BERKELEY– It was inevitable, it seemed, that the collegiate discus record would fall once again to California track & field's Mykolas Alekna.
 
"To be honest, I didn't expect to throw that far," said Alekna, whose astonishing mark of 71.00m (232-11) moved into this year's world lead and obliterated his all-dates PR by 1.19m (three feet, 11 inches). "I tried to use what I was working on. Coach (Mohamad Saatara) helped me to throw far, gave me advice on technique. It was good teamwork."
 
"Because of his schedule and long season ahead, this is sort of a 'working period' for him," Saatara, who leads Cal's throwers, said. "We're just working on a lot of technical stuff, better rhythmic throws and stability."
 
Alekna, who first set the collegiate record at last year's Big Meet and followed that up with a mark of 68.73m (225-6) at the 2022 Pac-12 Championships, moves up to No. 18 all-time in the world with a new U23 record. At just 20 years of age, he is the youngest man ever to cross the 70-meter barrier.
 
His mind-blowing achievement would have already made the 128th Big Meet one for the history books, but the Bears – men and women – had plans to send the visitors packing, posting a decisive sweep for the first such result at Edwards Stadium since 2014 and Cal's first double-winning streak since 1995-96.
 
Like Alekna himself, Cal's No. 20 men were dominant over the 15th-ranked Cardinal, accumulating 99 points to Stanford's 64. Senior and program record-holder Kegan Schroeter started off the day with a win in the hammer at 68.15m (223-7), followed by a victory from junior Jeff Duensing in the shot put (18.81m/61-8.5). Over on the track, the Bears' 4x100m relay squad (freshman David Foster, junior George Monroe, junior Samir Thota and sophomore Gavin Schurr) eked out a photo-finish time of 39.98 to beat out Stanford by just 0.03 seconds and set the sizeable crowd of spectators into a cacophony of cheers.
 
Meanwhile, sophomore Riley Knott posted a massive personal best in the javelin throw, winning the competition at 52.25m (171-5). Later, senior and fellow decathlete Hakim McMorris clinched a win of his own in the long jump with his mark of 7.45m (24-5.5). Sophomore Di'Niko Bates added another victory to his résumé in the 110m hurdles, racing to a time of 14.08; classmate Aiden Lippert then added another tally to Cal's total wins with a 400m time of 46.73.
 
Senior Jai Williams returned from injury and opened up his outdoor season with a personal best-matching high jump of 2.11m (6-11) to win his event, while junior Will Sornberger ran a season-best time of 52.21 in the 400m hurdles. To close the afternoon out, Monroe clinched the Bears' final solo event of the day with his 200m time of 21.31 before the 4x400m relay squad (sophomore Isaiah Shaw, junior Josh Keller, Lippert and senior Henry Larkin) won by over nine seconds (3:12.46) to score the last of Cal's points.
 
The women's side fielded a number of standouts on its way to an 87-76 final score, including a trio of record-setting results. Freshman Carolina Visca wowed the audience by vastly improving upon her result from the Mt. SAC Relays, surpassing the former program record by 2.12m (six feet, 11 inches) to beat out the rest of the field by over 17 meters and break a streak of 19 straight Stanford wins in the event.
 
"It was amazing," Visca said afterwards. "The whole team supported me during the competition. It was so important to me after spending the past seven months recovering from a bad injury to my elbow. I'm so happy that I'm on this team and with Coach Mo – it was one of my favorite competitions for sure."
 
The women's relay team (junior Jada Hicks, sophomore Jordyn Grady, sophomore Makhaila Mills and sophomore Aysha Shaheed) posted Cal's first victory of the day on the track with a meet-record time of 44.23 that ranks second in program history behind the school record of 43.99 that was set just last year. Meanwhile, junior Claire Yerby posted a meet record of her own, racing to a winning finish of 4:16.41 in the 1500m that also ranks second in school history. Hicks and Shaheed were also not done climbing their way up Cal's record books: Hicks' winning 100m hurdles time of 13.28, her best as a Bear, improved upon her own No. 3 entry, while Shaheed stamped her name on both the 100m (11.42, 5th Cal all-time) and 200m (23.43, 4th Cal all-time) lists. Freshman Georgia McCorkle, running in her first collegiate 3000m steeplechase, posted a time of 11:03.49 that earned her the ninth-fastest entry in program history.
 
Senior and current NCAA leader Anna Purchase scored the women's first points of the meet with a winning hammer throw of 69.69m (228-7), while classmate Ijeoma Uche recorded a winning long jump mark of 6.17m (20-3) to maintain the Bear's momentum. Fellow senior Amari Turner recorded yet another win in the pole vault, clearing the bar at 4.15m (13-7.25); sophomore Toby Lai cleared her own bar at 1.76m (5-9.25) to win the women's high jump. A sweep of the women's triple jump, led by last year's NCAA finalist Busola Akinduro at 12.57m (41-3), rounded out the women's winners.
 
At the end of the day, the Bears took their victory lap, broom and all – but many are already turning their attention to the upcoming Pac-12 Championships.
 
"I can't wait," Visca said.
 
Results
MEN – Cal 99, Stanford 64
Hammer: 1. Kegan Schroeter 68.15m/223-7; 2. Ivar Moisander 66.90m/219-6; 4. Michael Gupta 62.31m/204-5
Shot Put: 1. Jeff Duensing 18.81m/61-8.5; 2. Jake Porter 17.58m/57-8.25
4x100m: 1. California 39.98 (David Foster, George Monroe, Samir Thota, Gavin Schurr)
1500m: 2. Garrett MacQuiddy 3:45.83; 8. Caden Carney 3:52.93; 9. Carrick Denker 3:53.26; 10. Arjun Vadgama 4:03.41
Javelin: 1. Riley Knott 52.25m/171-5 (PR); 2. Seth Johnson 46.78m/153-5; 3. Cole Whatley 46.61m/152-11 (Cal PR); 4. Hakim McMorris 46.50m/152-6
110m Hurdles: 1. Di'Niko Bates 14.08; 2. Riley Hunt 14.28; 4. Seth Johnson 15.23
400m: 1. Aiden Lippert 46.73; 2. Henry Larkin 47.00; 3. Isaiah Shaw 47.81; - Josh Keller DQ
Long Jump: 1. Hakim McMorris 7.45m/24-5.5; 4. Jason Plumb 6.76m/22-2.25; 5. Jono Pelusi 6.53mw/21-5.25 (wind-aided PR)
100m: 2. Samir Thota 10.98; 4. Ethan Song 11.56; - David Foster FS
Discus: 1. Mykolas Alekna 71.00m/232-11 (Collegiate Record) (18^th World history) (U23 World Record) (World Lead) (Meet Record) (PR); 2. Iffy Joyner 60.14m/197-3; 4. Justin Wirtz 53.79m/176-5; 6. Charlie Dang 45.02m/147-8; 8. Cole Whatley 35.22m/115-6 (Cal PR)
High Jump: 1. Jai Williams 2.11m/6-11; 2. Riley Knott 1.99m/6-6.25; 3. Seth Johnson 1.96m/6-5 (PR)
Pole Vault: 3. Skyler Magula 5.31m/17-5; 4. Parker Terrill 5.01m/16-5.25 (PR); 6. Jono Pelusi 4.86m/15-11.25; 7. Luke Millam 4.11m/13-5.75 (PR); - NH Tyler Burns
800m: 4. Garrett MacQuiddy 1:55.70
400m Hurdles: 1. Will Sornberger 52.21; 2. Aiden Baker 52.50 (PR); 3. Di'Niko Bates 55.05
Triple Jump: 2. Isaiah Shaw 14.14m/47-3.5
200m: 1. George Monroe 21.31; 3. Gavin Schurr 21.60 (Cal PR); 5. Ethan Song 23.19
3000m: 6. Ethan Bersley 8:26.10 (PR); 8. Caden Carney 8:37.38
4x400m: 1. California 3:12.46 (Isaiah Shaw, Josh Keller, Aiden Lippert, Henry Larkin)
 
WOMEN – Cal 87, Stanford 76
Hammer: 1. Anna Purchase 69.69m/228-7; 2. Rebecca Tomann 55.96m/183-7; 3. Destiny Okoh 55.04m/180-7 (PR)
Javelin: 1. Carolina Visca 52.41m/171-11 (School Record) (Freshman Record) (Collegiate PR); 3. Yuki Hamachi 29.70m/97-5
3000m Steeplechase: 3. Georgia McCorkle 11:03.49 (9th Cal history)
Long Jump: 1. Ijeoma Uche 6.17m/20-3; 6. Asha Fletcher 5.66mw/18-7; 7. Torre Anderson 5.64m/18-6 (PR); 8. Yuki Hamachi 5.57m/18-3.25
4x100m: 1. California 44.23 (Jada Hicks, Jordyn Grady, Makhaila Mills, Aysha Shaheed) (Meet Record) (2nd Cal history)
1500m: 1. Claire Yerby 4:16.41 (Meet Record) (2^nd Cal history) (PR); 6. Lucy Hurt 4:31.63 (PR); 8. Natalie Weiner 4:42.63; 9. Lauren Calcagno 4:48.94; 10. Sydney Morrow 4:58.29
Pole Vault: 1. Amari Turner 4.15m/13-7.25; 3. Ali Sahaida 3.90m/12-9.5; T5. Gabrielle Pack 3.75m/12-3.5; T5. Kylie Hilton 3.75m/12-3.5; - Seanne Chan NH
Shot Put: 2. Sara Pettinger 12.58m/41-3.25; 3. Carolina Visca 10.75m/35-3.25; 4. Anna Purchase 10.16m/33-4
100m Hurdles: 1. Jada Hicks 13.28 (3rd Cal history) (Cal PR); 2. Jazlynn Shearer 13.61; 3. Torre Anderson 14.80; 4. Yuki Hamachi 14.93
400m: 4. Ryan Lacefield 55.30; 5. Jayden Hill 55.66 (PR)
High Jump: 1. Toby Lai 1.76m/5-9.25; 3. Torre Anderson 1.56m/5-1.25
100m: 1. Aysha Shaheed 11.42 (5th Cal history) (PR); 2. Makhaila Mills 11.73 (PR); 4. Jahzara Richardson 12.00 (PR); 6. Grace Lanouette 12.18; 7. Masina Mayo 12.53; 8. Jaymie Ruskovich 12.55 (wind-legal PR); 9. Chloe Decker 13.19 (PR)
Discus: 2. Sara Pettinger 45.54m/149-5; 3. Carolina Visca 34.73m/113-11
800m: 4. Claire Yerby 2:07.72 (PR); 8. Carolina Dawson 2:13.73 (PR); 10. Lauren Calcagno 2:22.62 (PR)
400m Hurdles: 2. Jordyn Grady 1:01.45; 3. Loreal Wilson 1:01.54 (PR)
Triple Jump: 1. Busola Akinduro 12.57m/41-3; 2. Asha Fletcher 12.24m/40-2; 3. Felicia Renelus 12.24m/40-2
200m: 1. Aysha Shaheed 23.43 (4^th Cal history) (PR); 3. Jahzara Richardson 24.27 (PR); 5. Makhaila Mills 24.93; 6. Masina Mayo 25.25 (PR); 7. Jaymie Ruskovich 25.27 (PR); 8. Grace Lanouette 25.30; 10. Torre Anderson 25.88 (PR); 11. Yuki Hamachi 26.88; 12. Chloe Decker 26.98
3000m: 5. Georgia McCorkle 9:57.46 (PR); 7. Kalinda Reynolds 10:35.05
4x400m: 2. California 3:42.84 (Loreal Wilson, Jayden Hill, Ryan Lacefield, Jordyn Grady)
 
UP NEXT
Cal returns to Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut on May 12-14, this time for its biggest outdoor test yet: the Pac-12 Championships.
 
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