Cal Track & Field: Rowan Hamilton Takes Aim at NCAA Title

Before coming to Cal this season, hammer throw specialist Rowan Hamilton, while at the University of British Columbia, delivered the 27 longest throws in NAIA history and won three national championships.

But it wasn’t merely a matter of exploiting the small-school level, as Hamilton was good enough to qualify to represent his native Canada at the World Championships each of the past two years.

His coach at UBC, former Cal thrower Garrett Collier, recommended Hamilton to Bears assistant Mo Sataara and the association has been productive so far. Hamilton won the Pac-12 meet two weeks ago and he is the NCAA leader in the event with a career-best mark of 253 feet, 2 inches (77.16 meters).

Now Hamilton embarks on the heart of his season, starting Wednesday with the NCAA Championships at Eugene, Ore. And while he certainly doesn’t regard this meet as an afterthought, it’s not the end-all on his summer calendar.

“My mind is definitely focused on the competition this summer, obviously in Paris,” he said, referencing the Olympic Games. “But I think this is an excellent way to prepare for that. Like I said, you have to come out and perform, just like you’ll have to do this summer at the Olympics.”

Hamilton is one of five individuals, plus a relay team, that will represent the Bears at the NCAAs. Also competing Eugene are David Foster in the 100-meter dash, Ivar Moisander in the hammer, Skyler Magula in the pole vault, Jeff Duensing in the shot put and the 4x100 relay team with Foster, Chase Williams, George Monroe and Mason Magnum.

All of them will be in action Wednesday. Here's the meet schedule.

Hamilton may have the best chance among the Bears to win, but he anticipates a fierce battle. The field includes defending champion Kenneth Ikeji of Harvard, who is among six entries with throws exceeding 240 feet this season.

“It’s going to make for a very exciting competition,” he said. “I’m very excited that I came in at a point where the level was so high.

“No one can just get away with coming and having an OK performance. You need to go to nationals and perform your best on the day.”

Sataara expects Hamilton to be ready for his one and only crack at the NCAAs.

“He’ll be comfortable with it,” Sataara said. “We’re taking this as kind of a dress rehearsal for the Games.”

Stan Becton, making picks for the NCAA, predicts a victory for Hamilton, as does Dave Johnson of Track and Field News.

Currently No. 8 on the all-time collegiate list, Hamilton has designs on climbing higher. “This is my last opportunity to hopefully move up on that top-10 list.”

More than that, he’s shooting for a mark of 256-7, which at 78.20 meters is the Olympic standard.

The native of Chilliwack, B.C., said he had two fouls at the Pac-12 meet that may have gotten him the qualifying mark. Because they were fouls, the throws were not measured.

“It’s definitely in there. I just have to be able to keep myself in the circle,” he said.

Hamilton is part of a generation of elite hammer throwers in Canada. Former Cal star Camryn Rogers is the reigning world champion and already qualified for her second Olympics.

At the worlds in Budapest last summer, Rogers wasn’t the only Canadian to stand atop the medal podium. Ethan Katzberg won the men’s title and is the top thrower in the world again so far this year.

The hammer throw community in British Columbia is very close, Hamilton said, and he’s known Rogers for a decade.

“From making U20 world as an 18-year-old and going back in two years and winning it. Then obviously watching her at the Tokyo Olympics was very exciting,” he said. “My whole family are big fans.”

Last year’s World Championships were a source of frustration and inspiration for Hamilton. When he made it in 2022 and finished 17th, Hamilton acknowledged he feeling satisfied merely to have made it.

But finishing 13th last year — one spot from the finals — left him unfulfilled.

“I know when I was watching the final of my event in Budapest, it was sad to be missing it but it was definitely inspiring,” Hamilton said. “It’s motivated me this entire year.”