Drake Stadium (UCLA)


Drake Stadium is an 11,700-capacity stadium in Los Angeles, California and the home of the UCLA Bruins men's and women's track and field teams. The stadium, built in 1969, is named for UCLA track legend Elvin C. "Ducky" Drake, who was a student-athlete, track coach and athletic trainer for over 60 years. It was the home of the UCLA Bruins men's and women's soccer teams until 2017.
There was a proposal in 1965 to build a 44,000 seat "Multi-Purpose Stadium" on campus, for UCLA Bruins track meets and varsity football games, rather than the Bruins using the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for home field. In both spring and fall 1965, UCLA students "voted by a two-to-one majority against the proposal to use fee funds to build a football stadium." Additionally, the proposal was opposed by influential area residents and politicians. By February 1966 UCLA had scaled back the project to the Drake Stadium configuration. Although the football stadium never became a reality, there have been UCLA Bruins football scrimmage games played in the stadium.
Drake Stadium has hosted the Pacific-10 Track and Field Championships, the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in 1976-77-78, the Pacific-8 Championships in 1970 and 1977 and the CIF California State Meet for high schools in 1969-71-77. The facility hosted the first-ever California-Nevada Championships on April 30-May 1, 1994. It also has hosted other student events such as concerts and graduation ceremonies.
The field at Drake Stadium is named for UCLA alumnus Frank Marshall, a film producer.

Notable athletes