BERKELEY – In surpassing his own expectations with a throw of 68.39m (224-4) at last weekend's Brutus Hamilton Invitational, California track & field sophomore Mykolas Alekna was rewarded with both the M-F Athletic Division I Men's Athlete of the Week and Pac-12 Men's Field Athlete of the Week honors on Tuesday.
 
"I didn't expect much from my first competition this season," Alekna said. "My goal was to open up with 66 meters."
 
Although that mark would have taken the discus collegiate lead by a decent amount, the 20-year-old Lithuanian performed much better than intended at the Brutus Hamilton Invitational, and currently leads the NCAA by 4.38m (14 feet, 5 inches) and stands atop the current world leaderboard by 0.09m (3 inches).
 
This brings Alekna's career national weekly award total to three and his conference weekly award total to five. He and the Golden Bears will travel down to Walnut's Hilmer Lodge Stadium for the Mt. SAC relays this week, where Alekna is slated to compete in Saturday's elite section.
 
"I'm very happy and a little bit surprised with my performance," Alekna added. "As I get ready for Mt. SAC, I feel more confident and can't wait to do even better than last week."
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