Pac-12 Track & Field: Cal Men Finish Third - Their Best Performance in Decades

The Cal men delivered a series of big-time performances at the final Pac-12 Conference track and field championships in Boulder, Colo., reeling off three field-event victories on Saturday before David Foster broke his own program record in the 100-meter dash on Sunday.

The Bears finished third in the men’s team race with 95 points — equaling their best performance since a runner-up effort in 1985. Cal most recently placed third in 1991.

Washington won the men’s team title (150 points), holding off runner-up USC (141). Oregon won its 14th the women’s team title with 150 points, topping runner-up USC (136 points).

Here are the three wins the Bears posted in the field events:

* Hammer throw: Rowan Hamilton, the senior transfer and collegiate leader this season, easily prevailed with a best throw of 251 feet, 1 inch (76.53 meters), just off his season best. He became the first Cal athlete to win a conference title in the hammer since Olympian Jack Merchant captured the Pacific Coast Conference crown in 1919 — 105 years ago.

Hamilton, a contender to make the Canadian Olympic team, had the three longest throws of the competition, with teammates Ivan Moisander (season-best 227-7 / 69.38m) finishing fourth and Michael Gupta (219-5 / 66.88m) crossing in eighth to give Cal 16 points in the event.

* Shot put: Senior Jeff Duensing delivered a season-best throw of 65-0 3/4 (19.83m) to win, with freshmen Nicholas Godbehere (59-11.75 / 18.28m) taking fourth place and Nikolas Iwankiw (56-3 / 17.14) crossing in seventh. The Bears totaled 17 points in the men’s shot.

* Pole vault: Senior Skyler Magula scaled 17-6 1/4 (5.34m) to defend his Pac-12 title. Sophomore teammate Parker Terril placed fourth at 16-8 1/4 (5.09m), giving the Bears 14 points in the vault.

While the Bears resided in second place with 67 points after Saturday, the program had a couple more highlights on the final day.

Foster, who ran 10.16 earlier this spring to break Canadian Olympian Atlee Mahorn’s 34-year school record, shaved 2/100ths off that Sunday with a 10.14 clocking that earned him fourth place. The junior from Katy, Texas was just 4/100ths out of the top spot, secured by Oregon’s PJ Ize-Iyamu in 10.10.

Meanwhile, junior Isaiah Shaw, who ran a personal-best 45.85 in the 400 meters in the semifinals, chopped nearly a half-second off that, clocking 45.51 in a sixth-place performance that elevated him to No. 2 on Cal’s all-time list. He trails only Peter Howard, whose school-record time of 45.46 has endured since 1985 — 39 years ago.

Other Cal men who delivered strong performances included decathletes Seth Johnson (7114 points) and Luke Buddie (6849), who finished third and fourth, respectively, in the decathlon. Johnson won the javelin (185-4 / 56.51m) and 1500 (4:46.67) on the final day to secure third place.

Sophomore Jason Plumb was a big surprise in the long jump, finishing third with a leap of 25-0.75 (7.64) — the first time a Cal athlete has climbed the podium in the event since 2015.

It was a much tougher weekend for the Cal women, who finished in a tie for ninth place with 33 points.

The women’s discus tandem of Jasmine Blair (195-1 / 59.47m) and Caisa-Marie Lindfors (193-2 / 58.88) accounted for 14 points by finishing second and third.