The only thing stopping UCLA at the Texas Relays was the inclement weather.

Over the weekend, the Bruins traveled to Austin, Texas, to take part in this prominent track meet which was cut short by heavy rain.

On Friday, before the rain came, the Bruins were pouring in exceptional performances on both the men’s and women’s sides.

Fresh off her NCAA indoor title in the long jump, sophomore Rhonda Watkins left no doubt that she is the best jumper in the nation, if not the world.

Annihilating the competition, Watkins captured the long jump title with a leap of 22-0.25 despite less than ideal weather conditions.

Defeating the next closest jumper by about two feet, the mark is tops in the NCAA and is also good enough to put Watkins atop the world standings.

The No. 9-ranked women cleaned house in the long jump as junior Renee Williams also took home the title in the B section of that event with a leap of 20-3.75.

Also winning on Friday was senior Jacqueline Nguyen, who placed first in the B section of the pole vault, jumping 13-3.5.

On Saturday, the Bruins were still able to compete in a handful of events despite the weather, as junior Ingrid Kantola braved nasty conditions to take third in the pole vault, jumping just 12-5.5, about a foot less than her personal best.

On the track, sophomore Allie Bohannon, running her first race since bringing home All-American honors at the NCAA Indoor Championships, placed third in the 1500 meters at 4:30.99, an 18-second lifetime best for outdoors. Senior Ashley Caldwell was ninth in the same race, coming in at 4:39.36.

UCLA MEN: The No. 17 men fared similarly as big marks were posted on Friday before the rains came. The biggest performances came in the throws where a pair of Bruins had strong marks. In particular, freshman Darius Savage had a breakout weekend, competing in both sections of the discus.

Before competing in the A section, Savage handily won the B section with a toss of 193-4, a huge lifetime best. In the A section, Savage unloaded a monster throw of 200-5 to take second to potential NCAA champion Adam Kuehl of Arizona.

The throw thrusts Savage, also a defensive lineman for the UCLA football team, into the top 10 in the nation and also puts him in prime position to break UCLA-great John Godina’s freshman record of 201-10.

Right behind Savage in the discus was redshirt junior Gregg Garza, who placed third with a throw of 199-4 – a lifetime best for Garza as well.

On the track, sophomore Laef Barnes came in fifth in the A section of the 1500m running a near-lifetime best 3:50.70 with teammate junior Mike Haddan right behind in 10th place at 3:51.71.