RAMONA, Okla. – The impressive gusts of wind had died down just a little as the late Sunday morning bled into a clear afternoon, the temperature continued to creep upward, and approximately 100 people scattered around the discus cage at Millican Field watched with eager anticipation as California track & field's Mykolas Alekna stepped into the circle.
 
For all the chatter that had been rising over the past three days after Australian Matthew Denny came just 10 centimeters shy of Alekna's World record – and the two of them going head-to-head Sunday afternoon at the aptly-named Throw Town southeast of Ramona, Oklahoma – the 22-year-old redshirt junior showed no outward sign that he had heard any of it.
 
"You can't worry about what other people do," said assistant coach Mohamad Saatara, who traveled with Alekna to Oklahoma. "You just have to take care of business."
 
That's not to say Alekna wasn't aware of what was at stake.
 
"I knew if I didn't throw the record, Matty was going to do it," he said. He wasn't wrong – that afternoon, Denny lifted his discus flat to the horizon, an echo of towering baseball icon Babe Ruth calling his shot nearly half a century before, and launched an absolute rocket of 74.78m (245-4) on his fifth throw that surpassed Alekna's 2024 mark of 74.35m (243-11).
 
Yet it was still only good for second place. Alekna had already done what he came to do in the very first round, tossing the discus a few times to himself before sending it out easy-as-you-please to a mark of 74.89m (245-8). Cheers and applause rose into the air, snatched by the wind. Half a mile away, a herd of black cows roamed in clear view, indifferent spectators to history.
 
"He's dialed in," Saatara said. Alekna kept his hand in the air, nodding acknowledgement as he left the circle. There were still five throws left to go.
His next attempt was an intentional foul after the discus came wobbly off his hand and dropped like a stone mid-flight, crashing into the dirt with an audible metallic thunk. His third was marked 74 meters even, later ruled another foul.
 
Then came throw four. At first, Alekna's red discus looked headed well outside the sector to the right, careening into the sky like a rapidly-fleeing UFO. Alekna leaned sharply to his left as he tracked its path, a bowler begging his ball to turn back from the gutter – and the weight cooperated, curving inwards to fall just inside the sector.
 
The scoreboard took just about a minute to finally flash the numbers: 75.56. The spectators whooped. Alekna's response? A subdued two thumbs up.
 
In the end, five men threw over 70 meters, four over 71. "The greatest discus competition ever," passed from mouth to mouth more than once. In Section A alone, three men – Alekna (Lithuania), Denny (Australia) and Lawrence Okoye (Great Britain) had set national records.
 
Ever gracious, even when tired, Alekna quickly found himself signing autographs. A man waiting in line shook a large yellow-green-red Lithuanian flag in the air, singing proudly at the top of his lungs. To many, it would be the pinnacle of a career; to Alekna, it's just another step.
 
"I think I can throw even further," he said. "I'm just trying to be consistent… over 70 every meet this year, that's my goal. My technique has gotten better and I think it's going to keep getting better."
 
Last year's World record did not also count as a collegiate record, as Alekna competed unattached in preparation for the Olympic Games. This time around, he was in uniform – a white top with the navy Cal logo across his chest.
 
This time, it counts.
 
"It's amazing," he said. "The school did a lot for me, so I want to do as much as I can."
 
UP NEXT
The Golden Bears will compete at the Mt. SAC Relays in Walnut from April 17-19, while a select group of distance runners will also appear at the Bryan Clay Invitational in Azusa on April 18.
 
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