Two California track & field athletes competed in the preliminary rounds at their respective national championships on Friday, both acquitting themselves well to advance to the next stage of their meets.
 
Making his debut at the Bell Canadian U20 Championships in Montreal, rising sophomore Justin Pretre lived up to his high seeding in the men's 1500m prelim, cruising to a second-place finish in his heat (and sixth place overall) with a time of 3:58.35, just behind Caiden Lee's 3:58.32. By virtue of placing top-three in said heat, Pretre advanced to the event final at Complexe Sportlife Claude-Robillard, set to be held on Saturday.
 
Rising redshirt senior Caisa-Marie Lindfors only needed one throw in the women's discus qualifier at the Swedish Championships, hosted this year at Rimnersvallen in Uddevalla, Sweden, to move on to Saturday's final. Her lone attempt sailed 54.38m (178-5), well surpassing the automatic qualifying mark and placing second only to four-time Swedish Champion Vanessa Kamga's 60.29m (197-9). Should Lindfors perform well in the final, it would put her in solid contention for a spot on Sweden's Olympic Team; although she has not yet hit the automatic qualifying standard of 64.50m (211-7), she currently ranks 32nd in the overall World Rankings Quota.
 
In addition to Pretre and Lindfors, Saturday's slate of competition will feature no fewer than five additional Golden Bears. 2019 grad Tuomas Kaukolahti will compete in the men's triple jump qualifier at the Finnish Championships, while fellow alums Georgia Bell (women's 1500m qualifier) and Anna Purchase (women's hammer) are set to appear at the UK Athletics Championships. Incoming freshmen Valentina Savva of Cyprus and Lucija Leko of Croatia will also take to the ring at their own national championships, with Savva competing in the women's hammer and Leko in the women's discus.
 
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