University of California-Los Angeles Women's Track & Field

UCLA Athletic Hall of Fame member and Olympic gold medalist Joanna Hayes returned to UCLA as the new The Sherie L. and Donald G. Morrison UCLA Director of Track & Field/Cross Country on June 17, 2024. Hayes previously served as an assistant coach for the Bruins from 2014-16 and for USC from 2017-24. Shortly after being named to the top job at UCLA, she was selected as the USATF Nike Coach of the Year for the 2024 calendar year. UCLA started off its new era under Hayes in a strong way in 2025. The women’s outdoor squad was nationally ranked all season, climbing as high as No. 13 in the polls. The Bruins swept their dual meet over crosstown rival USC at Drake Stadium, a first for the program since 2013. UCLA set five school records over the course of the year, including in the women’s indoor 4x400 and outdoor 4x100 relays. The Bruins made a strong impression at their first Outdoor Big Ten Championships, with Michael Pinckney bringing home a gold medal in the men’s discus and the UCLA women finishing third in the team standings. A total of 11 individuals combined for 16 All-America honors at the Outdoor NCAA Championships, with two more earning Indoor All-America accolades earlier in the season. A six-time All-American at UCLA from 1996-99, Hayes won seven Pac-10 titles and the 1999 NCAA outdoor title in the 400m hurdles. She led UCLA to three-straight Pac-10 team titles and two-straight NCAA runner-up finishes, and her Bruin teams went 39-0 in dual meets in her career. At the P

Andrew Ferris joined the UCLA track & field and cross country coaching staff on October 5, 2023, as announced by UCLA Athletics. Ferris enters his second cam...

Arman "Gino" Hall, an Olympic Gold Medalist, three-time NCAA Champion, and 17-time All-American, joined the UCLA track & field coaching program as an assista...

UCLA added former USC hurdler Mecca McGlaston to the track & field coaching staff, The Sherie L. and Donald G. Morrison UCLA Director of Track & Field/Cross ...

Nick Newman joined the Bruin coaching staff on July 15, 2024, the Sherie L. and Donald G. Morrison Director of Track & Field/Cross Country Joanna Hayes annou...

Sean Denard was named to the position of Assistant Coach – Throws on September 24, 2021 and enters his fourth season with the UCLA coaching staff. “As coach, mentor, and leader of this program and for these student athletes, I want to emphasize the importance of finding balance in life through studying, living, and training at the number one public university in the world, in the greatest city in the world, and at the most successful athletic department in college sports,” said Denard. “Through balance we will discover new levels of excellence and elite performances.” During the 2022-23 campaign with the Bruins, UCLA throwers captured a Pac-12 individual and three All-American honors. Federica Botter set a new outdoor school record in the javelin throw, launching for a mark of 57.81m (189-8) to secure the Conference title. Mayyi Mahama, a second team All-American, landed second all-time in UCLA’s history books in the hammer throw, recording a mark of 68.38m (224-4) to claim third at the Pac-12 Championships. Lyvante Su’emai showed steady improvement throughout the season in the discus, placing fifth at the Conference championships before throwing a PR mark (55.69m, 182-8) in the discus event at outdoor nationals. Freshman thrower Michael Pinckney also shined under Denard’s guidance – in his second meet with UCLA, Pinckney set a new indoor school record in the weight throw (22.05m, 72-04.25). Pinckney also claimed a national title during the summer, winning gold in the hammer

Former UCLA student-athlete Tate Curran joined the track and field coaching staff on August 1, 2024. "I'm so excited to have Tate back in Westwood," said The Sherie L. and Donald G. Morrison Director of Track & Field/Cross Country Joanna Hayes. "He was the ultimate competitor as a vaulter and an incredible teammate; Tate will be a great example for our student-athletes and help carry on our tradition of excellence in this program." Curran most recently served as the Director of Track & Field at the Chadwick School in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif., for the 2023-24 school year. As a student-athlete at UCLA, Curran claimed silver at his final Pac-12 Championships in 2022. The pole vaulter cleared 5.01m at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., to finish as the Pac-12 runner-up. The same mark earned Curran an event victory at the 2022 dual meet against USC. Curran won four pole vault competitions during the 2022 indoor and outdoor seasons and had five podium finishes in his final year competing for the Bruins. He was also a point scorer for UCLA at the 2021 Pac-12 Championships, finishing eighth at the Conference meet. The UCLA pole vaulter competed in 36 meets during his three-year career with the Bruins. Curran earned his bachelor of arts in political science and government from UCLA in June 2022.

Wellington Zaza joined the UCLA track & field coaching staff in September 2024. Zaza most recently coached at Syracuse, working as a volunteer sprints and hu...