The Rundown: June 25
Former UCLA utility Alex Roelse logged five goals for the senior national team last week. Team USA finished in seventh place out of eight teams at the 2018 FINA World League Super Final. (Amy Dixon/Photo editor)
This post was updated Aug. 15 at 4:46 p.m.
Men’s water polo
Joy Hong, assistant Sports editor
Four Bruins helped Team USA in Budapest, Hungary last weekend, but finished in seventh place out of eight teams.
Former UCLA men’s water polo members – utility Alex Roelse, attacker Max Irving and defender Chancellor Ramirez – as well as rising redshirt junior goalie Alex Wolf competed with the senior national team at the 2018 FINA World League Super Final.
Team USA sat atop the Group B standings after defeating Spain 8-6 and Kazakhstan 11-4. In the victory over Kazakhstan, Roelse registered two goals, while Irving added one. Wolf split time in the cage and logged two saves.
Roelse and Irving each delivered a goal in an 11-10 win over Croatia, helping the United States secure a No. 1 seed in the group stage. Team USA nearly blew a four-goal halftime lead against the defending World Champions, but was able to escape a second-half rally.
However, the United States saw its medal hopes dissipate in the quarterfinals.
Team USA was upset by No. 4 seed Japan 11-10, handing Japan its first victory of the tournament. Roelse and Irving both netted a goal, but that was not enough in the back-and-forth contest.
Despite going undefeated in the group phase, Team USA fell for a second consecutive game to Croatia in the eliminatory round. The United States defeated Kazakhstan 9-3 on Saturday avoiding a last place finish.
Women’s basketball
Joy Hong, assistant Sports editor
After turning down UCLA two years ago to stay closer to home, Natalie Chou is now a Bruin.
UCLA women’s basketball announced the signing of the 6-foot-1 guard on June 15. Baylor released the Texas native May 7, and she will redshirt next season to serve her one-year transfer suspension.
Chou started the first 21 games for the Bears and averaged 6.7 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.1 steals last season. She missed eight games due to a wrist injury that required surgery, coming off the bench for the rest of the season.
The former McDonald’s All-American helped Baylor to a 33-2 overall record last season. The Bears’ only regular-season loss was to UCLA on Nov. 18 – a game they played without their second-leading scorer Lauren Cox and their coach Kim Mulkey.
Baylor won back-to-back Big 12 championships and made consecutive Sweet 16 appearances Chou’s freshman and sophomore years.
Chou was a member of the 2014 FIBA U17 World Championship team, playing alongside UCLA’s rising senior guard Kennedy Burke. Chou was a five-star recruit and graduated high school as the eighth-ranked prospect of her class, according to ESPN Hoopgurlz.
Chou will leave Baylor after the Bears landed the No. 1 recruiting class for 2018, and will be eligible to play for the Bruins at the start of the 2019-2020 season.
Baseball
Sam Connon, assistant Sports editor
The Bruins are two weeks removed from their exit at the NCAA Regionals, but most of their roster is already back on the diamond.
UCLA baseball is sending 24 of its players to amateur summer leagues across the country, including the Cape Cod League in Massachusetts and the Northwoods League.
The Bruins’ cleanup hitter, rising junior first baseman Michael Toglia, will be playing for the Cotuit Kettleers on Cape Cod after posting a .336 batting average and 1.037 on-base plus slugging percentage at UCLA in 2018. Toglia played for Cotuit last summer, where he hit seven home runs in 37 games.
The Kettleers sent an invite to rising junior second baseman Chase Strumpf, who was also selected to join the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team. Strumpf, however, will not play for either team due to injury.
Joining Toglia in Massachusetts will be rising juniors outfielder Jeremy Ydens, shortstop Ryan Kreidler, right-hander Jack Ralston and right-hander Ryan Garcia – who will all be playing for the Wareham Gatemen – and left-hander Nick Scheidler.
Rising juniors catcher Kyle Cuellar and outfielder Jarron Silva, as well as rising sophomores outfielder Garrett Mitchell, infielder RJ Teijeiro, outfielder Jordan Prendiz and right-hander Michael Townsend, will spend the summer in the Northwoods League.
The Bruins will also be sending players to the California Collegiate League, the Coastal Plain League, the New England Collegiate Baseball League and the West Coast League. Seven incoming recruits will also represent UCLA in the WCL.
Track and field
Gabriel McCarthy, assistant Sports editor
After a historic freshman season for the Bruins, Alyssa Wilson made national history.
The freshman thrower became the first ever junior woman to qualify for Team USA in three throwing categories. Wilson won the shot put and hammer and finished second in the discus.
She claimed a second-place finish in the discus with a 53.84 meter throw, the fourth time this year she bested the 53-meter mark. Wilson placed first with a 16.80 meter throw in the shot put and her qualifying marks her third time representing Team USA in the event.
Wilson was the only athlete to qualify in three events at the NCAA Outdoor Track Championships, scoring in hammer and shot put. She finished fourth at the NCAA championship in hammer throw with a career-best of 66.99 meters to help the Bruin women claim a top-15 finish.
At the Pac-12 Championships this year, Wilson finished second in the hammer and fifth in shot put and discus. Her longest hammer throw of the weekend at 218-3 ranked third in school history.
Wilson added the hammer throw to her repertoire this year. In high school at Donovan Catholic in New Jersey, she said she threw the hammer once or twice a year. It has since become one of her main events and Wilson said she trains in it almost every day.
