Swim & Dive

Most meets for the Bruins begin with a dance party on the pool deck.

And the last conference competition of the regular season will start no differently – no matter the opponents’ storied history.

“It’s a great rivalry, but it’s no different in the way that we show up,” said coach Jordan Cordry. “Because we’ve shown up like it was the most important meet every single meet we’ve shown up to this year.”

UCLA swim and dive (1-3-1, 1-0 Big Ten) will face crosstown foe USC (6-3, 0-1) on Friday at Spieker Aquatic Center.

The Trojans have already edged out the Bruins once this season. At the USC Invitational on Oct. 10 and 11, the hosts upset then-No. 23 UCLA alongside No. 25 Texas A&M.

Senior Rosie Murphy earned multiple podium finishes at the fall invite across town, touching the wall in 1:57.19 and 4:10.91 in the 200 and 400-yard individual medley, respectively, to finish second in both events. Murphy has had a dominant year for the Bruins in her final collegiate season, most recently breaking her own school record in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 1:51.59 Jan. 17.

“We’ve got some kids that can compete for NCAA titles, that can compete for first-ever swimming and diving Big Ten titles,” Cordry said. “When you have people like that leading the way with their work ethic and the way that they perform, the rest of the team get so much confidence.”

The Bruins have fallen out of the rankings since losing to the Trojans in October. However, they did receive 14 votes in the most recent iteration of the poll, the most of any team not featured in the top 25.

And although UCLA is coming off two losses to No. 3 Stanford and No. 5 California on Jan. 16 and 17, respectively, Cordry’s squad is carrying the momentum from small wins. In addition to Murphy’s school record in the meet against Cal, freshman Jada Duncan earned the program’s fastest ever time in the 50-yard fly, touching the wall in 51.06.

“I’m going to raise my goals and have higher expectations of myself because I hold myself to these standards and I’m meeting them so unexpectedly,” Duncan said. “I just need to keep pushing myself.”

While Duncan and her fellow freshman class did not experience last year’s dual meet, the competition with the Trojans may be lingering in the back of some Bruins’ minds. USC swept UCLA in every single event last season to best its rivals 215-85.

Regardless of outcome, Friday gives the team another opportunity to hone in on small adjustments that could be push the squad to a podium finish in the postseason.

“The next stretch going for the end of the season is really just about tuning up our details, our walls, our turns, really … focusing on the small details of the race,” Murphy said.

The Trojan matchup is the Bruins’ final head-to-head conference affair before the Big Ten championships in Minneapolis in late February.

And for a squad that has had just one dual meet with a conference adversary this season, the experience could prove valuable – especially considering many of the Midwestern teams have logged four or five Big Ten duels, uninhibited by lengthy cross-country travel.

At the end of the day, it is all about the rivalry, though.

“I really don’t like USC,” said Duncan. “I have friends on that team, but I can’t like them for that meet.”

Track & Field

Record-breaking performances are hard to top.

Yet, it appears that the Bruins are built for breaking records.

After they secured three record-breaking times at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Invitational last weekend, the Bruins will likely look to maintain the same standard.

UCLA track and field will travel back to the Pacific Northwest to compete in the University of Washington Invite on Friday and Saturday, sending a select few distance athletes to face a field that includes Hawaiʻi, Boise State and Cal Poly.

After accomplishing first-place team finishes, record-breaking performances and a current No. 1 NCAA mark in the women’s 60-meter hurdles within the first two meets of the indoor season, the Bruins may now draw public attention.

Preparation and team chemistry has driven the squad’s early season success.

“We’ve been training hard, working hard, supporting each other, being consistent, and just understanding the steps that we need to take, said track and field director Joanna Hayes.

Sophomore Marie Warneke is seeded first in a lineup of 95 competitors in the women’s 800-meter run, with a time of 2:02.93. Freshman Kaitlyn Arciaga and senior Kaho Cichon are also expected to compete in the event.

Arciaga is coming off her first collegiate win in the women’s 600-meter run, and along with Cichon’s earned a personal-best mark and a women’s 1000-meter run victory at the Spokane Sports Showcase on Jan. 16.

Five Bruins are slated to run the women’s 3000-meter run, including sophomore Olivia Foody, junior Ailish Hawkins, sophomore Quinci Lott, freshman Evangeline Marheineke and senior Annika Salz. Hawkins will be the only team captain attending the meet.

Foody and Salz are also listed to race the women’s 5000-meter run, and one women’s 4×400-meter relay is set to race for the Bruins against 11 other squads.

Junior Aaron Cantu, sophomore Everett Capelle, junior Henry Coughlan and redshirt freshman Jack Falkowski will race in the men’s 3000-meter run, with Coughlan also entering the men’s 5000-meter run field. Freshman Arrin Sagiraju is the sole Bruin competing in the men’s 800-meter run.

“I think we’re (the UCLA distance squad) going to be better than we have been in the last couple of years. … We’re certainly in a position to take a step forward,” said distance coach Andrew Ferris.

Although a limited number of Bruins will lace up their spikes this meet, the medium and long distance bunch has the opportunity to showcase its talent.

As the rest of the Bruins stay in Westwood and prepare for later meets, they will likely cheer on their teammates, which is a defining attribute of the 2026 squad.

“(Each event team) is definitely very supportive of each other in the good and the bad… I see a lot of good team camaraderie and really, really great support from each team.”