Camryn Rogers repeats as Pac-12 champ in Women's Hammer Throw
Recaps of Cal Track and Field as well as Rowing from the Pac-12 Championships this past weekend
It was the Pac-12 Championships (last ones of the school year) for both men’s and women’s Track and Field as well as Rowing this past weekend.
The weekend started out great for the California Golden Bears as junior Camryn Rogers repeated as the women’s hammer throw Pac-12 champion. Even if a repeat NCAA title and the Canadian Track and Field Olympic Qualifier, both in June, are the much more important goals of this year for Rogers, a repeat title at the Pac-12 was a nice milestone to achieve along the way.
Check out Rogers’ Pac-12 winning throw in the embedded Twitter video below.
Rogers’ winning hammer throw traveled a distance of 72.22 meters (236 feet, 11 inches). It was the second-longest throw in Pac-12 championship history and bested the runner-up from UCLA by more than 10 meters.
Rogers’ top throw this year was a 73.09 meter a month ago. The Olympic standard is 72.50 meters. To represent her native Canada in the Tokyo Olympics this year, Camryn Rogers will need to beat that standard AND place in the top 3 (if not better) at the Canadian Track and Field Olympic Trials from Montreal on June 24-27.
Somewhat unfortunately, Camryn Rogers’ women’s hammer throw title was the lone Cal Pac-12 title from both the Track and Field and Rowing Championships.
Cal at Pac-12 Rowing Championships
In rowing, Washington ended up winning both the men’s and women’s team championships.
For men’s rowing, Washington placed 1st while Cal placed 2nd in all 4 races (Varsity 8, 2nd Varsity 8, 3rd Varsity 8, and Varsity 4). Technically, Washington also won the Novice 8 race, but they had the lone entrant. The IRA Championship, to be raced from Lake Mercer in New Jersey in the last weekend of May, will award the main prize (the “national championship”) to the winner of the V8 race; Cal has finished either 1st or 2nd in the main Varsity 8 race at the Pac-12 Championships for the past 9 years. The margin of victory for Washington this year in the V8 race was 4.5 seconds.
FINAL MEN'S SCORES
1. Washington - 72
2. California - 63
3. Oregon State - 47
4. Stanford - 42
5. Washington State - 28 (Men's Club Champion)
6. Oregon - 12
For women’s rowing, Cal women’s rowing again finished behind winner Washington and also rival Stanford. Washington won 4 of the 5 races with Stanford winning the Varsity 4 race. Washington won the Pac-12 title and the automatic berth to the NCAA. It was announced earlier on Tuesday that Cal, as well as Stanford and Washington State from the Pac-12 have also qualified for the NCAA Rowing Championship to be held in Sarasota, Florida on the last weekend of May.
The NCAA title will be decided by the combined results of three races - Varsity 8 (which counts for twice as many points as the other two events as well as serves as the tie-breaker), 2nd Varsity 8, and Varsity 4.
Cal’s Varsity 8 boat placed 3rd behind Washington and Stanford. Cal’s Varsity 8 boat also placed 3rd behind Washington and Stanford. The Varsity 4 boat placed 4th behind Stanford, Washington, and Washington State. Cal’s 3rd Varsity 8 also placed 3rd while the Novice 8 boat lost to Washington in a race with just two boats.
As a team, Cal placed 3rd behind Washington and Stanford.
FINAL WOMEN'S SCORES
1. Washington - 44.5
2. Stanford - 40
3. California - 31.5
4. Oregon State - 21
5. Washington State - 20
6. UCLA - 17.5
7. USC - 6
Cal at Pac-12 Track and Field Championships
Other than Rogers’ victory, the next best Cal results from the Pac-12 Track and Field Championships at USC were a pair of 3rd place finishes.
Hakim McMorris (younger brother of Cal Football/Track and Field dual-sport athlete Morris) was 3rd in the decathlon. McMorris had a strong day one in winning 4 of the 5 events but was doomed by no points in pole vault and 8th in javelin throw on day two. Iffy Joyner continued Cal’s prowess in throwing things with a 3rd place in the discus throw.
Only the top 8 finishers in each of the 21 events (per sex) would score points for their team. The points value awarded are 10 (1st), 8 (2nd), 6 (3rd), 5 (4th), 4 (5th), 3 (6th), 2 (7th), and 1 (8th).
Cal women’s picked up the most points (17) from the hammer throw with Camryn Rogers (1st), Anna Purchase (4th), and Jasmine Blair (7th) scoring points. Cal also picked up a point apiece from Pole Vault (Amari Turner - 8th) and Shot Put (Krissy Smoot - 8th). Annie Boos placed 6th in the 3000m Steeplechase.
On the last day of the championships, Cal picked up additional points from Discus Throw - Jasmine Blair (6th) and Krissy Smoot (7th), Triple Jump - Asha Fletcher (7th), High Jump - Hawa Wague (5th), 100m Hurdles - Deshae Wise (4th), 200m - Ezinne Abba (7th), and 100m - Ezinne Abba (6th).
For the Cal women, they placed 9th out of 12 teams.
1) USC 162.50
2) Oregon 151
3) Washington 77 and Arizona State 77
5) Colorado 74.50
6) UCLA 70
7) Stanford 64
8) Arizona 51.50
9) California 48
10) Oregon State 21
11) Washington St. 16.50
12) Utah 6
Cal men did not have as many point scorers. In addition to the pair of 7 points from the two 3rd place finishes, Cal got Hammer Throw - Ivar Moisander (6th), Shot Put - Josh Johnson (5th), High Jump - Jai Williams (6th), Long Jump - Kamau Carlisle (6th) and Sanjay Kettels (8th), 800m - Moises Medrano (7th), and an additional 6th place in Discus Throw from Josh Johnson.
Sadly, Cal placed 10th out of 10 teams. This was mainly due to just two points from the track events.
1) Oregon 185
2) USC 137
3) Washington 114
4) Arizona State 72
5) Arizona 67
6) Washington St. 61.50
7) Stanford 59
8) UCLA 46.50
9) Colorado 42
10) California 31
What is next for both the Cal men and women track and field student-athletes would be the NCAA West Regional on May 26-29 from College Station, Texas.
[CORRECTED on May 20] The 18 Golden Bears who qualified for the NCAA West Regional will need to place in the top-12 at that meet to book a spot in the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championship on June 9-12 from Eugene, Oregon.
Camryn Rogers, a junior from Richmond, British Columbia leads Cal into the west regional. She is the school record holder, defending national champion and currently leads the NCAA in the women's hammer throw, boasting a personal best mark of 73.09 meters (239-9) to pass the Olympic standard which she set on April, 17 at the West Coast Classic, also in Eugene, Oregon.
Rogers was named to The Bowerman 2021 Post-Conference Championships Watch List, announced by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Wednesday. The first time in California track & field history, man or woman, that a Golden Bear has been named to The Bowerman Watch List.
Other throwers representing California include Anna Purchase, who enters with the 13th-best mark in the country at 66.52 meters (218-3). Krissy Smoot and Jasmine Blair will also compete for the Bears in the women's shot put and discus throw.
On the men's side, Josh Johnson is set to compete in the men's shot put and he boasts a mark of 19.88 meters (65-2.75) for the 14th-best mark in the NCAA heading into the regional. Iffy Joyner is entered into the men's discus throw with a top mark of 58.96 meters (193-5), the 13th-best throw in the country so far this year. Jeff Duensing (shot put) and Ivar Moisander (hammer throw) are also set to compete for the men's throws group.
Also in the field events, Asha Fletcher will compete for California in the women's triple jump after a strong freshman campaign with the 13th-best leap in the west this season at 13.26 meters (43-6). She'll be joined by Hawa Wague with a top-25 mark in the high jump.
In the sprints and hurdles, Deshae Wise is in the midst of a standout senior season, finishing fourth at the Pac-12 Championships with a time of 13.26. She set a new personal best of 13.15 earlier this season, the second-fastest time in California track & field history.
Ezzine Abba qualified for both the women's 100 and 200-meter events and Maisie Stevens is set to run in the women's 100-meter qualifying, with Henry Larkin qualifying for the men's 400-meters. The Golden Bear women's 4x100 relay team will also compete at the west regional for a spot in the NCAA Championships with Sara East and Ryan Lacefield traveling as alternates for the relay squad.
In the distance runs, Cal school record holder Annie Boos in the 3,000-meter steeplechase is set to compete for Cal. Garrett MacQuiddy and Moises Medrano are running the men's 800-meters.
GO BEARS!
Oops, I apparently didn't get the NCAA qualifying info correct in the initial draft of this post. It's being updated now.
Hopefully Camryn will make the Canadian National Team and the Olympics this summer!
She's currently ranked a strong #1 on the canadian rankings with a 5 meter lead over second best and a 9 meter lead over third - so if she performs up to her regular standards, she should breeze through qualifying next month. She's a couple of meters short of the Canadian national record.
https://athletics.ca/calendar-rankings/rankings/#rankings_table_toplist_scrollto