• Event: The Big Meet
• Date: Saturday, April 8
• Location: Stanford, Calif.
• Time: 2:00 p.m.

BERKELEY - California will renew its rivalry with Stanford this week in the 123rd Big Meet on Saturday, April 8, from Cobb Track and Angell Field on the Stanford campus. 
 
The Cal men have been victorious in four of the last five meetings over the Cardinal in the series - which dates back to 1893 - while the Cal women will look to earn their second victory in the last four seasons and their 13th overall since the series began in 1980. 
 
"This week reminds us all of the history and legacy of the Big Meet," director of track & field Tony Sandoval said. "It's a competition that goes back over 100 years and remains one of the premiere dual meets in the U.S. Many Olympic and NCAA champions on both Cal and Stanford began their rise to prominence with breakthrough efforts in the Big Meet. It's a special weekend that is good for Cal, Stanford and, especially, for track and field. There is no other meet that brings friends and alumni together for a great day of track and field."
 
Cal has the following week off before heading to the Midwest for the Kansas Relays in their next meet from April 21-22. 
 
• LAST YEAR'S BIG MEET
Despite recording a dozen combined victories and several personal records, Cal fell to Stanford at the 122nd Big Meet from Edwards Stadium in 2016. On the men's side, the Bears fell to Stanford by a margin of 86-77 while the Cal women were defeated, 114-48.

Led by a hat trick of wins for Khalfani Muhammad, the Cal men won nearly half of the Big Meet's events (9 of 19). The two-sport student-athlete (football) displayed his trademark speed by closing out the team's 4x100m relay and easily taking first in the 100m and 200m.

Another highlight of the men's performances was freshman Kai Benedict's win in the 3000m steeplechase. Trailing coming into the final straightaway, Benedict was able to chase down Stanford's Steven Fahy to take the event and set a PR in the process.

The three wins by the Golden Bear women came from sophomore Isabella Marten (Triple Jump), junior Christine Canning (High Jump), and Morgan Robertson (100 Meter Hurdles), with Marten's mark establishing a new outdoor PR. 
 

• BIG MEET: INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Men's Series: Cal leads Stanford, 69-51-2
• Women's Series: Stanford leads Cal, 24-12
• Cal owns the largest winning streak in the series (men's team won 25 straight from 1972-96) and the widest margin of victory in both series (85 points for the women in 1980; 81 points for the men in 1983)
• Since the women's Big Meet began in 1980, there have been 20 competition sweeps - 11 by Cal (last time: 2014) and nine by Stanford (last time: 2016)

 
• BEARS IN THE RANKINGS
The Bears have two competitors in the top 10 in the current national rankings. Bethan Knights is fifth in the 10,000m (33:31.25), while Peter Simon is sixth in the shot put (19.19m). Both of those marks also lead the Pac-12 rankings.
 
Elsewhere in the Pac-12 rankings, Cal has numerous competitors that rank second in the conference - Robert Brandt in the 10,000m (28:48.38), Ashtyn Davis in the 110m hurdles (13.83), Megan Bordes in the 3000m steeplechase (10:42.45), Karsten Wethington (14.93m) and Ashley Anderson (12.89m) in the triple jump, Kendall Mader in the discus (50.94m) and Ilse Kaaja in the hammer (60.59m).
 
• LAST TIME OUT: STANFORD INVITATIONAL
California finished out the Stanford Invitation with a number of strong performances across the board Saturday, including wins by Ashtyn Davis in the men's 110-meter hurdles and Peter Simon in the men's shot put. Davis came through in 13.83 seconds, almost four-tenths of a second ahead of the rest of the field. Simon posted his winning mark of 62-1.75 on his opening throw, and each of his four legal marks were longer than anyone else in the competition.