Track & Field
Gabriel McCarthy, assistant Sports editor
Away from Westwood and in the heart of Finland, one Bruin continued her summer success on the world stage.
UCLA rising sophomore thrower Alyssa Wilson was the only female athlete in the finals of three throwing events at the International Association of Athletics Federations World U20 Championships, known as the world championships in athletics.
Wilson finished second overall in the hammer throw and reached the final round of the discus and the shot put. Wilson’s top mark in the hammer throw on Saturday was 64.45 m, slightly behind the winning mark of 64.90 m thrown by Canadian Camryn Rogers.
She was the only female athlete to break 64 m on multiple occasions in the hammer after qualifying with a 58.71. She finished 10th in the discus with a distance of 47.77 m in the final, despite qualifying with a 53.32 m mark in the preliminaries.
Wilson fell in the final of the shot put after leading the entire field in the preliminary round with a distance of 17.02 m, which was her second-best outdoor mark as a collegiate athlete. This was the third time the freshman represented the USA after participating in the 2016 World Juniors and the 2017 Pan American Games.
Wilson secured All-America honors after being the only female athlete to qualify in three individual events at the 2018 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
Baseball
Sam Connon, assistant Sports editor
Three former Bruins are headed to the nation’s capital for the 2018 MLB All-Star Game.
San Francisco Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford, Cleveland Indians pitcher Trevor Bauer and Houston Astros pitcher Gerrit Cole were all selected by the fans to play in this year’s All-Star game in Washington, D.C.
This marks Crawford’s second All-Star selection, his first having come in 2015. The infielder played for UCLA from 2006-2008, totaling 20 home runs and 136 RBIs to go along with his .319 career batting average. This season with the Giants, Crawford is batting .289 and is on pace to set career highs in home runs, batting average and on-base plus slugging percentage.
Like Crawford, Cole will be playing in his second ASG after making his debut in 2015. That season, Cole came in fourth place in the National League Cy Young Award voting, and this year, he is deep in the race again. He has a 2.52 ERA and a 10-2 record in a league-leading 20 starts heading into the All-Star break.
Bauer will be going to his first ASG this year, boasting a 2.23 ERA and a league-best 0.3 home runs allowed per nine innings. Prior to this season, Bauer had never had a sub-4.00 ERA.
Bauer and Cole were teammates at UCLA from 2009-2011, but the two reportedly did not get along when they were in Westwood. They will be teammates again for the American League All-Star Team, as they will face off against the National League on Tuesday at 5 p.m.
Men’s basketball
Ryan Smith, Sports editor
The NBA Summer League in Las Vegas is in the midst of tournament play, but the 2018 Bruin draft class is no longer a part of it.
Aaron Holiday’s Indiana Pacers and Thomas Welsh’s Denver Nuggets each suffered first-round losses, marking the end of the rookies’ first summer league experiences.
Over four total contests, Holiday averaged 14.5 points per game on 34 percent shooting from the field. The former Bruin guard also finished fourth overall in assists per game with 6.8.
Holiday’s performance in Vegas turned heads around the league, and will likely secure him significant playing time as the backup to former UCLA guard Darren Collison come the regular season in October.
Thomas Welsh appeared in only two games for the Nuggets due to a sore shoulder. The seven-footer averaged six points on 42 percent shooting to go along with four rebounds per contest.
Despite the small sample size, Welsh earned a two-way contract with Denver after being the team’s second-round pick in last month’s draft. The deal allows the Nuggets to move Welsh between their G-League affiliate and the NBA while retaining his rights.
Other former Bruins, forward T.J. Leaf and guard Bryce Alford, were also in action at summer league.
Leaf played in four games for the Pacers and averaged 12.5 points and 5.5 rebounds per game. He struggled with an 8-of-21 performance from the field in his first game and finished summer league with a 36 percent shooting clip overall.
Alford, who was also with Indiana, appeared in five games but averaged only three points in 11 minutes per contest.
While Leaf’s contract for the upcoming season is guaranteed, Alford was playing on a summer league invitation, meaning he is still a free agent searching for a contract.