Cal's Valentina Savva Sets ACC Meet Record While Winning Hammer Throw

The sophomore from Cyprus had the three longest throws of the day and won by nearly nine feet

Valentina Savva | Photo by Matt Hawley

Cal sophomore Valentina Savva delivered Cal’s highlight performance at the three-day ACC Track and Field Championships, setting a meet record while winning the women’s hammer throw at Louisville, Ky.

Savva threw a season-best 228 feet, 7 inches (69.86 meters) on her second attempt to eclipse the seven-year-old meet record by more than four feet. It was Savva’s longest throw in collegiate meet, exceeded only by her mark of 230-4 (70.22) at the 2025 European U23 Championships.

A native of Cyprus, who finished second at the ACC meet as a freshman, Savva had the three longest throws of the competition on Friday and won by nearly nine feet. 

She became the fourth different Cal woman to win a conference title in the hammer, joining Jennifer Joyce (2002), Olympian Camryn Rogers (2019-21-22) and Giovanna Meeks (2025).

Cal’s Adrianna Coleman finished fifth with a mark of 210-6 (64.16), which lifts her to No. 8 on Cal’s all-time list. Senior Audrey Jacobs was eighth at 198-8 (60.56m).

Virginia won the men’s team title and Clemson  took the women’s crown. Cal  finished 11th and 13th, respectively, in the two competitions.

Other top performances by the Bears: 

— Kai Anderson finished fourth in the men’s pole vault with a Cal freshman-record clearance of 17-9 3/4 (5.43m). He topped the freshman record by four inches and climbed to No. 6 on the program’s all-time list.

— Will Siemens tied for seventh in the vault at 16-8 (5.08m).

— Redshirt junior Nik Iwankiw placed fourth in the men’s shot put with a best mark of 59-5 3/4 (18.13m). Then he was sixth in the discus 173-9 (52.97m).

— Junior Lucija Leko was eighth in the women’s shot at 50-5 1/2 (15.38m).

— Senior Ali Sahaida placed fifth in the women’s vault with a mark of 13-10 1/2 (4.23m).

— Caitlyn Johnson set a Cal freshman record in the women’s long jump, leaping 20-4 1/2 (6.21m) to finish eighth.

— Junior Saqqara Ruffin placed sixth in the 100 hurdles at personal-best of 13.34 that puts her No. 6 all-time at Cal. Sophomore Inara Ukawuba was one spot back at 13.37, also her best and the No. 7 entry in the Bears’ record book.

— Miles Clark threw a personal best of 205-0 (62.49m) to finish eighth in the men’s hammer.

— Junior Chukwunonso Udeh twice posted career-best leaps in the men’s long jump, going 24-7 1/4 (7.50m) on his second attempt, then 25-0 (7.62m) in the fourth round to secure fifth place.

— Sophomore Trevor Rogers, also a wide receiver on the football team,  placed seventh with a mark of 24-5 1/2 (7.45m). Rogers teammed with Aidan Orias, Wazell Wright and Javon Hampton Jr. to nab sixth place in the 4x100 relay with a mark of 40.05.

— Redshirt junior Luke Buddie finished sixth in the decathlon with a lifetime-best score of 7,266. His top marks included a win in the high jump at 6-6 (1.98m), a wind-aided personal-best of 11.17 in the 100 meters, a personal-best of 23-2 (7.06m) in the long jump 

— Freshman Antonio Bayon, in his collegiate decathlon debut, placed eighth with a score of 6,802 points. His best events included clocking 15.44 in the 110 hurdles and clearing 15-3 (4.65m) in the pole vault.

— Victor Ezike Jr. tied for seventh place in the high jump, scaling 6-8 1/4 (2.04m).

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