June 3, 2008

BERKELEY - The California track and field team received one at-large bid to the NCAA Championships, announced by the organization today. The women's 4x100-meter relay, consisting of sophomore Kimyon Broom, juniors Kandi Bonty and Kristin Holmes, and freshman Cherrelle Garrett will join the other Golden Bears who automatically qualified at last weekend's NCAA West Regional.

At the west regional, Cal earned 12 qualifiers from 11 student-athletes. Junior Martin Maric advanced in both the discus and the javelin, but Maric will only compete in the discus at the national championships.

Also among the Bears participating next week is senior All-American Alysia Johnson. Johnson, who has successfully defended both her Pac-10 and NCAA West Regional 800-meter titles this season, is currently ranked No. 1 in the nation in that event and is the defending NCAA champion in 800.

The NCAA Championships run from June 11-14 in Des Moines, Iowa, hosted by Drake University.

2008 California NCAA Championships Participants
David Torrence                      1500 meters
Mark Matusak                        1500 meters
Jake Hanson                         400-meter hurdles
Martin Maric                        Discus
Ed Wright                           High Jump
Ryan Young                          Javelin
Katie Morgan                        Pole Vault
Cassandra Strickland                Triple Jump
Cherrelle Garrett                   100 meters
Alysia Johnson                      800 meters
Evelyn Smith                        400-meter hurdles
Kimyon Broom, Kandi Bonty,          Women's 4x100-meter relay
Kristin Holmes, Cherrelle Garrett