Jan. 26, 2012

Full Press Release

THIS WEEK IN CAL TRACK & FIELD: California makes the first of three scheduled visits to Seattle this weekend for the UW Invitational. The two-day meet runs Friday and Saturday at the Dempsey Indoor facility on the University of Washington campus.

The Golden Bears will return to Seattle for the Husky Indoor Classic Feb. 10-11 and the MPSF Championships Feb. 24-25.

As opposed to the team's opening competition at the Cherry & Silver Invitational last week, where the Bears concentrated on sprints and jumps, a number of distance runners will gain their initial indoor experience of the season. In addition, multi-eventer Idarre Coles will participate in his first heptathlon of 2012.

Events get underway at 1 p.m. Friday and resume at 9 a.m. Saturday.

Last year at the UW Invite, Hammed Suleman won both the long jump and triple jump, while Collin Jarvis captured the 3000 meters in a PR 7:59.85, a time the puts him fifth on Cal's all-time performer list.

OSESO SETS WEIGHT THROW MARK: Senior Linda Oseso set a school record in the weight throw with a mark of 60-9.50 to win the competition at the Cherry & Silver Invitational last week. Oseso, who claimed the event by nearly two feet over Kiah Hicks of Colorado State, had a previous best of 59-1.50 during her third-place finish at last winter's MPSF Championships. On Friday, she surpassed that distance twice, including a mark of 59-9.50 on her fifth try. Oseso's record breaks the old school mark of 60-4.50 by Carrie Johnson in 2006.

WEAVER A DOUBLE WINNER IN NEW MEXICO: Junior Angelica Weaver captured a pair of events at the Cherry & Silver Invitational, taking first in both the 400 and 600 meters. Her 400 time of 55.23 Saturday was a PR, bettering the mark of 55.89 from last year's MPSF Championships. On Friday, Weaver won the 600 in 1:34.28, edging out Josephine Moultrie of host New Mexico by .40 seconds.

CHERRY & SILVER RECAP: In addition to Oseso and Weaver, the Golden Bears posted several strong performances at the opening Cherry & Silver Invitational last weekend in Albuquerque, N.M. On Friday night, Brian Carmichael tied for second in the high jump with a clearance of 6-10.25, just three quarters of an inch shy of his indoor PR. Hammed Suleman set an indoor PR in the long jump (24-6.50) to take second, while he was the top collegian and event runner-up in the triple jump (50-11.00) Saturday. In addition, freshman Sydney Gray placed second in the 800m (2:16.28) and Taylor Dutch was second in the mile (5:03.24).

GOLDEN BEAR NOTES: Former Cal distance runners Magdalena Lewy Boulet (10th) and Brooke Wells (19th) placed in the top 20 at the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in Houston last weekend ... the Bears feature a pair of siblings on the roster in brothers Cody and Simon Schmidt and sisters Sofia and Rebecka Oberg; in addition, freshman pole vaulter Mackenzie Landry is the younger sister of former Cal pole vaulter Connor Landry ... Cal's women's cross country team finished 18th at the NCAA Championships in November, led by Deborah Maier (11th) and Chelsea Reilly (24th) ... over the summer, Angelica Weaver captured the USA junior title in the 400m hurdles with a time of 59.83, while Monte Corley won the 400m crown at the Pan Am Junior Championships in a Cal freshman-record 51.21 ... last year, the both the Cal men and women placed sixth at the MPSF Indoor Championships ... in addition to Hammed Suleman, two Bears earned first-team All-America status for their performances at the 2011 NCAA indoor meet - Mike Morrison (5th, heptathlon) and Allison Stokke (8th, pole vault).