Cal Track and Field: Gavin Schurr and Aysha Shaheed Sprint into Indoor Record Book
Cal opened the indoor track and field season with a series of strong performances at the New Mexico Team Open in Albuquerque, including school-record performances in both the men’s and women’s 200 meters.
Gavin Schurr, a sophomore transfer from USC, broke the program’s 20-year old record in the men’s 200. He clocked 21.21 seconds to finish seventh while eclipsing Tony Atari’s indoor standard of 21.27 set in 2003.
Schurr is a native of Boulder, Colorado, and as a high school senior in 2021 qualified to run at the U.S. Olympic trials, where he placed 21st in the 200 meters.
Aysha Shaheed, a sophomore from San Diego, finished second in the women’s 200 with a time of 23.81 that tied the school record set by Antonette Carter in 2006.
Camryn Rogers
Olympian and world championship silver medalist Camryn Rogers has one more season of indoor eligibility and she began her schedule with a dominating victory in the women’s weight throw.
Rogers, who specializes in the hammer throw outdoors, won with a throw of 77 feet, 10 3/4 inches (23.74 meters) to beat the runner-up by more than 13 feet. All six of her throws exceeded the best mark by any other athlete in the field.
Her mark ranks third on the early-season 2023 collegiate list.
Rogers, a three-time NCAA champ and the collegiate recordholder in the outdoor hammer, is 11th on the all-time collegiate list in the weight throw with her 2022 mark of 78-11 3/4 (24.06). She is chasing the college record of 83-10 (25.56) held since 2007 by Brittany Riley of Southern Illinois.
Junior Jeff Duensing won the men’s shot put with a personal best of 63-7 1/2 (19.39) that elevates him to No. 3 on Cal’s all-time indoor list and places him 15th nationally this season
Makhaila Mills, a sophomore transfer from USC, ran 7.39 seconds in the preliminary round of the women’s 60 meters to move to No. 3 on the Cal list. She then clocked 7.42 in the final to collect the victory. Shaheed was third with a 7.47 mark that is seventh all-time at Cal.
Senior Henry Larkin ran 47.38 to finish second in the 400 meters and climb to No. 3 all-time.
Jai Williams
Riley Knott and Jai Williams tied for first in the men’s high jump, each scaling 6-foot-9. Decathlete Hakim McMorris was second in the long jump with a leap of 24-7 3/4, his personal best and eighth on Cal’s career indoor list.
Cal had 12 top-3 finishes at the two-day meet and etched 11 new entries into its all-time indoor record book.
Cover photo of Cal sprinter Aysha Shaheed by Milton Lau
Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo