Cal's Morgan, Garrett Star at Cherry and Silver Invitational

Courtesy Cal
INDOOR TRACK AND FIELD

Cal's Morgan, Garrett Star at Cherry and Silver Invitational

Defending champ Morgan wins pole vault with NCAA qualifying mark, Garrett
wins 60, 200 with provisional NCAA times

ALBUQUERQUE – California senior Katie Morgan won the women’s pole vault
invitational with an NCAA automatic qualifying mark and sophomore teammate
Cherrelle Garrett won the 60- and 200-meter dashes in provisional
qualifying times to highlight the Golden Bears’ performances in New
Mexico’s Cherry and Silver Invitational on Saturday at the Albuquerque
Convention Center. In all, Cal collected six provisional NCAA qualifiers
today.

Cal also collected provisional qualifying marks in both high jumps, with
senior Ed Wright winning the men's event with a mark of 2.19 meters
(7-02.25), senior Inika McPherson winning the women's high jump (1.81
meters, 5-11.25) and junior Kristen Meister posting a high-jump qualifier
of 1.78 meters (5-10.00) with her third-place finish, and in the women's
60-meter hurdles, with junior Kimyon Broom running a 8.38 in the
preliminary race.

“It was better than we expected,” Cal head coach Tony Sandoval said. “You
never know with the first meet. There are always kinks to get out, and of
course there’s traveling to New Mexico with the time change and altitude.
It was a good meet. Stanford and Arizona from the Pac-10 and Houston were
here. It was a good meet all the way around. To have that many provisional
qualifiers out of the gate was very exciting. We still have a lot to work
on, and other people have to focus better. We’ve only been practicing a
week as a team.”

Morgan, the 2008 NCAA outdoor champion in the pole vault, posted a vault
of 4.20 meters (13-09.25) to claim the win in the elite pole vault event
at the Lobos' meet.

“With Arizona being here, that brought out the best in her,” Sandoval
said. “As the defending NCAA champion, she has a lot of confidence and she
was right on. She can still go a lot higher.”

Garrett, who anchored Cal’s eighth-place 4x100-meter relay and competed in
the 100-meter dash in last year’s NCAA Championships, also ran
personal-best times in the 60 (7.39) and the 200 (23.83) in Albuquerque.

“As a freshman last year, she showed she was a star of the future, and she
worked diligently in the offseason to get stronger and fitter,” Sandoval
said.

The high jumps provided some late-meet excitement for the Bears.

“That’s the best they’ve jumped out of the gate,” Sandoval said of Wright
and McPherson. “We’re pretty excited about what can happen down the road.”

Sandoval was also impressed with freshman Sebastian Sam, who placed third
in the men’s 800-meter run with a time of 1:51.74 (.63 seconds off the
provisional qualifier) and who anchored Cal’s sixth-place 4x400-meter
relay (3:18.08).

“Sebastian Sam PRed right off the bat in the 800,” Sandoval said, “and he
did a great job for us, running a great leg in the 4x4.”

Next up, Cal competes in the UW Invitational Jan. 30-31 in the Huskies’
Dempsey Indoor Facility in Seattle.

Cherry and Silver Invitational

California Results

Track Events (Finals)

Men’s 400-Meter Dash
7. Jake Hanson 48.30. 9. Keagan Wethington 49.09 (49.085).

Men’s 60-Meter Hurdles (ADD PRELIMS)
5. Jordan Paul 8.17.

Men’s 800-Meter Run
3. Sebastian Sam 1:51.74. 5. Francis Gadayan 1:52.39. 13. Sean Carey
1:54.65. 31. Joey Thomas 2:07.27.

Men’s 200-Meter Dash
8. Jake Hanson 22.01. 11. Keagan Wethington 22.25.

Men’s 4x400-Meter Relay.
6. Cal A (Sean Carey, Francis Gadayan, Joey Thomas, Sebastian Sam) 3:18.08.

Women’s 800-Meter Run
19. Francesca Weems 2:26.13. DNF Mackenzie Pierce.

Women’s 400-Meter Dash
3. Brook Turner 55.52. 5. Mackenzie Pierce 56.57. 9. Kandi Bonty 57.09.
21. Francesca Weems 59.56.

Women’s 60-Meter Dash
1. Cherrelle Garrett 7.39P.

Women’s 200-Meter Dash
1. Cherrelle Garrett 23.83P. 6. Brook Turner 24.76. 12. Kandi Bonty 25.05.
19. Robin Hunte 25.82.

Field Events (Final)

Men’s Pole Vault Invitational
5. Ryan Shuler 5.05 meters (16-06.75).

Men’s Shot Put
5. Martin Maric 16.40 meters (53-09.75). 8. Patrick Kowalsky 15.18
(49-09.75). 11. Miles Palacios 13.39 (43-11.25).

Men’s High Jump
1. Ed Wright 2.19P meters (7-02.25).

Women’s Long Jump
5. Jacquelyn Lewis 5.60 meters (18-04.50). 23. Mercedes Marchbanks 4.27
(14-00.25). DNS Robin Hunte.

Women’s Shot Put
7. Linda Oseso 13.58 meters (44-06.75). DNS Kiely Smith.

Women’s Pole Vault Invitational
1. Katie Morgan 4.20A meters (13-09.25). 5. Allison Stokke 3.80J (12-05.50).

Women’s Weight Throw
4. Kiely Smith 16.07 meters (52-08.75). 11. Linda Oseso 14.61 (47-11.25).

Women’s Triple Jump
6. Mercedes Marchbanks 11.60 meters (38-00.75).

Women’s High Jump
1. Inika McPherson 1.81P meters (5-11.25). 3. Kristen Meister J1.78P
(5-10.00).

A NCAA automatic qualifying mark/time
P NCAA provisional qualifying mark/time
J Jump off

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Dean Caparaz
University of California
Assistant Media Relations Director
Phone: (510) 642-5048
E-mail: dcaparaz@berkeley.edu

Mailing Address:
University of California
Athletic Media Relations
349 Haas Pavilion
Berkeley, CA 94720

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