March 22, 2012

Complete Release

THIS WEEK IN CAL TRACK & FIELD: The Golden Bears remain in the Bay Area this week for the Johnny Mathis Invitational Friday and Saturday at San Francisco State. Only the hammer throw and javelin will be contested Friday afternoon, with the remainder of the events on Saturday.

As they did a week ago, the Bears plan to rest many of their distance runners, concentrating instead on distances 1500 meters and under and the field events.

Last year, Cal won 15 events at the Mathis Invite, with Charnell Price claiming the women's 100 and 200 meters, as well as running leadoff on the victorious 4x100m relay. In addition, Angelica Weaver set a PR in the 400m hurdles with a time of 59.66, and Emani Truluck had a then-lifetime best of 13.82 in the 100m hurdles. All three runners are entered in their specialties on Saturday.

HORNET INVITATIONAL RECAP: Brian Carmichael picked up Cal's sole victory at the Hornet Invitational in Sacramento last Saturday, setting a meet record with his clearance of 6-11.75 in the high jump. Nicole Larson was runner-up in the women's pole vault with a PR of 12-7.50, while several other Bears placed third in their respective events - Dash Oliver (100m, 10.75w), Jonte Grant (long jump 23-0.50), Taylor Kientzel triple jump (47-5.25), Sullivan Parker (shot put, 52-8.25), Gia Trevisan (400m, 55.73) and Gianna Fernandez (high jump, 5-5.75).

ALL-AMERICAN BEARS: Six Golden Bears earned a total of nine All-America certificates for their performances at the NCAA Indoor Championships March 9-10 - the most ever for the school at the national indoor meet. Junior Deborah Maier, who posted runner-up finishes in both the 3000m and 5000m, received two first-team honors, while the other Cal competitors earned second-team status - Chelsea Reilly (3000m, distance medley relay), Sofia Oberg (800m, DMR), Angelica Weaver (DMR), Taylor Bryson (DMR) and Malaina Payton (long jump).

INDOOR RECORD-SETTERS: Five different school records fell during the recently completed indoor season, with all coming on the women's side of the ledger. Four runners posted times under the old mile mark entering the 2012 campaign - Taylor Dutch, Taylor Bryson, Sofia Oberg and Chelsea Reilly - but only Reilly has her name atop the record book with her time of 4:41.29 from the MPSF Championships. Reilly also covered the 3000m in 9:00.86, a 20-second improvement on the previous mark and the third-ranked time in the country for the season. Deborah Maier's 15:29.24 in the 5000m was the fifth fastest indoor mark all-time and ended the year ranked No. 1 in the nation. In addition, the distance medley relay of Reilly, Angelica Weaver, Oberg and Maier ran 10:56.29 at the MPSF meet, and Linda Oseso broke the weight throw mark three times, finishing with a best of 63-3.25.

GOLDEN BEAR NOTES: The Cal Multi Meet, which had been scheduled for April 4-5, has been cancelled ... the Cal women have posted a pair of top 20 finishes in national meets this year, taking 18th at the NCAA Cross Country Championships, in addition to 15th at NCAA Indoors; as a result, they stand 10th in the USTFCCCA Program of the Year rankings ... both the men's and women's cross country teams earned All-Academic recognition 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 January ... 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.