The rise in temperature that comes with the summer heat wasn’t the only thing making eight members of the UCLA track and field team sweat.
For these Bruins, the early days of summer break were spent at Drake Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa, competing at the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships for a chance to represent Team USA.
The meet took place from June 20-23, and featured the nation’s best athletes competing in two categories – senior and junior. Athletes who finished in the top three in the senior events would earn the right to represent Team USA in this year’s IAAF World Championships, while the top two finishers in the junior level events – which consist of athletes under 19 years of age – automatically qualify for the Pan American Junior Athletics Championships.
Rising junior sprinter and long jumper Kylie Price looked to continue a season of stellar performances as she competed in the senior 100 meters and long jump events. However, Price was unable to advance beyond heat one of the 100m event with a time of 11.93 seconds, while her best mark of 21 feet and 2.75 inches was enough to place sixth in the senior long jump competition.
The senior heptathlon event featured a twist for rising senior heptathlete Tatum Souza. Joining Souza in the competition was none other than her coach, UCLA volunteer heptathlon coach Sharon Day. Souza finished 15th with a point total of 5,360 points, while Day won the event for the third consecutive time after accumulating a total of 6,550 points.
The Bruins also saw strong performances in the junior level of competition, with all three representatives clinching a top-five spot in their respective events.
In the junior 800 meters, rising sophomore middle distance runners Nick Hartle and Alexander Monsivaiz completed the race with respective times of 1:49:67 and 1:49:96. Those times were good enough to secure third and fourth place, respectively.
Rising sophomore distance runner Michael McCabe was able to keep his cool under the pressure of competing in his first 10,000 meters event of the season by clinching fifth place in the junior 10,000m event with a time of 32:27:71.