This post was updated April 4 at 9:51 p.m.

Last weekend, the Bruins emerged on the national stage in record-setting fashion in Austin, Texas – the same site of the upcoming NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships.

The Texas Relays spanned three days from Thursday to Saturday at Mike A. Myers Stadium. Schools from across the country made the trip for what proved to be a massive field of competitors.

Graduate student Federica Botter threw 52.52 meters in the women’s javelin to beat her previous record set a week prior. In her first two competitions donning the blue and gold, Botter has already captured the two best all-time marks.

The men’s 4×400 relay team smashed the 35-year-old school record with a blistering 2:59.25 mark, .66 seconds faster than the previous record. The effort earned the squad a third-place finish at the meet and seventh all-time rank in NCAA history. The quartet of junior Antonie Nortje, graduate student Willington Wright and seniors Ismail Turner and Cameron Reynolds brought home the school record despite competing together as a unit for the first time.

Turner, who ran a 44.49 relay split and also set a personal best in the 100 meters last weekend, spoke of the different dynamics that come with competing in a group relay event.

“You definitely feel a bit more pressure,” Turner said. “It’s a collective effort, and we know we’re capable of doing some really great things. So you want to make sure that you can run for the people next to you and represent UCLA well.”

Despite the enhanced pressure, the Bruins have consistently excelled in the 4×400 relay in 2023. They qualified for the indoor championships in the winter and notched top-two finishes across four different indoor meets.

Turner said the relay team is just getting started.

“Opening up this outdoor season with the school record shows us that we have a lot more in the tank,” Turner said. “We’re learning that we’re capable of doing some big things.”

The men weren’t the only Bruins who excelled in the 4×400 relay. The women’s team, featuring senior Maddy Doane, sophomores Alyssa Conyers and Makenzy Pierre-Webster, and freshman Naomi Johnson, took home a fourth-place finish.

Johnson also competed in the 100-meter and the 4×100 relay. She echoed some of Turner’s positive sentiments regarding her respective relay team’s future.

“It was a good opener for us,” Johnson said. “But I know we can run a lot faster and maybe break some records.”

Coach Avery Anderson lauded his athletes for their successes in the relays.

“We have several people who are able to step into that role,” Anderson said. “The training in those event groups is one where iron sharpens iron in practice that occurs every day.”

The Bruins’ success didn’t stop with their school records and relays. The team scored eight top-10 finishes across all events. Junior discus thrower Natalie Ramirez and senior Aiden Elbettar placed fourth in the women’s division and sixth in the men’s division, respectively. Juniors Ka’Leila Abrille and Kate Jendrezak each notched seventh-place finishes in the pole vault and the 800-meters, respectively.

The blue and gold will continue its outdoor season with the Jim Click Invitational in Tucson on April 8. The men’s team ranks 21st in the country, according to the latest U.S. Track & Field Cross Country Coaches Association poll.

Anderson spoke of the team’s outlook moving forward.

“The group knows where we’ve been the last couple of years but also where we are now with the talent we have,” he said. “The desire to win is there. So we keep pushing each other every day to get there.”