Cal Track and Field: Iffy Joyner Finishes Seventh in Discus at USA Championships

A fourth-place finisher at the NCAA meet, Joyner was the first-flight leader on Thursday.

Iffy Joyner, who completed his Cal career earlier this month, finished seventh in the discus at the USA Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Oregon, on Thursday.

Joyner, from the East Bay community of Pittsburg, was the leader after the first flight with his opening throw of 201 feet, 6 inches (61.42 meters).

The mark held up for third place after the second flight of throwers each got three attempts, giving him and seven others three more throws.

In the final three rounds, four athletes moved ahead of Joyner, who never improved on his opening mark.

The top three finishers qualify to compete at the World Championships next month in Eugene. Andrew Evans won with a throw of 207-8 (63.31), Dallin Shurts was second with a personal-best of 204-5 (62.32) and USA season leader Sam Mattis was third at 204-2 (62.25).

Evans and Mattis have met the qualifying standard of 66.00 meters, but Shurts still must do so.

Joyner, fourth at the NCAA championships earlier this month, has a personal best of 203-11 (62.17) which ranks fourth on Cal’s all-time list.

Cal’s Mykolas Alekna, unbeaten throughout his freshman season until finishing second at the NCAA meet, already has qualified to compete at the World Championships, representing Lithuania.

Alekna is fifth on the 2022 world leaders list with his mark of 225-6 (68.73), which broke his own collegiate record.

File photo of Iffy Joyner throwing the shot courtesy of Cal Athletics

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo