Camryn Rogers places 6th in hammer throw at NCAA Indoor Championships
The Cal junior earns her first Indoor Track & Field All-American honor
Camryn Rogers twice set a new personal record in indoor hammer throw on Thursday afternoon at the 2021 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships from Fayetteville, Arkansas. Ranked based on the best throws of the day by each competitor, Rogers finished 6th overall to earn All-American honor.
The 2019 NCAA Champion in outdoor hammer throw, Camryn Rogers made her NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships debut this weekend. The junior is a Canadian Olympic hopeful who bypassed the indoor season last year to prepare for the outdoor season and the Canadian Track and Field Olympic Trials, both of which eventually got canceled by COVID.
In 2021, Rogers won the hammer throw at all three events entered with steady improvements. Her season-best throw of 21.78 meters (71-5.50) was good for 10th best in the country this year, qualifying her for the NCAA Championships, as well as being the best mark in Cal history.
On her first throw this Thursday, Camryn Rogers set a new personal record (and Cal record) with a throw of 21.99 meters (72-1.75). This throw put her as the leader after the first of six rounds.
While Rogers was unable to better that mark on her next four throws (and her lead was gone as soon as the second round), she produced another personal record on her last throw of the meet. Rogers rewrote the Cal record with a toss of 22.08 meters (72-5.25).
Louisville senior Makenli Forrest won the event on the absolute last throw of the meet when she registered a 23.25 meters (76-3.75) toss to edge the 23.24 meters (76-3) toss by Rachel Tanczos of Notre Dame.
Camryn Rogers will now shift her focus to the outdoor hammer throw, where she will get some competition from within the Cal squad. Sophomore Anna Purchase from England became the first Cal Bear to ever earn the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Women’s Athlete of the Week honor. Purchase made a hammer throw of 66.52 meters (218-3) last weekend. That mark is 2nd best in Cal history behind only Rogers’s 71.50 meters (234-7) NCAA Championship-winning toss in 2019.
Cal throwing coach Mohamad Saatara has done a tremendous job with the Cal throwing athletes in recent years. Since coming to Cal, Camryn Rogers was able to add 30 feet to her outdoor hammer throw personal record. The training at Cal with Saatara allowed Rogers to be the world champion hammer thrower at the U20 World Champion after her freshman year.
For Camryn Rogers, she will look to improve upon her own lofty outdoor hammer toss record (then the 7th best in collegiate history) from two years ago. Most weight throwers do improve their marks over the course of their collegiate career. The Cal outdoor track and field season will run through the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships on June 9 to 12 from Eugene, Oregon. The rescheduled Canadian Track and Field Trials will then take place on June 24 to 27 from Montreal. Best of luck to Camryn Rogers on her quest to repeat as the NCAA champion as well as earning the honor of being a “Calympian”.
GO BEARS!