Yanla Ndjip-Nyemeck earned a silver medal in the women’s 60-meter hurdles at the 2026 NCAA Indoor Championships, closing out her collegiate career and leading the UCLA Bruins’ efforts at the Randal Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville, Arkansas, according to a March 14 announcement.
Ndjip-Nyemeck’s performance was the highlight for UCLA during the two-day meet. Her result brought in eight points for the Bruins, matching their highest point total at Indoor NCAAs since 2018. The team’s only scoring event was the 60-meter hurdles.
Ndjip-Nyemeck tied for the fastest qualifying time on Friday with a personal-best and school record of 7.96 seconds. She improved her time to 7.92 seconds in Saturday’s final, setting another personal best and school record while finishing second overall. This marked her first NCAA medal and her third time earning First Team All-America honors in this event. She is also the first Bruin woman to medal at Indoor NCAAs since Jessie Maduka finished third in triple jump in 2018, and the first to win a silver since Ida Storm’s weight throw finish in 2015.
Other UCLA competitors included sophomore Valentina Fakrogha, who placed eleventh in women’s high jump with a clearance of 1.80 meters during her debut at Indoor NCAAs, and Pinckney, who finished fifteenth in men’s weight throw with a mark of 20.80 meters. The women’s 4×400 relay team initially placed sixth but was later disqualified for impeding after winning their section.
In addition to competing at Indoor NCAAs, UCLA sent athletes to participate in the Aztec Coastal Classic hosted by San Diego State on Friday. At that meet, Hunter O’Brien won the men’s pole vault with a height of 5.03 meters and Paige Sommers won the women’s pole vault with a mark of 4.27 meters—good for tenth all-time outdoors at UCLA. Kaho Cichon also finished as runner-up in the women’s 1500 meters with a personal best of 4:24.74.
The results from both meets reflect strong performances by several Bruins athletes as they look ahead to future competitions.
