The California track & field team is sending a small group of sprinters and jumpers to the Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays this week to compete against representatives from dozens of the nation's top teams at Mike A. Myers Stadium. The Golden Bears will appear Thursday-Saturday across a total of 13 sections, headlined by redshirt junior Tyler Burns in the University Elite pole vault contest.
 
97TH CLYDE LITTLEFIELD TEXAS RELAYS (March 27-29 – Mike A. Myers Stadium, Austin, Texas)
Meet Info/Schedule – TexasLonghorns.com
Live Stream (Friday/Saturday only) – Longhorn Network
Live Results – TexasSports.com
 
CALIFORNIA ENTRIES (MEN)
Program Top-10 holders marked with an asterisk
100m University – Jakobi Smith, Wazell Wright
110m Hurdles University – Donovan Bradley*
4x100m Relay University – California
4x400m Relay University - California
Pole Vault University Elite – Tyler Burns*
Long Jump A University – Jason Plumb*
Long Jump B University – Javon Hampton Jr., Trevor Rogers
 
CALIFORNIA ENTRIES (WOMEN)
Program Top-10 holders marked with an asterisk
100m University – Masina Mayo, Jaymie Ruskovich
800m Invitational – Jayden Hill
100m Hurdles University – Asjah Atkinson*, Mari Testa*
400m Hurdles University – Loreal Wilson*
4x100m Relay University – California
High Jump B University – Ashanti Elie
Pole Vault - Ali Sahaida*
Triple Jump B University – Leah Anderson, Myla Canty
 
 
ACC ATHLETES OF THE WEEK
Both Johnny Goode and Brandon Cheeks II received their first weekly honors from the ACC this week as they were named the Men's Track Athlete and Men's Freshman of the Week, respectively. Goode currently leads the ACC in the 200m and 400m with times that rank third (200m) and fourth (400m) in Cal history, while Cheeks II is the conference's No. 2 freshman in both the high jump and the long jump. To date, Cal has racked up six weekly honors this season.
 
BEARS COLLECT FOUR INDOOR ALL-AMERICA HONORS
Cal's quartet of NCAA qualifiers each picked up an All-America nod at the Indoor Championships, marking the highest combined total by the program since 2018. Giavonna Meeks claimed her second-straight first-team recognition after placing fourth in the weight throw, while David Foster took home his fourth second-team honor with a 15th-place finish in the 60m. Tyler Burns (pole vault - 12th) and Seth Johnson (heptathlon - 15th) were each named to the second team following their debuts on the NCAA big stage.
 
ALL-ACC HONOREES
Cal's men earned eight All-ACC honors and its women five at the Bears' first-ever ACC Indoor Championships on March 1-3, with the team's four medalists named First-Team All-ACC: Giavonna Meeks was Cal's first champion of the meet, posting a new meet record in the weight throw,  while top sprinter David Foster won his first conference title in the 60m after outpacing the field by .08 seconds. Jason Plumb and Tyler Burns took bronze in the long jump and pole vault, respectively, marking the second time in each of their careers that they have placed third at a conference meet. Men's second-team honors went to Johnny Goode (400m), Victor Ezike Jr. (high jump), Riley Knott (high jump), Trevor Rogers (long jump) and Seth Johnson (heptathlon); on the women's side, recognition went to Aysha Shaheed (60m), Asjah Atkinson (60m hurdles), Lucija Leko (shot put) and Valentina Savva (weight throw). Rogers, Shaheed, Atkinson, Leko and Savva also set new program top-10 marks with their performances.
 
WORLD RECORD RETURNER
Discus thrower Mykolas Alekna will compete for the Bears once more after taking the 2024 season off to prepare for his debut Olympic Games, where he surpassed the previous Olympic record on the way to a silver medal. The 22-year-old phenom stunned the athletics world by breaking track & field's oldest standing men's record last April, posting a throw of 74.35m (243-11) at the Oklahoma Throws World Invitational to surpass a mark that had stood since 1986.
 
Since enrolling at Berkeley in fall 2021, Alekna has compiled an eye-popping résumé that has already elevated him into one of the sport's legendary figures. The two-time world medalist, three-time Lithuanian Male Athlete of the Year and two-time semifinalist for The Bowerman set his first collegiate record as a freshman, later becoming the youngest-ever European discus champion and youngest world discus medalist in history at just 19 years of age; that year, he was also named a semifinalist for the AAU James E. Sullivan Award and the USTFCCCA West Region and Pac-12 Men's Field Athlete of the Year. Most recently, he was named the top discus thrower in the world by Track & Field News and landed a spot on The Bowerman Preseason Watch List for the third consecutive year, becoming just the fourth man in award history to make a watch list in four different calendar years.
 
THROW LOUD AND PROUD
Cal's throws squad - which has already set six program indoor top-10 marks this season - looks prepped for another elite year, led by returning Olympic discus throwers Mykolas Alekna and Caisa-Marie Lindfors. Hammer thrower Audrey Jacobs owns the Dutch U23 record and earned All-America status as a freshman in 2023, while javelin specialist Carolina Visca set the school record as a rookie and was also named an All-American in 2023. Adrianna Coleman, a sophomore, has also reached the USATF U20 Championships in each of the past two years, taking bronze in the hammer in 2023.
 
The Bears also welcome several top newcomers to the team this year. Cal's throwing transfer class is headlined by Giavonna Meeks, who was an All-American weight thrower at Vanderbilt and reached the U.S. Olympic Trials in the hammer. Other new members of the squad include 2024 World U20 hammer silver medalist Valentina Savva, 2024 European Championships two-way competitor Lucija Leko (discus and shot put) and 2023 European U20 hammer medalist Kai Barham. Meeks (No. 2 weight throw, No. 6 indoor shot put), Savva (No. 4 weight throw) and Leko (No. 4 outdoor shot put, No. 5 indoor shot put, No. 4 discus) have already recorded marks on Cal's all-time top-10 lists.
 
SPRINTERS ON THE RISE
Cal's sprinters and hurdlers are prepped for another big outdoor season, following an indoor campaign in which they posted 13 new program top 10s and four school records. Newcomer Johnny Goode posted a breakout indoor season in which he set program records in the 200m, 400m and 4x400m relay and has already followed up with the No. 3 outdoor 200m time in program history - Cal's fastest since 1988 - as well as the No. 3 400m outdoor time. Isaiah Shaw, who joined Goode in his school-record relay effort, currently ranks No. 2 in Cal's outdoor 400m history. Hurdlers Asjah Atkinson (No. 2 60mH indoor), Mari Testa (No. 5 60mH indoor) and Inara Ukawuba (No. 9 60mH indoor) are also looking forward to strong outdoor seasons as the former two, along with junior Saqqara Ruffin, are also ranked on Cal's 100m hurdles top-10 list at No. 5, No. 8 and No. 10, respectively. Rounding out the group are Chase Williams, who owns a share of the school 4x100m relay record and is ranked No. 5 on Cal's all-time 100m list, and Loreal Wilson, who is ranked No. 8 on the school outdoor 400m hurdles list.
 
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