April 23, 2011

BERKELEY - Cal wrapped up its home track & field season with the annual Brutus Hamilton Invitational Saturday, highlighted by Ray Stewart's victory in the men's 110-meter hurdles. In all, the Bears won seven events on the day.

Stewart, a junior in his first year at Cal after transferring from Merritt College, set a pair of lifetime bests on his way to winning the 110 hurdles. After going 13.60 in the prelims, he improved to 13.55 in the final. Stewart now ranks third on Cal's all-time performer list behind only Larry Cowling (13.39, 1982) and Tim Bogdanof (13.51, 2003).

"The race was great, but I wanted to run much faster," Stewart said. "But it was still good. Now, it's back to the drawing board."

In addition to Stewart's effort, Cal's Aaron Burney lowered his PR from 14.42 to 14.24 and took second in the race.

In the women's hurdles, junior Emani Truluck won 100-meter event by 0.01 of a second over Utah State's Ashlee Cannon, tying her lifetime best in 13.82.

Senior Michael Coe came from back in the pack over the final 150 meters to prevail the Don Bowden mile, going away in 4:00.07, just missing a sub-four-minute mile. Two years ago, Coe set the Cal record in the mile at the Brutus Hamilton Invitational when he was timed in 3:56.18.

Senior Patrick Kowalsky had one legal mark in the shot put, enough to win the competition with a mark of 55-6.25.

Freshman Chase Wheeler captured the men's long jump by a mere two millimeters with a mark of 23-5.25 despite a headwind of 1.2 meters per second. David Brown of New Mexico was the runner-up at 23-4.50. In addition, Wheeler was fourth in the 200 meters in 21.94.

In the women's javelin, senior Dana Hoolko improved her lifetime best to 149-6, which moved her into the No. 2 spot on Cal's all-time performer list, trailing only Emilee Strot's 152-10. She finished third.

Senior Rowena Tam, Cal's top women's steeplechaser, competed in the Marilyn Davis 1500 meters and set a PR by 14 seconds. She passed three runners over the final 50 meters to claim second in 4:23.73.

The Brent Burns pole vault title went to senior Connor Landry, who cleared a season-best 16-8.75.

Senior Cherrelle Garrett set a season best in the 100 meters with a time of 11.60 seconds, just behind Kori Carter of Stanford, who won in 11.57. Earlier, Garrett anchored Cal's 4x100 relay to victory in 45.55.

In the women's high jump, Deirdre Mullen, a former UConn star now competing for Nike, set a meet record with a clearance of 6-1.50, breaking the old mark of 5-10.75 by Stanford's Kimberly Stone in 2002. Cal senior Kristen Meister was second at 5-10.00, while teammate Kristin Rimbach set a PR by also clearing 5-10.

Former Golden Bear Ryan Young set a meet record in the men's javelin with a throw of 247-2, surpassing the mark of 242-3 by Boise State's Keron Francis in 2006. Young owns the Cal school record of 250-10 from 2009.

Another former Cal star, Kristin Heaston, a 2004 Olympian now with Nike, won the women's shot put. Her effort of 55-9.75 was three inches off her meet record set in 2002. Cal's Linda Oseso (45-8.50) took fourth, followed by teammate Chioma Amaechi in fifth (45-7.25).

Stanford's Katerina Stefanidi set a meet and Stadium record in the women's pole vault by clearing 14-4.00. Senior Theresa Raub was the top Cal finisher, claiming third with an outdoor season-best of 12-11.75.

Other meet records that fell on the day were in the men's 400 hurdles (Amaechi Morton, Stanford, 49.69) and men's triple jump (Nkosinza Balumbo, Mizuno, 53-1.50).

Brutus Hamilton Invitational
Saturday, April 23, 2011, Edwards Stadium, Berkeley, Calif.

Complete Results

California Results
Men
100 meters (prelims) - 5. Nick Porter 10.81q

100 meters (final) - Nick Porter DNF

200 meters - 4. Chase Wheeler 21.94

400 meters - 5. Daniel Davis 48.84; 6. Tojsh Kennedy 49.35

Don Bowden Mile - 1. Michael Coe 4:00.07; 7. Jordan Locklear 4:07.23; 8. Steve Sodaro 4:07.78

110-meter Hurdles (prelims) - 1. Ray Stewart 13.60q; 2. Aaron Burney 14.49q; 5. Mike Morrison 14.77q; 8. Ikem Okwudiafor 15.34q

110-meter Hurdles (final) - 1. Ray Stewart 13.55; 2. Aaron Burney 14.24; 7. Ikem Okwudiafor 15.68

4x400-meter Relay -

High Jump - 3. Brian Carmichael 6-9.50 (2.07m); 5. Nick Ridge 6-5.50 (1.97m); 6. Mike Tracy 6-3.50 (1.92m)

Brent Burns Pole Vault - 1. Connor Landry 16-8.75 (5.10m); 4. Michael Morrison 15-11.00 (4.85m)

Upshaw Family Long Jump - 1. Chase Wheeler 23-5.25 (7.14m); 10. Chad Jones 21-9.00; 12. Taylor Kientzel-Means 21-2.00 (6.45m)

Triple Jump - 2. Chad Jones 49-2.50 (15.00m); 4. Taylor Kientzel-Means 46-8.25 (14.23m)

Dave Maggard Shot Put - 1. Patrick Kowalsky 55-6.25 (16.92m)

Discus - 3. Jeff Butler 152-1 (46.35m)

Women
100 meters (prelims) - 1. Cherrelle Garrett 11.72q; 5. Charnell Price 11.91q

100 meters (final) - 2. Cherrelle Garrett 11.60; 4. Charnell Price 11.88

200 meters -6. Kayla Dixon 24.72

400 meters - 2. Alima Kamara 54.16; 6. Kayla Dixon 55.72; 14. Hayley Huxtable 57.13

Louise Romo 800 meters - 2. Sofia Oberg 2:08.21

Marilyn Davis 1500 meters - 2. Rowena Tam 4:23.73; 9. Alison Greggor 4:29.72.

100-meter Hurdles (prelims) - 5. Emani Truluck 14.07q; 9. Dantia Hudson 14.93

100-meter Hurdles (final) - 1. Emani Truluck 13.82

4x100-meter Relay - 1. Kamara, Price, Dixon, Garrett 45.55

High Jump - 2. Kristen Meister 5-10.00 (1.78m); 3. Kristin Rimbach 5-10.00 (1.78m); 4. Gianna Fernandez 5-8.00 (1.73m)

Pole Vault - 3. Theresa Raub 12-11.75 (3.96m); 13. Nicole Larson 11-2.25 (3.41m); Allison Stokke NH

Upshaw Family Long Jump - 8. Amanda Hunter 18-2.25 (5.54m)

Triple Jump - Amanda Hunter NM

Shot Put - 4. Linda Oseso 45-8.50 (13.93m); 5. Chioma Amaechi 45-7.25 (13.90m)

Discus - 4. Kendall Morris 149-9 (45.65m); 8. Clinay Cameron 127-1 (38.74m)

Javelin - 3. Dana Hoolko 149-6 (45.57m)

q - qualified for final