The top of the rankings is a crowded throne.
But when it comes to the nation’s best, only one can claim the crown after overcoming multiple tests.

UCLA track and field athletes typically spend the first quarter of their final collegiate season training at Drake Stadium.
But senior Shawn Toney spent it almost 6,000 miles away.

For a moment, it almost seemed refreshing.
Stephen Agostini, UCLA’s then vice chancellor and chief financial officer, admitted mismanagement was a factor behind the university’s $425 million alleged annual deficit, in an interview with the Daily Bruin published Feb.

Midterms, illness and an unfamiliar course were not enough to weigh the Bruins down.
Then-No. 11 UCLA women’s golf placed third with an 18-over 870 mark at the Alice and John Wallace Classic in Palm Desert, California, overcoming high fevers en route to its second-straight strong finish after a win at the Therese Hession Regional Challenge from Feb.