March 7, 2012

Complete Press Release

THIS WEEK IN CAL TRACK & FIELD: Six members of Cal's eighth-ranked women's track & field team will compete against the best in the country when the Golden Bears travel to the NCAA Indoor Championships Friday and Saturday in Nampa, Idaho.

Deborah Maier earned an automatic berth in both the 3000 and 5000 meters, while Chelsea Reilly will join her in the 3000. Cal's distance medley relay, which will be comprised of Sofia Oberg, Angelica Weaver, Taylor Bryson and Reilly, also posted an automatic qualifying time.

In addition, two Bears received at-large berths into the field - Oberg in the 800 meters and Malaina Payton in the long jump. Cal has finished among the top 20 in the country twice previously - fourth in 1990 and 15th in 2007 - meaning the Bears have a chance for one of their best indoor finishes in school history.

ESPN3 will stream the meet live on Friday from 4:30-8:45 p.m. PT and Saturday from 5-8:15 p.m. PT. NCAA.com and broncosports.com will stream what ESPN3 is not covering on Friday (9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. PT) and Saturday (9:30 a.m.-5 p.m. PT). A tape delay of the championship will air Sunday, March 18 at 4:30 p.m. PT on ESPNU.

Cal Schedule of Events
Friday, March 9
4:15 p.m.   Long Jump               Malaina Payton
4:30 p.m.   800 meters              Sofia Oberg
5:25 p.m.   5000 meters             Deborah Maier
6:25 p.m.   Distance Medley Relay   Oberg, Weaver, Bryson, Reilly

Saturday, March 10
5:10 p.m.   3000 meters             Deborah Maier, Chelsea Reilly

NCAA INDOOR HISTORY: Cal has had representatives from its women's team compete at the NCAA Indoor Championships nine times before this year, starting with Sheila Hudson in 1990, who won both the long jump and triple jump to give the Bears a fourth-place team finish. Cal's only other national champion came in 2007 when Alysia Johnson (now Alysia Montano) captured the 800 meters. Along with Inika McPherson (7th, high jump) and Cassandra Strictland (6th, triple jump), the Bears placed 15th that season for their only other top-20 showing. Last year, Allison Stokke took eighth in the pole vault.

CAL WOMEN 8TH IN LATEST RANKINGS: Cal's women's team held onto the No. 8 spot in the latest USTFCCA national rankings for the second straight week. As recently as Feb. 7, the Bears were 70th in the national ratings. But they debuted in the top 25 at 19th on Feb. 14 before moving up to eighth.

MPSF CHAMPIONSHIPS RECAP: Deborah Maier set a meet record on her way to capturing the 3000 meters in 9:02.35, and school records fell in the women's mile, distance medley relay and weight throw to highlight Cal's performances at the MPSF Championships Feb. 24-25 in Seattle. Maier won the 3K for the second time after also claiming the crown in 2010 (she redshirted last year). Chelsea Reilly was third in the mile in 4:41.29 to retake the Cal mark she held at the beginning of the season. Cal's DMR of Reilly, Angelica Weaver, Sofia Oberg and Maier was third in a school-record 10:56.29, and Linda Oseso broke the Bear mark in the weight throw for the third time this year, securing runner-up honors with a mark of 63-3.25. For the men, Collin Jarvis ran Cal's No. 2 time ever in the 3000 (7:53.43), while freshman Jonte Grant was an impressive third in the long jump (25-0.50).

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).

Golden Bear Profiles

Deborah Maier - 3000m, 5000m
Junior / Cameron Park, Calif. (Ponderosa HS)
Maier will be competing in two events at the NCAA meet, the 5000m on Friday and the 3000m on Saturday ... she posted automatic qualifying times in both races ... on Feb. 10, she set a Cal mark in the 5000m at the Flotrack Husky Classic, covering the distance in 15:29.24 - a time that continues to rank first in the country and is No. 5 on the all-time NCAA indoor list in the event ... Maier held the previous Cal record of 15:59.49 from 2010 ... 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 ... won the 3000m at the MPSF Championships two weeks ago in a meet-record 9:02.35, lowering her previous PR by nearly 18 seconds ... the time is No. 2 in school history behind only Chelsea Reilly's school-record 9:00.86 from earlier this year and ranks No. 5 in the NCAA in 2012 ... ran anchor on Cal's DMR at the MPSF meet, but will not be a part of the relay at NCAAs due to the race's proximity to the 5000m ... earned All-America distinction during the fall cross country season after taking 11th individually and helping the Bears to an 18th-place team finish ... placed 16th in the 5000m at the 2010 NCAA outdoor meet ... redshirted in 2011 ... political science major.

Sofia Oberg - 800m
Junior / Lidingo, Sweden (International HS)
Earned her first invitation to the NCAA meet and is seeded 16th in the 800m with a best of 2:05.32 during her fourth-place finish at the MPSF Championships ... best outdoor time in the 800m is 2:03.93 from August 2011 ... set a school indoor record in the mile (later broken by Chelsea Reilly) when she was timed in 4:41.47 at the UW Invitational Jan. 28 ... as a freshman in 2010, just missed earning a spot at the NCAA outdoor meet after placing 13th at the NCAA West Preliminaries in 2:06.22 (top 12 qualify) ... during the 2010 indoor campaign, was the MPSF runner-up in the 800m with a time of 2:06.40 ... political economy major.

Malaina Payton - Long Jump
Sophomore / Vallejo, Calif. (Fremont Media College Prep)
Qualified with an at-large berth in the long jump ... at the MPSF Championships, tied for third with a PR 20-5.75, a mark that puts her tied for sixth on Cal's all-time performer list ... redshirted last year ... as a freshman in 2010, ran the leadoff leg on Cal's 4x100m relay that qualified for the NCAA Championships with a best of 44.97 ... set a Cal freshman record in the long jump with a distance of 20-0.25 at the NCAA West Preliminaries ... took seventh in the long jump at the 2010 Pac-10 outdoor meet (19-6.75) ... American studies major.

Chelsea Reilly - 3000m
Senior / Davis, Calif. (Davis Senior HS)
Clocked an NCAA automatic time in the 3000m when she ran a school-record 9:00.86 during a runner-up finish at the Flotrack Husky Classic, trailing only Kim Conley (SRA Elite), who was timed in 8:57.62 ... the time ranks third in the country entering NCAAs ... mark was also nearly 20 seconds under the old Cal record of 9:20.05 set by Deborah Maier in 2010 ... had not run a 3K at Cal prior to this year, concentrating instead on the 800m, 1500m and mile ... set her second school mark of the season when she was timed in 4:41.29 during a third-place finish in the mile at the MPSF Championships ... earned All-America honors during the fall cross country season when she took 24th as an individual, helping Cal to an 18th-place team showing ... English major.

DISTANCE MEDLEY RELAY - Sofia Oberg, Angelica Weaver, Taylor Bryson, Chelsea Reilly
The quartet of Reilly, Weaver, Oberg and Deborah Maier set a school record with a time of 10:56.29, taking third in the race at the MPSF Championships ... the time was well under the old Cal mark of 11:19.93 form 2010 ... with Maier running the 5000m Friday night just before the start of the DMR, the Bears will alter the lineup with Oberg moving to the 1200m, Reilly to the 1600m and Bryson taking over the 800m ... the DMR is the first Cal relay to qualify for the NCAA indoor meet.