California track & field pole vaulter Ali Sahaida has been named the ACC Women's Field Athlete of the Week for her performance at the Mt. SAC Relays, as announced by the conference Tuesday. This is the third week in a row that a Cal athlete has been named an ACC Field Athlete of the Week, with Sahaida following decathlete Luke Buddie (Men's, April 7) and hammer thrower Valentina Savva (Women's, April 14).
 
Sahaida shattered the outdoor school record with a mark of 4.55m (14-11) at Hilmer Lodge Stadium to take second place in the women's elite section and rise into a tie for fourth in the nation, surpassing the program standard of 4.40m (14-5.25) set in 2024 by alumna Amari Turner. She now owns both the indoor and outdoor pole vault school records, the first Cal women's pole vaulter to do so since Lauren Martinez in 2018. The senior is also just the second women's pole vaulter in program history to earn multiple conference Athlete of the Week awards (Turner, 2023-24) and the first to do so twice in the same season.
 
The Bears will compete next May 1 at Stanford's Payton Jordan Invitational.
 
ACC Track & Field Athletes of the Week – April 21, 2026
Men's Track – Geoffrey Kirwa, Louisville
Men's Field – Shamar Reid, Florida State
Men's Freshman – Elsingi Kipruto, Louisville
Women's Track – Shenese Walker, Florida State
Women's Field – Ali Sahaida, California
Women's Freshman – Sadie Engelhardt, NC State
 
2026 ACC Weekly Track & Field Awards – California Honorees
Sam Novak – Men's Freshman, Jan. 20
Pietro Camilli – Men's Freshman, Jan. 27
Ali Sahaida – Women's Field, Feb. 10
Sam Novak – Men's Freshman, Feb. 10
Kai Anderson – Men's Freshman, March 24
Luke Buddie – Men's Field, April 7
Valentina Savva – Women's Field, April 14
Ali Sahaida – Women's Field, April 21
 
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