2007 California Weekly Release

Cal Athletic Media Relations Contact: Dean Caparaz, Assistant Media Relations Director. Phone: (510) 643-5846. Fax: (510) 643-7778.

2007 California Schedule Cal Battles Stanford in 113th Big Meet January 20 at Hamtpon Inn & Suites Classic# All Day Event: Big Meet 25-27 at Dan DeHart Invitational and All Day Date: April 7 Roger Cox Multis# Location: Stanford, Calif.

February alifornia returns to the Stanford campus this week for the 113th annual Big 10 at Husky Classic# All Day Meet on Saturday, April 7, at Cobb Track and Angell Field. The Golden 23-24 at MPSF Indoor Championships# All Day CBears are fresh off the March 30-31 Stanford Invitational, in which Cal set 13 NCAA regional-qualifying marks or times. March 3 at UW Last Chance Qualifier# All Day Last season, the Cal men defeated Stanford, but the Cal women lost to the 9-10 at NCAA Indoor Championships## All Day Cardinal at the 112th Big Meet in Berkeley. 24 at Jim Click Shootout All Day 28-29 Cal Multi-Events Meet All Day 30-31 at Stanford Invitational All Day 2006 Big Meet: Cal Men Win, Women Fall April 7 at 113th Annual Big Meet All Day The Cal men’s track and field team turned the corner on April 22, 2006, at the 13-14 Brutus Hamilton Invitational All Day 112th annual Big Meet at Edwards Stadium and Goldman Field in Berkeley. The 26-28 at All Day Cal men defeated Stanford for the third consecutive year by of the score of 95.66- 27-28 California Collegiate Challenge All Day 67.33. The Cal women, however, fell to the Cardinal, 89-72 for the sixth time in 29 at /Cardinal Qualifier All Day seven years. The Bears men won 11 events to take the victory.

May The Bears women put forth some strong performances despite the loss. Two- 5 at Coca-Cola Modesto Relays All Day time All-American senior Antonette Carter continued her success in the sprints on 5-6 at Pac-10 Multi-Event Champ^ All Day Saturday. She set a new school record of 11.33 in the 100m. Freshman teammate 12-13 at Pac-10 Outdoor Championships^ All Day Emilee Strot continued her success in the discus, winning the competition with her 25-26 at NCAA West Region Champ.** All Day new freshman school record throw of 177-11.

June Last Time Out: 6-9 at NCAA Outdoor Championships* All Day Bears Sets 13 NCAA Regional Qualifying Marks/ Home meets at Edwards Stadium in bold. Times at Stanford Invitational # Indoor meet ## Indoor meet in Fayetteville, Ark. * Sacramento, Calif. Cal posted 13 NCAA regional-qualifying marks or times at the 2007 Stanford ** Eugene, Ore. Invitational March 30-31 with the Golden Bears’ throws corps producing eight of ^ Stanford, Calif. those marks. On that list was Cal senior Carrie Johnson’s lifetime-best 211-5 in the women’s hammer throw. Cal Director of Track and Field Chris Huffins That mark keeps Johnson in second place on Cal’s all-time top 10 list for the After successfully competing as a Golden Bear hammer behind Cal throws coach Jennifer Joyce (214-0) athlete in the early 1990s and earning a bronze medal in the decathlon in the 2001 Olympics, Chris Huffins On March 31, the first day of the meet, Cal junior David Torrence, freshman returned to Cal on Oct. 16, 2002, as Director and Head teammate Yosef Ghebray and sophomore teammate Mackenzie Pierce ran Coach of the Men’s and Women’s Track and Field and NCAA regional-qualifying times on March 30 at the Stanford Invitational, with Cross Country programs. Huffins, a rising star of the Torrence posting a lifetime-best 13:59.65 to claim the top time in the men’s 5,000- coaching ranks, has developed California into a promi- meter run. nent program on the national level. Ghebray ran a lifetime-best and regional-qualifying time of 14:03.86 to finish third behind Torrence and Pierce ran a regional-qualifying time of 2:07.19 in the women’s 800-meter run. Torrence’s time moves him to fifth place and Ghebray rises to ninth place on Cal’s all-time top-10 list in the men’s 5,000.

On the final day of the two-day Stanford Invite, Bears sophomore Emilee Strot and senior teammate Kelechi Anyanwu also moved up Cal’s all-time charts in the women’s shot put. Strot notched a regional-qualifying and lifetime-best mark of 49-11.25 to move up to No. 5 at Cal and Anyanwu posted a regional-qualifying and lifetime-best 49-10 to rise to No. 7 in the record books. Sophomore teammate Missy Faubus, who like Strot and Anyanwu posed regional qualifiers in the shot on March 24 at the Cal Men’s Roster Cal Women’s Roster Jim Click Shootout, also posted a regional qualifier this week in the shot with a 49-5.5. Name Event Name Event Yahya Abdul-Mateen Hurdles-Sprints Kelechi Anyanwu SP-Discus-Hammer That same trio, which recorded regional Charles Amadi -TJ Kandi Bonty Sprints qualifiers in the discus last week, notched Donny Appanaitis Kerry Boyle Pole Vault regional qualifiers this week in the discus Alex Beitashour Sprints Kimyon Broom Sprints-Hurdles with Anyanwu tossing a 171-7, Strot throwing Sean Carey Mid. Distance Katie Cartwright Hurdles a 166-7 and Faubus posting a 164-9. Chris Chavez Distance Bridget Duffy Mid. Distance-Dist. Michael Coe Mid. Distance-Dist. Missy Faubus SP-Discus-Hammer In the men’s hammer, Cal junior John Steven Conrad Decathlon Taylor Franklin Pole Vault Ludden collected a regional-qualifying mark Kevin Davis 1500m-5000m-SC Alison Greggor Distance of 192-9, while in the men’s high jump, Bears Peter Deptula Mid. Distance Tifani Grimes Heptathlon junior Ed Wright posted a regional qualifier Patrick Desmond Triple Jump Ashleigh Gunderman Heptathlon-H of 7-1. Ameer Ellaboudy Sprints Kristin Holmes 100m-200m-LJ Justin Forsett Sprints Alexandra Hunnings Hammer-Javelin Cal sophomore Jordan Paul ran a Francis Gadayan Mid. Distance Alysia Johnson 400m-800m regional-qualifying and lifetime-best 14.17 Craig Gallimore Hurdles Carrie Johnson SP-Discus-Hammer in the men’s 110-meter hurdles. Sophomore Giliat Ghebray Mid. Distance-Dist. Pippa MacDonald Mid. Distance teammate Mark Matusak paced the Bears in Yosef Ghebray Mid. Distance-Dist. Mercedes Marchbanks TJ-LJ the 5,000, running a lifetime-best 14:16.28. Jonas Hallgrimsson Decathlon-TJ Elizabeth Mayeda Distance Brandon Hampton Sprints Inika McPherson High Jump Jacob Hanson Sprint-Hurdles Katie Morgan Pole Vault Conrad Regionally Qualifies Craig Kent Shot Put-Discus Cameo Motley Sprints in Decathlon at Cal Multis Grigore Key Pole Vault Lollie Onipede Sprints Patrick Kowalsky SP-Discus-Hammer Rebecca Palm Distance Cal junior Steven Conrad reached an Eric Lee Mid. Distance Mackenzie Pierce 400m-800m NCAA regional provisional-qualifying and John Ludden SP-Discus-Hammer Angie Pressey Long Jump-100m lifetime-best score of 7,214 points en route to Thomas Mack Hurdles Theresa Raub Pole Vault finishing second in the decathlon on March Mark Matusak Distance Gabriela Rios-Sotelo 1500m-5000m 29 in the Cal Multi-Events Meet at Edwards Matthew Miller Steeplechase-Dist. Evelyn Smith Hurdles-Sprints Stadium and Goldman Field. Kyle Mills-Bunje Decathlon-Pole Vault Kiely Smith SP-Discus-Hammer Micah Parker Distance Tracey Stewart Long Jump-TJ National Champ Stars in 800 Jordan Paul Hurdles Cassandra Strickland TJ-HJ-LJ Andres Perezchica Mid. Distance Emilee Strot SP-Discus-Javelin Cal junior Alysia Johnson is one of the Kurt Seefeld Discus Rowena Tam Mid. Distance-Dist. top middle-distance runners in the nation Ryan Shuler Pole Vault Brook Turner 200m-400m again in 2007, as evidenced by her NCAA Steve Sodaro Steeplechase Daisy Van Ravenswaay Discus-Javelin indoor title in the 800 meters. Andrew Stevens Pole Vault Francesca Weems 200m-400m Jonathan Suddaby Sprints Rebecca Yau 5,000m-10,0000m Cal’s all-time second-fastest woman in Justin Ta Hurdles Artensia Young LJ-TJ-Hurdles the 800, Johnson boasts a lifetime-best Dawit Tesfasilassie Distance 2:01.80 in the race that she set last summer. David Torrence Mid. Distance-Dist. She was one of eight Bears who earned Ed Wright High Jump All-America honors at the 2007 NCAA Indoor Ryan Young Javelin Championships with her Cal indoor-record 2:03.47 in the 800.

Johnson’s 800 title is Cal’s first NCAA championship since Bevan Hart won the men’s decathlon at the NCAA Outdoor Cal Coaching Staff Championships in 2000. She is also the first Cal woman to win track and field NCAA Director of Track and Field: Chris Huffins (5th year) championships since Sheila Hudson won Associate Director: Ed Miller (24th year) the triple jump and long jump national titles Assistant Coach: Tony Sandoval (25th year) outdoors in 1990. Johnson is likewise the first Assistant Coach: Jennifer Joyce (4th year) Bear to win indoor NCAA titles since Hudson Assistant Coach: Bryan Fetzer (3rd year) won the triple jump and long jump indoors in Assistant Coach: Scott Slover (1st year) 1990.

The Canyon Country, Calif., product is also Cal’s record-holder in the indoor 400 with a time of 54.48.

Johnson became the first member of Cal track and field to capture the Muscle Milk Student-Athlete of the Week honor sponsored by Cytosport. Johnson led the Bears to one of their top performances in recent years at the Dan DeHart Invitational Jan. 26-27 in Albuquerque, N.M.

The junior won the 400-meter dash with a time of 54.48 to set the school’s indoor record. Her time was also just eight-hundredths of a second off of the NCAA regional provisional qualifying time. In addition, Johnson anchored the winning 4x400-meter relay team that logged a time of 3:44.07.

Torrence Doesn’t Miss a Beat

David Torrence made his Cal track and field debut as a freshman in 2004, after starring for Cal cross country in the fall of 2003. The junior missed the next two seasons but returned for Cal cross country last fall and for Cal track and field this semester.

He hasn’t missed a beat, first collecting NCAA West Regional and second-team All-Pac-10 honors for Cal cross country coach Tony Sandoval in 2006 and then starring for Huffins in 2007. At the Jim Click Shootout on March 24 in Tucson, Ariz., Torrence ran an NCAA regional qualifying time of 1:50.23 to win the 800. More recently, he showed his versatility by posting a regional-qualifying time in the 5,000 at the Stanford Invitational.

The middle-distance and distance specialist had a big impact at the NCAA Indoor Championships, leading off Cal’s distance medley relay that took second place in a school-record 9:33.77. Torrence, senior Nestor Solis, sophomore Francis Gadayan and senior Kevin Davis combined for that record and earned All-America honors at the national meet in Fayetteville, Ark.

Anyanwu Earns Muscle Milk Award after Jim Click Shootout

Cal senior Kelechi Anyanwu threw the discus a school-record and NCAA regional-qualifying 185-11 (56.66 meters) at the Jim Click Shootout and subsequently earned Cal’s Muscle Milk Student-Athlete of the Week honor sponsored by Cytosport. Anyanwu, whose mark won the women’s discus event, moved past the record of 181-02 by former Bears star Sheni Russell.

Anyanwu qualified for the NCAA West Regional in the shot put, with her lifetime-best mark of 49-9.75 that placed her in a second-place tie with sophomore teammate Missy Faubus.

Ludden Reaches Qualifying Mark in Hammer

Cal junior John Ludden threw the hammer a regional-qualifying 195-0 to win the event at the Jim Click Shootout. Ludden reached his personal best hammer throw at last year’s NCAA West Regional with a toss of 196-11.

Wright, McPherson Jumping up Cal’s Charts

Before achieving success at the recent Stanford Invitational, Cal junior Ed Wright and sophomore teammate Inika McPherson hit regional- qualifying marks in the high jump at the Jim Click Shootout in Tucson. Wright, who stands eighth on Cal’s all-time list with a 7-2.5, tied for first in the men’s event with a 7-0.50, while McPherson tied for third in the women’s high jump with a 5-8.75. Wright’s subsequent 7-1 jump at Stanford is his season-best mark.

McPherson set Cal’s indoor school record with a 6-0 that she reached twice this season, most recently when she took seventh place at NCAAs. Wright, who was sixth at NCAAs, and McPherson were among eight Bears who earned All-America honors at indoor nationals this year.

Strickland Wins in Arizona

Bears junior Cassandra Strickland, another 2007 indoor All-American, won the triple jump at the Jim Click Shootout with a mark of 41-5.75. She ranks third all-time at Cal with a lifetime-best 43-3.25 she set during the indoor season.

Seven More Hit Regional Qualifiers in First Outdoor Meet

The other Bears to reach regional qualifiers in the Jim Click Shootout included sophomore Emilee Strot in the shot put (48-11) and discus (170-10), Faubus in the discus (157.09), sophomore Mark Matusak in the 1,500 (3:46.20), freshman Michael Coe in the 1,500 (3:46.48) and junior Brook Turner in the 400 (54.47).

Turner also ran a lifetime-best 24.10 in the 200 that placed her 10th on Cal’s all-time list. Coe’s 3,000 time of 8:22.01 made him the 10th- fastest Bear all time in that event. Another freshman, Rowena Tam, ran her way into fourth place in the record books when she clocked an 11:19.60 in the steeplechase.

Up Next: Cal Hosts Brutus Hamilton Invitational

After the Big Meet, Cal hosts the Brutus Hamilton Invitational April 13-14 at Edwards Stadium and Goldman Field.