Sprinting and relays often excite.

Pumping arms, long strides and flying track pellets often captivate an audience’s attention as athletes dash for the finish line.

UCLA track and field will send most of its highest-performing sprinters and relay athletes to the Spokane Sports Showcase in Spokane, Washington, on Friday – the squad’s first official meet of the 2026 campaign. UCLA will battle against a collection of rivals that includes California, Fresno State, UC Santa Barbara and USC.

Junior Gabriel Clement II, who earned a First Team All-American selection after finishing eighth overall at the Outdoor Track and Field National Championships last year, will compete as the sole Bruin in the 300-meter dash. The Kaplan, Louisiana, local was good for fourth with a time of 46.36 in the 400-meter dash and also helped lead the men’s 4×400-meter relay to a sixth-place finish at the 2025 Indoor Big Ten championships. Clement also finished runner-up in the 400-meter dash at last year’s Spokane Sports Showcase.

Most athletes on the women’s 4×100-meter and 4×400-meter relays from last outdoor season will also compete in Spokane, with sophomore Kayla McBride, along with senior Naomi Johnson and junior Taylor Snaer, competing in the women’s 300-meter dash. Graduate student Yanla Ndjip-Nyemeck is set to join Johnson and Snaer in the 60-meter dash, and McBride will anchor the 4×400-meter relay.

Snaer, Johnson and McBride captured seventh place at the June national championships, when they recorded a 3:31.14 time in the 4×400-meter relay to secure First Team All-American honors, and Ndjip-Nyemeck, Johnson and Snaer earned 12th place in the 4×100-meter relay.

Clement is listed as the first leg for the men’s 4×400-meter relay, where the Bruins are seeded third behind two USC relays. Senior Tamaal Myers, who last competed at the outdoor national championships in the 400-meter hurdles, will anchor the quartet and is seeded fifth in the 600-meter dash. The Detroit, Michigan, local and former Trojan is seemingly hoping to develop endurance throughout the 2026 indoor campaign to prepare for hurdling during the outdoor slate.

Track and field director Joanna Hayes opted to enter only freshmen into the men’s 60-meter and 200-meter dashes, with Steven Sabino and Shaun McCoullum representing the sole Bruin entries in both events.

“She’s excited to get the team going, and the athletes really feed off of that,” said distance coach Andrew Ferris. “But she also has a vision for the entire team, and the athletes really get on board with that. … They’re excited by what that is.”

And the excitement Hayes has brought to Westwood is what helped land Sabino’s commitment. The Beira, Mozambique, local competed at the 2024 Paris Olympics in the 100-meter dash for Mozambique, where he holds the national record in this event and the long jump.

Although sprinting and relays can dazzle, field events are no different.

Camryn O’Bannon is listed one spot ahead of Sabino in the long jump field. The 6-foot-5 senior earned a First Team Indoor All-American selection in the event after recording a 7.65-meter mark at the Indoor NCAA Championships.

Senior Michael Pinckney has been a Bruin staple the past two seasons, and he was a First Team All-American last outdoor season after finishing fifth at the outdoor national championships. Pinckney will occupy the first seed in the men’s weight throw and the third seed in the men’s shot put on Friday.

Graduate student Eitan Goore – who transferred to UCLA after four years at UC Santa Barbara – and senior Hunter O’Brien are seeded first and second, respectively, in the men’s pole vault. Goore captured two Big West pole vault titles as an undergraduate.

Sophomore Valentina Fakrogha, who leaped 1.84 meters to capture eighth place at the outdoor national championships in the high jump, was entered as the first seed in the same event, and graduate student Gavin Champ is seeded in the top spot of the men’s triple jump. UCLA is Champ’s fourth school in four years, and the Princeton, Texas, local transferred from Texas A&M before the 2026 campaign.

Hayes’ second year at the helm may bring new challenges.

But just as sprinters and relays thrill audiences, Hayes could elicit enthusiasm for a developing program within the team and in the stands.