The Pac-12 championship always marks the start of the final phase of the outdoor track and field season. And while track itself may be winding down, the Bruins are doing just the opposite as they enter the most competitive part of their year. Read more...

Photo: Sophomore hurdler Rai Benjamin logged his first Pac-12 championship win in the 400-meter hurdles over the weekend. Last year he ran only the preliminary round to set a qualifying time for NCAA regionals. (Keila Mayberry/Daily Bruin staff)

For most of the UCLA track and field team, this weekend will be the last of the 2017 season. The Pac-12 championship is the last meet that the athletes have to get their times and scores into the top 48 of the Western Division and advance to the NCAA West Regional. Read more...

Photo: Freshman Nate Esparza is one of several Bruins in position with top-48 scores to secure a spot in the NCAA regionals. The thrower is 18th nationally in the shot-put heading into the Pac-12 championships this weekend. (Michael Hull/Daily Bruin senior staff)

Since the 2016 outdoor season, the UCLA track and field team has seen improvement in its national rankings in over a dozen events. A quick glance at the year-over-year numbers reveals this track and field team is one of the fastest UCLA has assembled in several years. Read more...

Photo: Sophomore Arturo Sotomayor and the UCLA men’s distance squad is one of many divisions on the track and field team that have improved their standing in a number of events from past years, from hundreds away from the top to within spitting distance. (Keila Mayberry/Daily Bruin staff)

It wasn’t first, second and third, but the UCLA track and field heptathletes that competed at the Pac-12 Combined Events Championships at Oregon State still finished sequentially over the weekend. Read more...

Photo: Christina Chenault took fourth place at the Pac-12 Combined Events Championships over the weekend in Corvallis, Oregon. The sophomore was one of three heptathletes UCLA sent to compete, and the women now have 12 points heading into the conference championship meet next weekend. (Ken Shin/Daily Bruin)

UCLA track and field’s dual meet with USC goes back decades. Each year, trends and patterns are broken or made, and this season’s meet was no exception. Read more...

Photo: Sophomore Julia Rizk and freshman Cassandra Durgy were two of UCLA track and field’s distance athletes that reclaimed event titles for the distance team after last year’s squad dropped them in the UCLA versus USC dual meet. Rizk won the 800-meter while Durgy finished first in the 1,500. (Keila Mayberry/Daily Bruin staff)

Los Angeles’ oldest rivalry is set for its annual track and field renewal, and this time UCLA will be heading downtown. The Bruins and the Trojans will clash again Sunday at Loker Stadium in UCLA’s second and final dual meet of the year. Read more...

Photo: Sophomore sprinter/hurdler Rai Benjamin is one of the many UCLA underclassmen atop the national Track & Field Results Reporting System rankings that will compete in their first USC dual meet this Sunday.