Cal Track and Field: Mykolas Alekna and Carolina Visca Shine in Big Meet
Cal sophomore Mykolas Alekna broke his own collegiate record in the discus with a world-leading throw on Saturday — moving him to No. 18 on the all-time global list — as the Bears toppled Stanford 99-64 in the 128th Big Meet at Berkeley.
With an 87-76 victory, the Cal women have beaten their rivals three years in a row for the first time since 1994 through ’96. On the men’s side, the Bears have won seven of the past 10 years.
Freshman Carolina Visca of Rome, Italy broke the Cal women’s record in the javelin by nearly 7 feet with a toss of 171 feet, 11 inches (52.41 meters). It was a personal best by more than 18 feet and represented the Bears’ first victory in the event at the Big Meet in 19 years.
Mykolas Alekna
Alekna, the sophomore from Lithuania who last summer won a silver medal at the World Championships, became the youngest man, at age 20, ever to reach 71 meters with a mark of 232 feet, 11 inches (71.00 meters).
His previous school record came last year’s at the Diamond League meet at Stockholm, Sweden, where he threw 225-6 (69.81 meters). The second-longest throw by a collegiate athlete this season is 14 feet shy of Alekna’s mark on Saturday.
Alekna’s throw eclipsed the previous 2023 world best of 230-11 (70.39) by Samoa’s Alex Rose.
Other highlights in the women’s meet:
— The Cal 4x100 relay team of senior Jada Hicks and sophomores Jordyn Grady, Makhaila Mills and Aysha Shaheed ran 44.23 seconds to break a 17-year-old Big Meet record and log the second-fastest time in program history.
— Claire Yerby won the 1,500 in a meet record 4:16.4, the fastest time by a Cal runner in 39 years. A junior from Half Moon Bay, Yerby is No. 2 all-time at Cal, trailing only Louise Romo, whose school-record time of 4:09.29 by Louise Romo in 1984.
— Shaheed ran a pair of personal bests to sweep the sprints, winning
the 100 in a time of 11.42 that is fifth-best in program history and the 200 in 23.42, tied for the fourth-fastest time in Cal annals.
— Hicks led a sweep of the 100 hurdles with a winning time of 13.28 that improved her own No. 3 spot on Cal’s all-time Cal.
— Senior Anna Purchase, the national collegiate leader in the women’s hammer throw, led a 1-2-3 finish in the event with a mark of 228-7 (69.69 meters) that is off her best of 239-6 (73.00 meters) is No. 2 in Cal history.
In the men’s competition:
— Kegan Schroeter and Ivar Moisander finished 1-2 in the hammer, throwing 223-7 (68.15) 219-6 (66.90), respectively.
— Decathlete Hakim McMorris won the long jump with a mark of 24-5 1/2 (7.45 meters).
— Jeff Duensing led a 1-2 finish in the shot put with a heave of 61-8 1/2 (18.81).
— Riley Knott led a sweep of the javelin with a personal-best throw of 171-5 (52.25).
— DiNiko Bates ran 14.08 in the 110 hurdles, leading 1-2 Cal finish.
— Aiden Lippert crossed first in the 400 at 46.78 as Cal swept the 400.
The Bears are off next week prior to the Pac-12 Championships, May 12-14 at Walnut, Calif.
Cover photo of Cal freshman javelin star Carolina Visca by Jed Jacobsohn
Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo