May 10, 2011
Complete Release in PDF Format 
THIS WEEK IN CAL TRACK & FIELD: The championship season for California track & field gets underway in full force this week when the Golden Bears travel to Tucson, Ariz., for the annual Pac-10 meet Friday and Saturday.
Due to the Arizona heat - highs are expected to reach the mid-90s both days - events will primarily be contested in the late afternoon and evening. The championships get underway Friday with the women's hammer at 2:30 p.m., while the opening track event will be the women's 1500-meter heats at 5:15 p.m. Complete schedules and results can be found at arizonawildcats.com.
Cal's lineup features several athletes who have posted marks that rank among the top three in the Pac-10 this season, including senior Tracey Stewart, who is first in the triple jump (43-9.75) and third in the long jump (20-6.50). Senior Kristen Meister is just two weeks removed from setting a school record in the high jump (6-1.25), which is No. 2 in the conference, while senior Allison Stokke's pole vault of 13-11.75 from the indoor season puts her No. 3 in the league.
On the men's side, junior Ray Stewart has posted the third-best time in the 110-meter hurdles (13.55), and freshman Chase Wheeler is third in the long jump (24-7.25w). Senior Steve Sodaro is fourth in the 3000 steeplechase (8:55.27), but he is the defending Pac-10 champion after running a PR 8:40.60 last season while claiming the title at Cal's Edwards Stadium.
MEISTER SKIES TO SCHOOL RECORD: Senior Kristen Meister set a Cal record in the women's high jump at the Payton Jordan Invitational at Stanford May 1 she cleared 6-1.25. The effort broke the 22-year-old mark of 6-0.75 set by Beth Vidakovits in 1989 and currently stands No. 2 in the country.
Meister had nearly cleared 6-0 in the high jump several times in her career previously, but had not quite been able to surpass the barrier. She went 5-11.50 indoors at the UW Invitational in 2009 and 5-11.25 as recently as at the Big Meet vs. Stanford April 16.
Ray Stewart HURDLES WAY INTO RECORD BOOK: Ray Stewart, a junior who is in his first season at Cal after transferring from Merritt College in Oakland, set a lifetime best in the 110-meter hurdles on his way to winning the event at the Brutus Hamilton Invitational in 13.55. The time puts him third on Cal's all-time performer list behind only Larry Cowling (13.39, 1982) and Tim Bogdanof (13.51, 2003).
A two-time state JC champion in the 110 hurdles, Stewart captured the indoor 60 hurdles title at the MPSF meet in February in 7.91 seconds. Earlier in the season, he set a Cal indoor mark, running 7.77 at the Husky Indoor Classic.
SODARO LOOKING FOR REPEAT: Last spring, Steve Sodaro became the first Golden Bear ever to win the conference title in the 3000-meter steeplechase, covering the distance in 8:40.60, which ranks third in school history. He went on to take sixth at the NCAA meet to become the first Bear to place in the event since Bob Price was fifth in 1967.
This season, Sodaro has run just one steeplechase - winning the Big Meet in 8:55.27 - for a time that ranks fourth in the Pac-10.
STOKKE MATCHES POLE VAULT MARK: Senior Allison Stokke cleared 13-11.75 in the pole vault March 5 to set a Cal indoor record in the event in a last-chance effort to qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championships. She went on to earn All-America honors with an eighth-place finish at nationals.
Stokke broke the Cal indoor mark of 13-9.25 set by Katie Morgan (the 2008 NCAA outdoor champion) in 2009. Morgan holds the Cal outdoor record of 13-11.75. Stokke's best outdoor effort is 13-9.25, while her outdoor best this year is 13-5.50
TOP 10 BEARS: Heading into this week's action, several members of Cal's track & field team are ranked among the top 25 in the nation in their respective events, including four in the top 10 - Mike Morrison (1st, decathlon), Kristen Meister (2nd, high jump), Tracey Stewart (5th, triple jump) and Ray Stewart (8th, 110-meter hurdles).
Name Event Mark NCAA
Michael Coe 1500m 3:42.29 16th
Ray Stewart 110m Hurdles 13.55 8th
Mike Morrison Decathlon 7,921 1st
Price/Stewart/Dixon/Garrett 4x400m Relay 44.75 21st
Kristen Meister High Jump 6-1.25 2nd
Tracey Stewart Long Jump 20-6.50 24th
Tracey Stewart Triple Jump 43-9.75 5th
MORRISON POSTS LEADING MARK IN DECATHLON: Senior Mike Morrison captured the decathlon at the Texas Relays April 7 after accumulating 7,921 points - a total that continues leads the nation. Morrison set or tied four PRs during the two-day event - 100m, 110m hurdles, high jump and javelin. He stood atop the standings after day one and did not relinquish his edge the rest of the way. As a result, he was tabbed the Pac-10 Male Field Athlete of the Week.
Morrison's 7,921 points have been surpassed by only two other decathletes in Cal history - both NCAA champions. Chris Huffins scored 8,007 points in 1993, while Bevan Hart had 8,002 points in 2000.
The 2010 NCAA runner-up in the decathlon when he scored 7.801 points, Morrison is also a two-time MPSF champion in the indoor heptathlon. He was third in the hep at the 2010 NCAA indoor meet before taking fifth this past winter when he set a school record with 5,672 points.
Although he did not partake in the decathlon at the Pac-10 Multis last weekend, Morrison is expected to compete in four individual events this week. In addition the decathlon, he owns Cal's best legal mark in the long jump (24-3.75) and is tied for the top team mark in the pole vault (16-8.75)
ACADEMIC ANGLES: A pair of Golden Bear track & field team members were recognized for their performances in the classroom during Cal's recent Academic Honors Luncheon. Senior distance runner Alison Greggor received two awards - an Oscar Geballe Postgraduate Scholarship and the Neufeld Scholar-Athlete Award. The Geballe scholarship includes a $5,000 stipend, which Greggor will use for working toward a Ph.D. in animal behavior. The Neufeld honor goes to the graduating student-athlete with the highest GPA. Greggor owns a 3.79 GPA as a double major in Spanish and psychology.
In addition, senior Allison Stokke has earned a Pac-10 Postgraduate Scholarship. She is graduating with her bachelor's degree in sociology and plans to pursue a master's in the Cultural Studies of Sport in Education program at Cal.
Last year, pole vaulter Theresa Raub won the Neufeld Scholar-Athlete Award. She earned her bachelor's degree in geography last May and is competing this year as a student in the Graduate School of Education.
2010 PAC-10 MEET RECAP: Cal's women finished seventh and the Golden Bear men were eighth at the 2010 Pac-10 Championships held last May at Berkeley's Edwards Stadium. Cal produced one individual winner - Steve Sodaro in the 3000-meter steeplechase - and three additional top-three finishers. Tracey Stewart was runner-up in the triple jump (42-11.50), while Mark Matusak (since graduated) took third in the 1500 meters in 3:42.24, and Hammed Suleman was third in the long jump (24-7.25).
TOP 10 LISTS: A number of Golden Bears have set PRs this season that have either placed them among Cal's all-time top performers or move them up the school lists. Those that have reached the top five during their careers are:
Name Event Mark Place Year
Men
Michael Coe 1500m 3:40.13 3rd 2009
Michael Coe Mile 3:56.18 1st 2009
Steve Sodaro Mile 3:59.42 5th 2010
Michael Coe 3000m 7:48.05i 1st 2009
Collin Jarvis 3000m 7:59.85i 5th 2011
Steve Sodaro 3000mSC 8:40.60 3rd 2010
Kari Karlsson 10,000m 39:28.05 4th 2008
Ray Stewart 110mHH 13.55 3rd 2011
Connor Landry Pole Vault 17-5.50i 5th 2010
Mike Morrison Decathlon 7,921 3rd 2011
Women
Cherrelle Garrett 100m 11.38 2nd 2009
Charnell Price 100m 11.68 4th 2011
Alima Kamara 400m 52.75 2nd 2010
Sofia Oberg 1500m 4:20.06 5th 2011
Deborah Maier 3000m 9:20.05i 1st 2010
Rowena Tam 3000mSC 10:32.79 2nd 2011
Taylor Bryson 3000mSC 10:43.68 4th 2011
Deborah Maier 5000m 15:58.49i 2nd 2010
Alison Greggor 5000m 16:16.86 5th 2011
Alison Greggor 10,000m 34:37.01 5th 2009
Emani Truluck 100mH 13.82 4th 2011
Kristen Meister High Jump 6-1.25 1st 2011
Kristin Rimbach High Jump 5-10.00 5th 2011
Allison Stokke Pole Vault 13-11.75i 1st 2011
Theresa Raub Pole Vault 13-1.75i 5th 2011
Tracey Stewart Long Jump 20-6.50 5th 2011
Tracey Stewart Triple Jump 43-9.75 3rd 2011
Chioma Amaechi Hammer 189-2 5th 2011
Dana Hoolko Javelin 149-9 2nd 2011
GOLDEN BEAR NOTES: Freshman Chioma Amaechi leads the Bears in both the shot put (49-7.25) and hammer (189-2), while she is second in the discus (142-5) ... several Bears who figured heavily into the team's plans this season are out with injury, including distance runners scorers Michael Coe and Deborah Maier, and Hammed Suleman, all high scorers at the 2010 Pac-10 meet ... at the NCAA indoor championships, Mike Morrison was fifth in the heptathlon, Allison Stokke took eighth in the pole vault, and Hammed Suleman placed 12th in the triple jump ... Golden Bears also won three MPSF indoor crowns - Morrison in the heptathlon, Ray Stewart in the 60-meter hurdles and Suleman in the triple jump.
