May 15, 2005

Results

Los Angeles - Going into the second day the men's team stood in fourth with 38 points, largely on the strength of juniors Paul Teinert's and Jonas Hallgrimsson's points in the javelin in which they finished first and fifth, respectively. Today's competition was highlighted by a win for senior Chloe Jarvis in the 800m and the third-place finish of the women's 4x400m relay. A pair of auspicious performances by the McClary brothers in the 800m and 1,500m bode extremely well for Cal's middle distance future as well.

ON THE FIELD

WOMEN'S HAMMER - The second day started off with the women's hammer competition and saw two Golden Bears scoring in the finals. Sophomore Carrie Johnson was Cal's top finisher at sixth place. Johnson threw 173-4 in the prelims and was able to hold the position through the finals. Sophomore Alexandra Hunnings had her best throw of the day in the prelims as well. Her toss of 173-4 in the prelims withstood an improvement by Oregon's Katie Kersh, who came within 16 inches of Hunnings mark in the finals for the last scoring place. The two Cal underclassmen scored a total of four points for the women's side. The event was won in the prelims by UCLA's Jessica Cosby, who threw 211-10 in the prelims and 216-10 in the finals to be the only thrower over 200-0.

WOMEN'S DISCUS - Freshman Missy Faubus came into the event with a seasonal best of 166-11 that would need to be improved against a tough field with 10 other throwers over 50.0m if she wanted to score. Faubus did just that by tossing a tremendous seasonal best of 169-3 to give her the last scoring spot. Kamaiya Warren of UCLA had the winning throw of 183-3 to beat Ilona Rutjes of Arizona by just three inches.

MEN'S HIGH JUMP - In an odd twist, freshman Ed Wright beat senior David Glasgow for the first time in his young career. Glasgow cleared 6-10.75 for fifth place but could not clear the bar at 6-11.75. Wright had clean jumps all the way up to 6-11.75 to tie for third with Washington's Norris Frederick. The combined point total in the high jump for the Bears came out to 9.5 due to the tie. Jesse Williams of USC won the event outright, clearing the bar all the way to 7-5.75.

MEN'S DISCUS - Senior Tony Miranda was the only Bear to qualify for the discus finals out of a group of four Cal throwers. Miranda, who finished fourth in the prelims, threw just a foot short of his lifetime best in the prelims at 182-2. He also finished fourth in the final to earn five points for Cal. Stanford's Michael Robertson won the event with a throw of 193-7. Robertson is a transfer from SMU and a former teammate of Teinert.

WOMEN'S TRIPLE JUMP - Freshman Cassandra Strickland and junior Trinety White both scored handily in the triple jump. The event was paced by Stanford's Erica McLain, who set the national junior record twice en route to an easy win. Strickland meanwhile produced a jump of 41-5.75 in the prelim, which she was not quite able to improve on in the finals. The jump was good enough for third place, while White leaped 40-4 to come within just a quarter inch of her lifetime best and sixth place. The pair scored a total of nine points for the women.

AND AROUND THE TRACK

WOMEN'S 4X100m RELAY - The Cal women have been posting faster and faster times all season long, and with their latest configuration of Osarhiemen Omwanghe, Tiffany Johnson, Shannan Hawes and Antonette Carter (which is the exact same team from last year), the Bears hope to improve on their seasonal best of 45.07, which ranks them right in the middle of the Pac-10. That same team ran 44.28 last year in setting the school record, meaning a sub 44.00 clocking falls within the ability of the foursome. Omwanghe got out well with the rest of the field while ASU was first to the exchange. Omwanghe passed the baton off to Johnson cleanly and Johnson got to work moving down the back-stretch. Hawes and Johnson managed an excellent exchange despite jostling and a tripped athlete in another lane. Hawes moved on the rest of the field dramatically through the wide turns of Drake Stadium giving the baton to Carter in third for yet another perfect exchange. Carter made up ground on Stanford with USC way out ahead, but the Bears could not quite catch the Cardinal. Cal came in at 44.68 behind Stanford's 44.49 and USC's 43.66. Score six points for Cal.

MEN'S 4X100m RELAY - The Golden Bears would be fielding a team that had the eighth best seed coming in ahead of only Stanford. Their seed mark of 40.64 was run with a different anchor as well. In a race that was near technically perfect, the team of Ben Karl, Toby Atawo, Rashaad Nunnally and Thomas Mack ran clear away from Stanford at the Big Meet. But this time Cal would be without Mack, who had dropped from the relay in order to concentrate on the hurdles. Senior Ricci Dula, with his long experience as anchor of the Cal relay, would be performing the duty again. Karl ran out of the hole with nearly the entire field getting to the first exchange at the same time. Karl's hand-off to Atawo went smoothly, as Wes Felix of USC moved past the field and was first to the second exchange. The hand-off between Nunnally and Atawo went smoothly, but the field was clearly starting to get away from the Bears. Nunnally had a difficult time getting the baton to Dula, who had his arm out too long for a fast exchange, and the Bears would finish ninth, at 41.18, and out of scoring position. ASU won after USC had some botched hand-offs that kept the favored team from clinching the win. The Sun Devils would clock 39.10.

WOMEN'S 1,500m - Senior Bridget Duffy and senior Lindsey Maclise came into the finals with preliminary times of 4:30.89 and 4:32.62, respectively. At the start, Stanford's Arianna Lambe lead out first with the Bears in the middle of the pack. The positions remained largely unchanged, with Duffy just ahead of Maclise. At 800m Maclise separated from her pack as a lead pack began to form with Duffy at the back of it. At the bell Duffy was in seventh place with Maclise in eighth. Both athletes began their kick at 200m, as Duffy made a play for sixth. But she would finish in seventh at 4:23.58, just off her lifetime best. Maclise would finish eighth at 4:28.71. Iryna Vashchuk of USC won a hard-fought final lap against Stanford's Sara Bei for the win at 4:16.02. Score three points for the Bears.

MEN'S 1,500m - Freshman Andy McClary would run out extremely fast with the lead pack that came through 800m at 2:05.9. The tall freshman, surrounded by shorter runners, stayed with the fast pack clear through 1,000m. At the bell McClary was at the back of the pack and would have a lot of fighting to do if he was to score in his first Pac-10 conference championship. The leaders came through 1,200m at 3:05.1 as they got ready for the final push. With only 200m to go McClary stood in 12th and would have to rely on his powerful kick to move into scoring position. McClary's kick did not fail him as he ran past runners from Arizona and Stanford to take the final scoring position in the last 100m of the race. McClary's time of 3:48.79 falls just behind his lifetime best of 3:48.01. Jonathan Rankin of UCLA won the event in 3:44.61. Score one point for Cal.

WOMEN'S 100mH - Junior Osarhiemen Omwanghe came into the finals with the fourth best time in the prelims and would finish close to it. The junior got out well, but Virginia Powell of UCLA and Dawn Harper of USC would run clear away from the field on their way to a sub-13 mark. Omwanghe, meanwhile battled down the stretch with Diana Pickler of WSU right next to her. Omwanghe managed to hold off Pickler for fifth place and a time of 13.76 while Pickler would clock 13.79 for sixth. Omwanghe's finish gave the Bears four points. Virginia Powell's winning time of 12.75 was the fastest in the country this year.

WOMEN'S 100m - Antonette Carter and Shannan Hawes came into the finals of the women's 100m with a pair of lifetime bests in the prelims. Carter broker her own school record the day before in the heats with an 11.43, while Hawes ran past her old lifetime best of 11.84 with a time of 11.75. Both athletes got out well with the field developing almost exactly as it was seeded as the dashers formed a perfect 'V' down the the straight. Neither of the Golden Bears was able to best their performances from the day before, but ran excellent times nonetheless. Carter came across the tape fourth at 11.57 while Hawes scrambled for the last scoring position at 11.84, just edging out Nikki Martin of Arizona at 11.88. Hawes and Carter tallied six points for the Bears.

WOMEN'S 800m - The Golden Bears won both preliminary heats of the women's 800m the day before with sophomore Whitney Schmucker completing the trifecta as the third Cal runner in the finals. Senior Chloe Jarvis and freshman Alysia Johnson were the heart winners with the two fastest times coming in. If the Bears could run as a team against a stacked field of athletes out to get them, a 1-2-3 finish would be entirely possible. Ashley Freeman of Stanford tried to assert the lead early with Jarvis and Johnson close in tow and Schmucker settling into the main pack. Through the second turn Johnson pushed on Freeman from the outside forcing the Cardinal to work hard to stay in the lead. Through the bell it was Freeman, Johnson and Jarvis at 52 seconds, Schmucker in seventh with the main pack. The order remained largely unchanged until 200m when Jarvis began a steady kick that would overtake freeman with 150m left. Schmucker meanwhile had started her kick in the back stretch determined to pass runners before the race was over. Coming off the turn, Jarvis clearly had the race in her pocket with Johnson in striking distance of Freeman if she could just find another gear. With only 50m left Johnson received a challenge for third from Treani Swain of USC. Johnson managed to hold off the Trojan and finish just behind Freeman for third. Jarvis set a seasonal best of 2:04.53 with Freeman right behind her at 2:05.71, putting her just out of reach of Johnson who chopped three seconds off her lifetime best to clock 2:05.94. Schmucker was sixth at 2:07.20. The trio scored a total of 16 points for the Bears for their biggest haul of the day.

MEN'S 800m - Today freshman Alex McClary would be able to put his new found ability to run under 1:50.00 to the test in what would be the fastest race of the Golden Bear's young career. The field was extremely close with all the athletes at or just under 1:50.00 in the prelims. The finals were as fast as anyone could expect with the entire field coming in under 1:50.00 and five athletes under 1:49.00. McClary got out slowly with several runners coming up beside him in the stagger. After the break it looked as though McClary would be content to ride the back of the pack, but picked up and beat a group of athletes to the pole for a good position through the second turn. Coming through the bell, the McClary sat in seventh with everyone in striking distance for the win. McClary looked as though he was loosing ground through the turn, but picked up the pace to make any potential passers work hard for their posturing. McClary continued to loose ground down the back stretch, but only slightly as he appeared to be saving for his kick. McClary began to move in the turn and then with a pack of runners ahead of him, he passed them all for fifth place down the stretch, just missing his lifetime best of 1:48.84 with a time of 1:48.99. The time was McClary's second best ever for four points on the men's side. First place was close fought between Ryan Brown of Washington and Jon Rankin of UCLA with Brown performing in the clutch at 1:47.31 to Rankin's 1:47.39.

WOMEN'S 400mH - Senior Brooke Meredith and Osarhiemen Omwanghe came into the event seeded ninth and seventh, respectively. The whole field was generally even at the first hurdle with Meredith lagging slightly behind. Through 200m Undine Becker of Stanford looked as though she was ready to take control of the race and did just that as she came off the final turn and into the straight. Omwanghe meanwhile was loosing ground to the rest of the field as Meredith passed her through the turn on the inside. Coming down the final straight Meredith battled MacKenzie Hill of UCLA for fifth but lost that fight and settled for sixth at 1:01.12, her best time ever. Omwanghe was eighth at 1:03.81. The Bears could count four points for themselves.

MEN'S 400mH - Sophomore Thomas Mack drew lane nine for the final, an especially difficult lane on a track with such wide turns. Without any runners on the outside to gauge off of, Mack was last to the first hurdle. Mack continued to loose ground to the field down the back stretch, putting himself in a nearly impossible position coming into the final turn. By the sixth hurdle Mack was clearly in ninth place with the field too far gone to make up any ground. Jonathan Williams would defend his Pac-10 title in the event running 49.34. Mack clocked 53.34.

WOMEN'S 200m - Antonette Carter got out well and made up ground on the outside runners as the stagger dissolved with the turn. Coming off the turn Carter was in fifth behind a very fast field. With 75m left Carter began to move on the lead pack, passing up Janice Davis of Stanford for fourth place at 23.50. Senior Shannan Hawes was ninth at 24.41. Monique Henderson was the event winner at 23.06. Carter's finish gave the Bears five points.

WOMEN'S 4X400m - In the women's long relay, a team of three 800m runners and a short sprinter ran the second fastest time in school history. Whitney Schmucker came out of the hole in the outside lanes with ASU coming strong at the end of the first lap. Schmucker managed to find reserves and hold on to clock an outstanding 55.6 opening leg to give the baton to Johnson who stormed to the break right behind ASU. Johnson stayed on the Sun Devil's tail, and attempted to come up with enough speed to pass, but had to settle for passing the baton in second place to Hawes after a blazing 53.0 split. Hawes would have the most difficult time being a short sprinter who would have to dig deep to come up with enough stamina for a competitive 400m at the end of a long day. Despite running 55.2 for her best relay split ever, Hawes lost a place to Alexis Weatherspoon of USC. Jarvis got the stick amidst a frantic jumble of athletes trying to get their batons to their clutch athletes for the final push. Despite the apparent mayhem Jarvis and Hawes lost no ground in a clean exchange with ASU in the lead and USC dead ahead. Despite her best efforts and a 53.5 split, Jarvis could not catch either team. Their third place time was 3:37.67. The Cal school record stands at 3:35.56. The six points the women earned in the relay gives the Bears a final score of 82 points for fifth place.

MEN'S 4x400m - The men's team produced an equally impressive performance and shattered their seasonal best as well. Junior Nestor Solis ran out of the hole and hung comparably with a fast field, splitting 47.5. The work that Solis did to keep up with the leaders was promptly undone on the second leg as sophomore Jonathan Suddaby went up against some of the best 400m runners in the nation on his leg. Suddaby made the best of it by producing a 46.5 split, the fastest of his life. By the time Suddaby passed the baton to Alex McClary the Bears were in seventh. McClary ran his own lifetime best split of 47.8 to pass Stanford in the home stretch to get the baton around to Thomas Mack. Mack got the baton in sixth with a large gap in front of him if he was to catch USC and a short one behind him to Stanford. Mack held the line with a 47.1 split to bring the Bears in at 3:09.15. Their three points brings the final men's score to 60.5 for eighth place only 3.5 points behind Stanford.