UCLA weekend recap: Track and field wins 2 individual Pac-12 titles

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The UCLA men’s track and field team brought back two individual Pac-12 titles from the conference championships in Eugene, Ore., as freshman Isaiah Holmes won the high jump and sophomore Rai Benjamin won the 400-meter hurdles.

Holmes’ 6-foot, 11.5-inch high jump ranked ninth all-time for UCLA, while his personal best of 25-feet, 11-inches in the long jump earned the freshman second place.

Benjamin dethroned two-time defending conference champion CJ Allen of Washington State with a personal best 49.52 seconds, besting Allen by a mere 0.02 seconds. The time ranks fifth in UCLA history as the sophomore claimed his first Pac-12 title.

The men’s team finished third and the women’s team finished fifth as the Bruins head to the NCAA West Regional Championships, which begin Thursday in Austin, Texas.

Elsewhere in UCLA athletics:

  • Baseball stumbled against Washington State in Pullman, dropping two of three. A complete game from Jon Olsen and five RBIs from Sean Bouchard in Sunday’s 12-2 win saved the Bruins (25-23, 14-10 Pac-12) from a sweep. UCLA also lost its midweek game against Cal State Fullerton last Tuesday. UCLA has seven regular-season games left, including Pac-12 series against Utah and Oregon. Both the Utes and Ducks have losing records in conference play.
  • Women’s tennis claimed the doubles point against No. 12 Pepperdine in the second round of the NCAA tournament on Saturday, but the Waves rattled off four straight singles wins to end UCLA’s team season with a 4-1 defeat. Ena Shibahara will continue as an individual in the NCAA Singles Championships from May 24-29 in Athens, Ga., and will team with Jada Hart in the NCAA Doubles Championships.
  • Women’s rowing took sixth place at the Pac-12 championships on Sunday with 14 total points, finishing ahead of only seventh-place Oregon State’s 11 team points.
  • Women’s golf finished eighth at the NCAA Lubbock Regional on Wednesday, leaving the Bruins two spots away from qualifying for the national championship. The Pac-12 champions were six strokes behind sixth-place Kent State with a three-day total of 17-over 881.
  • Softball swept No. 22 Arizona State and earned the No. 5 seed in the NCAA tournament. The Bruins (41-12, 16-6 Pac-12) run-ruled the Sun Devils 12-3 in the series finale Saturday after logging 4-3 and 13-3 wins on Thursday and Friday, respectively.
  • Women’s water polo lost to Stanford in the NCAA final, 8-7.
  • Men’s tennis advanced to the Sweet 16 with wins over Army and Ole Miss.