Senior athlete Michael Pinckney set a new school record and secured a silver medal in the men’s weight throw during the second day of the 2026 Big Ten Indoor Championships, held in Indianapolis. Pinckney achieved a distance of 22.72 meters, breaking his own record for the third time this season. He finished behind Iowa’s Ryan Johnson, who established a collegiate record with a throw of 25.66 meters.
Pinckney’s performance marked his third career league medal; he was previously the 2025 Big Ten outdoor champion in discus and runner-up at the 2024 Pac-12 discus event.
Sophomore Valentina Fakrogha also reached the podium by tying for third place in the women’s high jump with a clearance of 1.81 meters (5-11.25). This result earned her first-career Big Ten medal after finishing fourth at last year’s outdoor meet.
Sydney Johnson contributed to UCLA’s score by placing eighth in the women’s long jump, achieving a mark of 6.26 meters and clearing six meters on all attempts.
In qualifying rounds, several UCLA athletes advanced to Saturday finals across multiple events:
Senior sprinter Naomi Johnson led preliminary performances by winning her heat in the women’s 400m with a personal-best time of 52.22 seconds, improving her position as No. 2 in school history for that event. Teammate Ava Simms qualified as well with a time of 53.38 seconds.
Gabriel Clement II advanced to the men’s 400m final after running his second-best time this season at 46.26 seconds.
Graduate Yanla Ndjip-Nyemeck and sophomore Celeste Polzonetti both won their heats and finished second and third overall in women’s 60m hurdles qualifying to secure spots in Saturday’s final; Polzonetti was just one-hundredth of a second off her collegiate best.
Otto Laing ran seventh overall among men in the same event with a time of 7.89 seconds to qualify for finals, while Davis Davis-Lyric recorded his season best but missed out on qualification by finishing ninth.
Marie Warneke rounded out Friday’s finalists from UCLA by advancing to the women’s 800m final with a seventh-place finish and a time of 2:05.28.
UCLA will conclude its participation at the indoor league championship on Saturday with remaining field events and relay races scheduled throughout the day.
