BERKELEY – Three days removed from setting a new collegiate discus record at the 128^th Big Meet, California track & field sophomore Mykolas Alekna once again earned both the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Division I Men's Athletic National Athlete of the Week and the Pac-12 Men's Field Athlete of the Week awards on Tuesday. Alekna, who became the first Cal man to win the national honor and second overall athlete to win it twice, now has earned four USTFCCCA weekly nods and seven weekly Pac-12 accolades in his career.
 
The star Lithuanian's mark of 71.00m (232-11) was also a new unofficial U23 world record (World Athletics keeps no official list for U23 entries). It was the first world record set at Edwards Stadium in Berkeley since Henry Rono of Washington State ran 13:06.4 in 1978, and the first by a Cal student-athlete since Grover Klemmer's 440y time of 46.6 in 1941.
 
It may look like no one can withstand Alekna, but assistant coach Mo Saatara, who leads Cal's throwers, knows that there is plenty of work ahead.
 
"There's a lot we need to improve – technical stuff, meet preparation, general increase in fitness," Saatara said. "It's a very long-term training plan, rather than making sacrifices for short-term gains. We're looking five, ten years down the line."
 
Although the regular season is over for the Golden Bears, Alekna's year has just begun as he begins training for the Pac-12 Championships, NCAA Championships and this year's World Championships in Budapest.
 
"As these meets get more and more competitive, we'll prepare accordingly," Saatara said. "As we get closer to those big competitions, we'll dial in a little bit more each time and really target those things that we need to address to succeed."
 
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