Cal Track and Field: Four More School Records at the Mt. SAC Relays
A productive few days for the Cal track and field team at the Mt. SAC Relays.
The Bears set four program records — another NCAA mark by Olympian Camryn Rogers in the women’s hammer throw and three Cal records by senior sprinter Ezinne Abba.
Rogers improved her collegiate record with a throw of 75.73 meters (248 feet, 5 inches), eclipsing the mark of 72.52 (247-9) she set last spring while winning her second NCAA championship.
In the process, she exactly tied the eight-year-old Canadian national record of 75.73, held by Sultana Frizell. Rogers ranks No. 2 on the 2022 world list.
Rogers now owns the four longest throws ever by a college woman and 10 of the top 15.
She finished second in the elite division of the hammer throw behind 26-year-old American Brooke Andersen, the 2022 world leader, who threw 76.76 (251-10). Rogers remains undefeated against collegiate competition for more than two years.
Abba continued her season-long tear through Cal’s record books.
She broke her own school record in the 100 meters, running 11.26 seconds in Friday’s qualifying race. On Saturday, the senior from Rancho Cucamonga blazed to a 11.12 mark to finish third in the invitational race. Only eight collegiate runners in the country had run faster this season entering Saturday.
Abba also teamed with Jada Hicks, Maisie Stevens and Aysha Shaheed to record a time of 43.99 seconds while finishing third in the 4x00 relay. That buried the 44.25 program standard the same four ran earlier this season.
Other highlights by the Bears at Mt. SAC:
— Freshman Mykolas Alekna of Lithuania finished second in the elite division of the men’s discus, throwing 66.61 meters (218-7), just three inches off his NCAA-leading mark. Alekna lost to reigning Olympic champion Daniel Stahl, who threw 67.65 (221-11), but he beat three Olympians and defending NCAA champion Turner Washington of Arizona State.
Alekna already owns two of the five longest throws in history by a collegiate athlete.
— Senior Hakim McMorris finished third in the decathlon with a personal-best score of 7,941 points, moving him to No. 4 on Cal’s career list. McMorris’s 10-event showing included seven event personal-bests: 10.42 in the 100, 14.19 meters (46-6 3/4) in the shot put, 46.36 in the 400, 14.00 in the 110 high hurdles, 39.26 (128-9) in the discus, 49.29 (161-8) in the javelin and 4:33.05 in the 1,500 meters.
His score was the highest by a Cal decathlete since Mike Morrison’s school-record mark of 8,118 in 2011.
— Senior Josh Johnson finished third in the men’s shot put with a personal-best mark of 19.89 (65-3 1/4) that remains No. 2 on Cal’s all-time list. Only three collegiate athletes nationally had a better mark entering the weekend. Teammate Jeff Duensing had a best of 18.86 meters (61-10 1/2), climbing to No. 8 on Cal’s all-time list.
— Anna Purchase, a junior from Nottingham, England, won the collegiate hammer throw with a toss of 69.56 (228-3).
— Hicks, a sophomore who was part of the record-setting relay, ran 13.57 in the prelims of the 100 hurdles to rank No. 5 all-time at Cal.
— Sophomore Garrett MacQuiddy won the collegiate 1,500 in 3:44.36.
Cover photo of Cal's record-setting 4x100 relay team by Ronnie Harrison
Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo