Cal Track & Field: Three More Indoor Program Records for Bears in Albuquerque
Cal split its track and field team into two squads this weekend, and got favorable results at meets in both Albuquerque, N.M., and Seattle.
At the Don Kirby Elite indoor meet in New Mexico, the Bears set five indoor school record, including three on Saturday:
Jada Hicks
— In the women’s 60-meter hurdles, junior Jada Hicks ran 8.23 seconds in the prelims to eclipse the two-year-old program standard of 8.28 by Deshae Wise. Despite her quick time, Hicks wound up ninth and did not qualify for the finals.
— In the men’s 60-meter dash, sophomore David Foster clocked 6.65 to topple the Cal record of 6.71 set by Tom Blocker in 2014. Foster’s mark came in the prelims and he ran 6.70 to place sixth in the finals.
— Cal’s 4x400 relay team of Aiden Lippert (48.37-second split), Josh Keller (48.10), Isaiah Shaw (48.49), Henry Larkin (47.96) assembled a school-record time of 3:12.94. That trimmed 4/100ths of a second off the Bears’ 2005 standard of 3:12.98.
The Bears established two women’s records in Albuquerque on Friday, when Aysha Shaheed ran the 200 meters in 23.77 seconds and Toby Lai cleared 6 foot, 0 3/4 inches in the high jump.
At the Husky Classic, meanwhile, junior Garrett McQuiddy climbed to No. 4 on Cal’s all-time list in the indoor mile, clocking a personal-best of 3:59.96 to finish sixth in a fast field. He became the first Cal runner to break 4 minutes indoors since 2017.
Over two days, the Bears established 15 new top-10 program marks across a range of events, including the five indoor records.
Larkin, in addition to anchoring the 4x400 relay, ran the open 400 in 47.34, improving his own No. 3 all-time Cal indoor mark.
Di’Niko Bates and Riley Hunt ran personal bests of 7.87 and 7.92 in the 60 hurdles, placing fifth and seventh in the finals. Those marks plug in at No. 5 and No. 7 in the Cal record book.
Shadowing Hicks in the women’s hurdles, sophomore Jordyn Grady ran 8.61 to climb to No. 8 all-time at Cal.
In Seattle, junior Claire Yerby ran the program’s seventh-fastest indoor 3,000-meter time (9:23.64) on Friday, then took nearly 8 seconds off her best the mile with a time of 4:43.38 that is No. 5 all-time at Cal.
The Bears return to action indoors in two weeks at the Ken Shannon Last Chance Invite in Seattle, then prep for the NCAA indoor championships, March 10-11 back in Albuquerque.
Cover photo of Cal hurdler David Foster by Dean Gutierrez
Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo