The California track & field team will commence its outdoor season Saturday at its own Edwards Stadium in Berkeley, hosting several local collegiate teams for the Cal Opener. The meet will begin with the men's hammer throw at 9:30 a.m. PT.
 
17 Golden Bears who set indoor top-10 program marks earlier this season will be competing Saturday. Of those, Tyler Burns (men's pole vault), Jason Plumb (men's long jump), Aysha Shaheed (women's 200m) and Asjah Atkinson (women's 100m hurdles) also own outdoor team top-10s.
 
CAL OPENER (Saturday, March 8 – Edwards Stadium, 9:30 a.m. PT)
Meet Schedule – CalBears.com
Live Results - RecordTiming
 
CALIFORNIA ENTRIES (MEN)
Program Top-10 holders marked with an asterisk
100m – Luke Buddie, Javon Hampton Jr., Deon McCauley, Aidan Orias, Jason Plumb, Trevor Rogers, Jakobi Smith, Chukwunonso Udeh, Chase Williams*, Wazell Wright, Aaron Yang
200m – Luke Buddie, Matt Gladney, Johnny Goode, Riley Knott, Aiden Lippert, Aidan Orias, Avinash Schwarzkopf, Isaiah Shaw, Jakobi Smith, Chase Williams, Wazell Wright, Aaron Yang
400m – Avinash Schwarzkopf
800m – Dylan Bissell, Rowan FitzGerald, Zac Gibson, Lamarr Kirk Jr., Justin Pretre
1500m – Julian Doak, Rowan FitzGerald, Zac Gibson, Alexander Lodewick, Gabriel Rodriguez, Michael Rodriguez
3000m – Dylan Bissell, Sam Franco, Alexander Lodewick, Antoine Moret, Roland Ruckmann-Barnes
110m Hurdles – Matt Gladney
400m Hurdles – Daniel Chen, Owen Foley, Luke Tanguay
4x100m – California
High Jump – Brandon Cheeks II, Victor Ezike Jr., Riley Knott, Chukwunonso Udeh
Pole Vault – David Brok, Tyler Burns*, Riley Knott, Luke Millam, Will Siemens, Parker Terrill
Long Jump – Brandon Cheeks II, Frankie Cruz, Javon Hampton Jr., Kosi Nwafor, Jason Plumb*, Trevor Rogers, Brandon Rush
Triple Jump – Jeremiah Bolaños, Victor Ezike Jr., Kosi Nwafor
Shot Put – Luke Buddie
Discus – Luke Buddie, Charlie Dang
 
CALIFORNIA ENTRIES (WOMEN)
Program Top-10 holders marked with an asterisk
100m – Fallyn Gowans, Yuki Hamachi, Masina Mayo, Paige Porter, Saqqara Ruffin, Jaymie Ruskovich, Mari Testa, Inara Ukawuba, Zanae Woods
200m – Masina Mayo, Paige Porter, Jaymie Ruskovich, Aysha Shaheed*, Nairobi Smith, Jaya Westby, Loreal Wilson
800m – Emilie Barrett, Carolina Dawson, Zoe Lahanas, Georgia McCorkle
1500m – Carolina Dawson, Georgia McCorkle
3000m – Sarah Perkins, Amelia Wardle-Stacey
100m Hurdles – Asjah Atkinson*, Fallyn Gowans, Saqqara Ruffin, Mari Testa, Inara Ukawuba
400m Hurdles – Jaya Westby, Loreal Wilson
4x100m – California A, California B
High Jump – Ashanti Elie, Adriana Ellard, Mara Lampsas, Jade Neser, Grace Reinhardt
Pole Vault – Ali Sahaida*
Long Jump – Leah Anderson, Ashanti Elie, Yuki Hamachi, Grace Reinhardt
Triple Jump – Leah Anderson, Myla Canty
Javelin – Adriana Ellard, Yuki Hamachi
 
BEARS SEND FOUR TO NCAA INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS
For the second year in a row, Cal has qualified four individuals to the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships. Giavonna Meeks, the reigning ACC Champion in the weight throw, ranks No. 2 nationwide at 23.59m (77-4.75) and was a First-Team All-American while competing for VanderbIlt in 2024, while fellow ACC Champion David Foster (60m), tied for sixth-fastest in the nation at 6.54, earned Second-Team All-America recognition in the event that same year. Pole vaulter Tyler Burns also ranks sixth in the nation, qualifying for his first NCAA Championships after setting a school-record mark of 5.62m (18-5.25) - sixth-best in the NCAA - in January. Rounding out the group is indoor redshirt sophomore Seth Johnson, who will also make his NCAA Championships debut and ranks 12th nationwide in the heptathlon with a best point total of 5800.

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, improving her national No. 2 weight throw mark and setting a new meet record, while NCAA No. 6 60m sprinter David Foster won his first conference title 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. The new freshmen 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.
 
BEYOND THE NCAA
In addition to its standout throws squad, Cal boasts multiple additional athletes with experience on big-time national or international stages. Both David Foster (100m) and Tyler Burns (pole vault) were semifinalists at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials after posting fantastic winter and spring seasons; the former also has a world medal to his name, claiming bronze with the Team USA 4x100m relay squad at the 2022 World U20 Championships. Later that summer, sophomore Justin Pretre represented Canada in the 1500m at the 2024 World U20 Championships after winning its national U20 title.
 
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. David Foster, who will be competing at the NCAA Indoor Championships in one week's time, is a three-time All-American as well as the first man in Cal history to break the all-conditions 10-second barrier in the 100m. Newcomer Johnny Goode posted a breakout indoor season in which he set program records in the 200m, 400m and 4x400m relay; he was joined in the latter event by Isaiah Shaw, Arian Naim and Iyan Godwin. On the women's side, Aysha Shaheed shattered her own program record in the 200m. Foster (No. 1 100m, No. 1 4x100m), Shaw (No. 2 400m) and Shaheed (No. 2 100m, No. 4 200m) each appear on Cal's outdoor all-time top-10 lists, where they are joined by teammates Chase Williams (No. 5 100m, No. 1 4x100m) and Asjah Atkinson (No. 6 100m hurdles). Both Williams and Atkinson also boast top-three rankings in program indoor history.
 
STAY POSTED
For complete coverage of Cal track & field, follow the Bears on X/Twitter (@CalTFXC), Instagram (@caltfxc) and Facebook (@Cal Cross Country/Track and Field).