March 24, 2012

SAN FRANCISCO - The Cal track & field team battled the elements on a rainy afternoon on the San Francisco State campus where the temperatures did not rise above the high 40s at the Johnny Mathis Invitational Saturday. Still, several Golden Bears posted career bests and Cal captured seven events overall.

The first victory on the track came from the men's 4x100-meter relay, when the quartet of Jonte Grant, Taylor Kientzel, Brian Carmichael and Hammed Suleman posted a time of 42.54, which is the Bears' fastest relay mark of the young season.

Grant came back to claim first place in the long jump with a 22-9.00 effort. Nick Ridge later paced the high jump field with a clearance of 6-8.75, while Sullivan Parker won the shot put at 50-4.50.

For the women, Alima Kamara placed first in the 400 meters in 56.84, and Aziza Baker won the triple jump with a PR 38-11.00. Cal secured the first five places in the high jump, led by Kristin Rimbach at 5-4.25. Baker also cleared 5-4.25, but lost out to her teammate based on more misses.

The biggest improvement during the meet came from redshirt-freshman Scott Esparza, who finished second in the hammer throw Friday night. His mark of 182-6 was 30 feet further than his effort of a week ago when he registered a distance of 152-9 at the Hornet Invitational in his first collegiate hammer action.

The Bears return to action next week when they travel to Tucson, Ariz., for the Jim Click Invitational March 29-31.

Johnny Mathis Invitational
Cox Stadium / San Francisco, Calif.

Complete Results

Cal Men's Results
100m - 3. Dash Oliver 11.10; 4. Kamron Shahbahrami 11.41

200m - 14. Taylor Kientzel 24.00

400m - 2. Sebastian Sam 49.76

1500m - 3. Matt Carpowich 3:54.65; 9. Matt Petersen 3:58.53; 10. Maxime Chevee 3:58.88; 22. Simon Schmidt 4:05.81; 24. Renaud Poizat 4:06.61; 30. Chris Kigar 4:08.06

4x100m relay - 1. Jonte Grant, Taylor Kientzel, Brian Carmichael, Hammed Suleman 42.54

High Jump - 1. Nick Ridge 6-8.75 (2.05m); 2. Mike Tracy 6-6.75 (2.00m); 4. Harrison Steed 6-2.75 (1.90m)

Pole Vault - 2. Andrew Ramay 14-1.25 (4.30m)

Long Jump - 1. Jonte Grant 22-9.00 (6.93m); 3. Hammed Suleman 21-5.25 (6.53m)

Triple Jump - 2. Chad Jones 46-5.50 (14.16m)

Shot Put - 1. Sullivan Parker 50-4.50 (15.35m)

Discus - 4. Chijoke Nwuzi 140-11 (42.95m); 5. Sullivan Parker 134-6 (41.01m)

Hammer - 2. Scott Esparza 182-6 (55.62); 6. Isaac Dan 166-9 (50.82m); 7. Chijoke Nwuzi 162-6 (49.54m); 8. Stephen Burke 161-9 (49.30m)

Cal Women's Results
100m (prelims) - 6. Malaina Payton 12.33q; 8. Charnell Price 12.46q

400m - 1. Alima Kamara 56.84

800m - 2. Arielle Stevenson 2:16.87; 4. Dynasty Gammage 2:17.16

1500m - 5. Sydney Gray 4:35.62; 7. Laura O'Neill 4:43.26; 11. Hillary Hayes 4:46.18

100m hurdles (prelims) - 5. Golden Ibia 15.00q

100m hurdles (final) - 4. Golde Ibia 15.36

4x100m relay - 2. Malaina Payton, Alima Kamara, Angelica Weaver, Charnell Price 46.84

High Jump - 1. Kristin Rimbach 5-4.25 (1.63m); 2. Aziza Baker 5-4.25 (1.63m); 3. Tara Lookabaugh 5-2.25 (1.58m); 3. Gianna Fernandez 5-2.25 (1.58m); 5. Grace Beaudoin 5-2.25 (1.58m)

Triple Jump - 1. Aziza Baker 38-11.00 (11.86m)

Javelin - 2. Katie Bruzzone 119-8 (36.47m); 4. Cheri Chan 104-10 (31.96m)