hemann. Souza finished in the top three of every event in the pentathlon besides the 800m, including a first-place finish in the women’s 60m hurdles.
The Bruins finished fifth overall in both the women’s and men’s team scores with the women scoring 72 points and the men scoring 62 points.
The Bruins leave the Texas A&M; Aggie Invitational with encouraging signs, but improvement is still in the works.
“I can’t speak for the whole team, but we’ve had better outings,” Scarvelis said.
The team will split next weekend as the Bruins head to Albuquerque, N.M. and Seattle.
Compiled by Alexander Hyun, Bruin Sports contributor.