EUGENE, Ore. – Celeste Polzonetti became the national runner-up in the 100m hurdles and Valentina Fakrogha repeated as a First Team All-American in the high jump as the UCLA track & field team concluded its 2025-26 season with the fourth and final day of the NCAA Outdoor Championships at Oregon’s Hayward Field on Saturday.
Polzonetti and Fakrogha were the only two Bruins to compete on Saturday, and they joined teammate Xaver Hastenrath (men’s shot put) as 2026 First Team All-Americans.
Polzonetti ran the 100mH final in 12.79 (12.782), just beating out Ohio State’s Janela Spencer (12.789) for the silver medal. The Desio, Italy native had to swerve around lane neighbor Emmi Scales of Kentucky, who caught her back leg on the final hurdle of the race and tumbled in front of Polzonetti at the finish line.
The second-place result was one of the most notable individual finishes for UCLA in recent years. It marked the Bruins’ highest-ever finish in the 100m hurdles – program legends such as Dawn Harper and current head coach Joanna Hayes finished as high as third – and was UCLA’s first individual medal since Alyssa Wilson placed third in the hammer in 2019. It was first time that a Bruin finished runner-up or better on the women’s side at NCAA Outdoors since Turquoise Thompson in the 400m hurdles in 2012.
UCLA’s trip to NCAAs was capped by a sixth-place finish in the high jump from Fakrogha, who cleared 1.87m (6-1.5). That represented a year-over-year improvement for the sophomore, who placed eighth at 1.84m during last year’s NCAA meet.
Overall, it was UCLA’s best finish in the women’s high jump since Rhonda Watkins was fifth in 2007.
At the end of the meet, UCLA tied for 24th place in the women’s team standings with 11 points and tied for 57th on the men’s side with two points.