Cal Track and Field: Camryn Rogers Wins Hammer at NCAA West Regional Meet

Cal hammer throw star Camryn Rogers clinched at spot at the NCAA Championships by winning the West Regional crown on Thursday, her 10th straight victory in the event, dating back more than two years.

Rogers won with a throw of 236 feet, 9 inches (72.16 meters), just off her personal best of 239-9 (73.09), set earlier this year at Eugene, Oregon.

The top 12 finishers in every event at the four-day NCAA regionals advance to the collegiate nationals, June 9-12 at Eugene. Rogers is the only Golden Bears to have locked up a trip to the meet, but there was little doubt she would get there.

"It was a hot and humid day, we got delayed, but we came here to get the job done," Rogers told Cal's website. "I'm happy to be consistently over 72 meters this season and especially in this qualifying meet. It was awesome to be cheered on by my teammates and Coach Mo (). Now I'm excited to be moving on to Eugene!"

Rogers is the defending national champion in 2019 (the 2020 outdoor track season was canceled due to COVID-19) and the NCAA leader this season).

Her 10 consecutive victories in the hammer include seven in competitions that included UCLA’s Alyssa Wilson, the runner-up on Thursday. Wilson was the last college thrower to beat Rogers, back on April 19, 2019 at the Beach Invitational in Long Beach, when she prevailed by three inches.

Rogers’ second-best throw of 234-8 (71.54) was more than seven feet farther than Wilson’s best mark of 227-4 (69.30). Arizona State’s Beatice Llano finished third with a best of 222-7 (67.84).

Her winning throw set a facility record by more than 16 feet at Texas A&M's E.B. Cushing Stadium.

Cal sophomore Anna Purchase, who entered as the No. 13 seed, fouled three times and did not get a mark. Jasmine Blair will get three more throws Friday morning after a problem with the laser measurements in Thursday's first flight impacted the results.

Rogers will be the heavy favorite to repeat the NCAA nationals. The East Regional winner on Thursday was South Alabama’s Autavia Fluker, who threw a personal-best of 229-9 (70.02), exactly seven feet shy of Rogers’ winning mark.

Sophomore Ezinne Abba finished second in her heat of the 100-meter dash with a school-record time of 11.30 seconds to finish 16th place and advance to Saturday's next round.

Abbe eclipsed Antonette Carter's record time of 11.33, set in 2006.

She ran her second personal record of the day in the 200, clocking 23.58, but fell short of advancing to the quarterfinal round.

Cal junior Deshae Wise advanced to Saturday's quarterfinal round in the 100 hurdles by clocking 13.17 seconds to finish third in her prelim heat and 17th overall. The top 24 advanced and will try to be among the fastest 12 on Saturday to qualify for nationals.

On Wednesday, Ivar Moisander, a freshman from Sweden, threw the hammer 211-0 (64.32), which moved him to No. 6 on Cal’s all-time men’s list even if was good for just 13th place. That means he missed a trip to the NCAAs by just one spot.

Meanwhile, Josh Johnson wound up a non-qualifying 14th in the men’s shot put after a throw of 62-3 (18.97). The junior ranks No. 2 on Cal’s career chart at 65-2 3/4 (19.88), trailing only Dave Porath, who set the program record of 66-3 in 1981.

Cover photo of Camryn Rogers courtesy of Cal Athletics

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

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