Feb. 22, 2012

Complete Press Release

THIS WEEK IN CAL TRACK & FIELD: California heads to the MPSF Indoor Track & Field Championships this weekend in Seattle, Wash., as a confident unit following an impressive showing in the Golden Bears' most recent meet two weeks ago.

At the Husky Classic run Feb. 10-11 at the same track where the MPSF meet will be contested, school records fell in three events - women's 5000m (Deborah Maier), women's 3000m (Chelsea Reilly) and women's hammer (Linda Oseso) - while Collin Jarvis posted the No. 2 time in Cal history in the men's 3000m.

The MPSF Championships, held at the Dempsey Indoor Facility on the University of Washington campus, begin Friday at 12:30 p.m. and last through the women's 4x400m relay, which is slated to start at 2:40 p.m. Saturday.

Last year, the Bears placed sixth in both the men's and women's competition and secured three individual conference titles - Hammed Suleman (triple jump), Ray Stewart (60m hurdles) and Mike Morrison (heptathlon). In addition, junior Deborah Maier, who redshirted this past season, captured the 3000m in 2010.

CAL WOMEN 19TH IN LATEST RANKINGS: Cal's women's indoor track & field team entered the national rankings for the first time two weeks ago in the No. 19 position, up an astounding 51 places from the previous week. The Bears held onto their 19th position in Monday's poll.

MAIER, REILLY OBLITERATE DISTANCE RECORDS: Senior Chelsea Reilly and junior Deborah Maier knocked a combined 50 seconds off the 3000m and 5000m school marks during the Flotrack Husky Classic Feb. 10-11. Maier was the first to alter the Cal record book, covering the 5000m in 15:29.24 on Feb. 10 - a time that stands as the fastest in the country this year and No. 5 on the all-time NCAA list in the event. Maier set the previous Cal record at the Husky Classic in 2010, running 15:59.49. Her time is also the best at the school under any conditions, beating the Cal outdoor mark of 15:46.8 by Kirsten O'Hara in 1985.

A day later, Reilly established the record in the 3000m with a time of 9:00.86, which was nearly 20 seconds better than Maier's 2010 mark of 9:20.05. Entering this week's meet, Reilly is ranked third nationally in the 3K.

Both Maier and Reilly earned All-America distinction during the fall cross country season, with Maier taking 11th and Reilly finishing 24th at the NCAA Championships in November.

3 MEETS, 2 RECORDS: Senior Linda Oseso has competed in three meets during the indoor season, and in two of them, she has extended the school record in the weight throw. At the opening Cherry & Silver Invitational Jan. 20, Oseso threw 60-9.50 to snap the mark of 60-4.50 set by Carrie Johnson in 2006. Then at the Flotrack Husky Classic Feb. 11, she added more than a foot to the mark with an effort of 62-4.00.

JARVIS RUNS #2 CAL TIME IN 3000M: Collin Jarvis posted a four-second PR in the 3000m at the Husky Classic when he was timed in 7:55.11. The mark puts him at second on Cal's all-time performer list, behind only Michael Coe's school record of 7:48.05 from 2009.

MILE MARK FOR OBERG: Cal had two runners break the school record in the women's mile at the UW Invitational. Although only Sofia Oberg's name now sits atop the all-time list, senior Taylor Dutch actually broke the record first, finishing her section in 4:48.53, which was just ahead of Chelsea Reilly's 2010 mark of 4:48.89. Just over five minutes later, Oberg crossed the line in 4:41.57 in the next section race.

FLOTRACK HUSKY CLASSIC RECAP: In addition to school records from Deborah Maier, Chelsea Reilly and Linda Oseso, as well as a PR from Collin Jarvis in the men's 3000m, Golden Bears had several other strong performances during the Feb. 10-11 meet in Seattle.

Chad Jones hit the 50-foot distance in the triple jump, going 50 feet even on his sixth attempt to set a new PR. Derek White moved his personal-best to 61-11.75 in the weight throw, a five-inch improvement from two weeks prior.

Sofia Oberg established an indoor PR in the 800m, taking sixth in the invitational race in 2:05.36. The time was less than a second off the NCAA automatic standard for the event (2:04.50 for the oversized track). She is now ranked 11th in the country in the 800m.

In other events, freshman Jonte Grant had a six-inch improvement in the men's long jump and placed second with a best of 24-1.75. Dash Oliver also lowered his PR to 7.00 from 7.03 in the 60m, while in the women's 60, Carisma Lyday reached the final where she recorded a lifetime-best 7.69.

2011 MPSF REVIEW: Golden Bears captured three titles on the second day of the 2011 MPSF Championships. Mike Morrison led the group with an NCAA meet automatic qualifying total of 5,694 points in the heptathlon, while Hammed Suleman won the triple jump (PR 52-10.75) and Ray Stewart prevailed in the 60m hurdles (7.91). In the team competition, both the men's and women's squads placed sixth. Stanford led the men's field and Oregon won the women's race.

ABOUT THE MPSF CHAMPIONSHIPS: The 2012 MPSF Championships feature 14 universities comprised from members of the Pac-12, Big West and West Coast conferences. A total of 26 teams will be vying for a title - 14 on the women's side and 12 on the men's - including first-year participants BYU and Colorado in each gender plus the Utah women's squad Oregon has claimed the past two women's crowns, with Stanford winning the 2011 men's title.

This year, six women's teams are ranked among the nation's top 25 - No. 1 Oregon, No. 14 BYU, No. 16 Arizona, No. 18 Stanford, No. 19 Cal and No. 23 Washington. For the men, Arizona is sixth, Arizona State seventh, Stanford 12th, BYU 16th and Oregon 19th.

GOLDEN BEAR NOTES: Angelica Weaver has three wins this year, taking the 400m and 600m at the Cherry & Silver Invitational, in addition to the 400m at the UW Invite ... both the men's and women's cross country teams earned All-Academic recognition from the USTFCCCA for having GPAs above 3.0 in the fall; in addition, both Deborah Maier and Chelsea Reilly received individual academic honors ... 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 in January ... 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 400mH crown at the Pan Am Junior Championships in a Cal freshman-record 51.21 ... 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) - while Hammed Suleman was a second-team pick (triple jump).