Racing more than 5,000 feet above sea level poses a new kind of challenge: high altitude.

UCLA track and field will compete in the New Mexico Collegiate Classic on Friday and Saturday, respectively, in Albuquerque, New Mexico – marking its fourth indoor meet of the season. Texas, Stanford and crosstown rival USC will be among the Bruins’ 16 opponents across the weekend.

With oxygen levels lower than those found in Los Angeles, competing in Albuquerque can be both a blessing and a curse.

“Whenever we do go to New Mexico, a lot of teams talk about how it is higher altitude, especially for those middle-distance or distance races,” said senior Sonia Virk. “I don’t think it’ll really affect me. I’m confident in coach (Joanna) Hayes’ and coach (Arman) Hall’s training.”

Virk has been racing the 600-meter dash during the indoor season as training for her main event, the 400-meter hurdles.

“(The 600-meter) will be helping me to get stronger for the 400 hurdles when it comes to outdoor,” Virk said. “Now that we’re part of the Big Ten, our conference is the only one who has the 600 at the conference championships, so (I’m) trying it out and seeing if I’ll run it there too.”

Graduate student Parker Raymond is another athlete familiar with the change in environment, having competed at the same venue at the indoor NCAA championships in 2023 for his previous school, Indiana.

“After the race, I felt like I couldn’t breathe,” Raymond said. “Once you go up in distance, it really starts impacting you while you’re racing.”

While the altitude change often makes it more difficult for longer distances, head coach Hayes said it can actually help other events because the altitude conversion is factored in the results.

“Altitude always is going to be a little bit harder. It is something that we always take note (of),” Hayes said. “As far as the sprints, hurdles and jumps, it actually is – a lot of times, it’s beneficial. … They take off some time for that.”

For Virk and Raymond, who both specialize in middle-distance events, the training in the offseason helped them compete in races that require both speed and stamina. In conditions like those found in Albuquerque, the base training may come in handy.

“We’ve been working a lot more on endurance kind of workouts – building up my endurance base, which is something I’m not used to in my previous years of training,” Raymond said.

The meet sits in the middle of the indoor season, a time when the team can gauge where it stands compared to its competition and can start to prepare for its first Big Ten conference championships.

“It’s a good time for us to see who’s ready and who needs a little bit more work,” Hayes said. “Every meet that we run is set up to prepare us for Big Tens and for nationals.”

Four consecutive weeks of racing for the Bruins continues on Friday, as field events kick off at 11 a.m., with track events commencing in the afternoon.