The UCLA Bruins saw two student-athletes get nominated for a 2026 ESPY award. The sports award show will be held on July 15th next month but it’s possible that a pair of Bruins could be walking home with awards.
Both nominees come from women’s sport, and in a way, it’s two members of the UCLA national champion women’s basketball team. While Megan Grant was a part of the Bruins national championship team, she was nominated for the Best Record-Breaking Performance after breaking the NCAA single-season home run record by slugging 42 home runs this season.
UCLA’s other nominee is the 6’7” center Lauren Betts, who was nominated for the Best Women’s Sport College Athlete. Betts was named the Big Ten Conference’s Defensive Player of the Year and was an anchor on both sides of the ball for the 37-1 Bruins.
That mighty Bruins team was not nominated for Best Team, with both the Texas Longhorns’ championship softball team and the Indiana Hoosiers undefeated football team getting the nod over UCLA.
Fans can vote daily here on the ESPN website. Grant will be competing against Myles Garrett breaking the NFL’s single-season sack record, Johannes Hosflot Klaebo winning six Winter Olympic Gold Medals and Sebastian Save running the first-ever marathon in under two hours.
Betts will be competing against Oklahoma gymnast Faith Torrez, Pittsburgh volleyball player Olivia Babcock and Northwestern lacrosse player Madison Taylor.
The 2026 ESPYs will head to the East Coast, being held at David H. Koch Theater in New York City after spending the past quarter-century in either Las Vegas or Los Angeles.
This article originally appeared on UCLA Wire: Two UCLA Bruins student-athletes nominated for 2026 ESPY awards
Reporting by Dylan McNeill, UCLA Wire / UCLA Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Dylan McNeill, UCLA Wire | USA TODAY Network
