Four Cal Bears to compete at NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships

Bears will look to make Boston a "Bear Territory" this Thursday through Saturday

It is Championship Season for the Winter Sports!

First up this week is the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships from The Track at New Balance in Boston March 7-9. ESPN+ will have all of the action.

Four Cal Bears, the most since 2018, will compete in four different events. Only the top 16 athletes in their respective events qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championships. All four Cal Bears are upperclassmen making their NCAA Indoor debuts. 

Rowan Hamilton (men’s weight throw) - a senior transfer to the program from British Columbia, Rowan Hamilton is the latest in the long list of international weight tossing talent that has flocked to Berkeley to work with assistant coach Mohamad Saatara. Hamilton first shattered Cal's 20-year-old program record this season with a toss of 21.98m (72-1), then rewrote that record with a 22.36m (73-4) toss that's 14th best this year. He is the first male Cal Bear in program history to make the NCAA in this event.

https://twitter.com/CalTFXC/status/1761203684313301042

Skyler Magula (men's pole vault) - The 5th-year senior has the 10th-best indoor pole vault performance this season: 5.53m (18-1.75), also a Cal program record. Magula does have experience at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, having qualified for that event in 2023 for outdoor pole vault.

https://twitter.com/CalTFXC/status/1761168360232853596

David Foster (men's 60m) - The lone junior in the quartet, Foster is tied for 6th in 60m this year with a program-record 6.54. Like Hamilton, Foster made Cal program history as the first man to qualify for this event at the NCAA. He is also one to watch out in the 100m for the outdoor season.

https://twitter.com/CalAthletics/status/1765430121241182704

Busola Akinduro (women's triple jump) - The Canadian senior is ranked 15th with a mark of 13.25m (34-5.75). Like Magula, Akinduro also has NCAA Outdoor Championships experience but her trip came in 2022. Cal legend Sheila Hudson won this NCAA title back in 1990.

https://twitter.com/CalTFXC/status/1764689314334839100

NCAA Indoor Championships – Cal Events Schedule (All Times PT)
Thursday, March 7
Men's Weight Throw – 3 p.m.
 
Friday, March 8
Men's Pole Vault – 11 a.m.
Men's 60m Semifinal – 1:18 p.m.
 
Saturday, March 9
Men's 60m Final – 1:10 p.m.
Women's Triple Jump – 3:30 p.m.

While individual NCAA titles are unlikely this week, it would be great to see these Cal student-athletes peak this weekend and earn some All-American honors. 

The outdoor track and field season has already started. The one to watch there is undeniably junior Mykolas Alekna, a 2024 Lithuanian "Calympian", who will be seeking his first NCAA title in men's discus throw after a couple of close calls (2nd in 2022, 3rd in 2023). As a program, Cal Track and Field sent a record 17 Golden Bears to the 2023 NCAA Outdoor Championships last spring to compete in 13 events. They will look to replicate and improve upon that success this year.

GO BEARS!