Cal Sends 9 to NCAA Indoor Championships

Cal Sends 9 to NCAA Indoor Championships
Coe, Wright, men's DMR, Morgan, McPherson, Meister, Garrett head to Texas


March 10, 2009



This Week
California will send nine Golden Bears to compete in the 2009 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships at the Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium on Friday and Saturday, March 13-14, on the campus of Texas A&M in College Station, Texas. The Bears heading to the national meet are from the 13th-ranked Cal men's indoor team are sophomore runner Michael Coe, in the men's 3000-meter run, the men's distance medley relay of Coe, junior Mark Matusak, senior Jake Hanson and freshman Sebastian Sam, and senior high jumper Ed Wright. Cal head coach Tony Sandoval will take four members of the women's team: Senior Katie Morgan, (women's pole vault), senior Inika McPherson (women's high jump), junior Kristen Meister (women's high jump) and sophomore Cherrelle Garrett (women's 60-meter dash).

2009 NCAA Indoor Championships
Live results and other information, including ticketing, visitors' information and heat sheets, from the 2009 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships will be available from the meet's official Web site: http://www.aggieathletics.com/ncaa2009/track/

A detailed schedule from the national indoor meet can be found here: http://www.aggieathletics.com/ncaa2009/track/schedule.html






On Friday, March 13, the meet will open with the combined events at 8 a.m. PT/10 a.m. CT. Next are the running events starting at 1:55 p.m. PT/3:55 p.m. CT. The field events will begin at 2 p.m. PT/4 p.m. CT.

On Saturday, March 14, the combined events will begin at 10 a.m. PT/noon CT. The field events are slated to start at 1:30 p.m. PT/3:30 p.m. CT. The running events are scheduled for 2:55 p.m. PT/4:55 p.m. CT.

Profiles of Cal's NCAA Qualifiers
Here is a look at Cal's NCAA qualifiers:

Katie Morgan - The senior from Tempe, Ariz., posted an NCAA automatic-qualifying mark and Cal indoor record of 13-9.25 (4.20 meters, tied for eighth in the nation) in the Jan. 24 Cherry and Silver Invitational, Cal's first meet of the season. Morgan won the pole vault title at the 2008 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships with that same mark.

Michael Coe - The sophomore distance runner from Lompoc, Calif., has been on fire during the indoor season. He posted an NCAA automatic-qualifying and Cal overall record time of 7:48.05 in the 3000 to take second place at the Husky Classic on Feb. 14 in Seattle. That time ranks third in the nation going into the NCAAs. Coe also posted the nation's 20th-fastest time in the nation and a provisional qualifier (4:00.29) in the men's one-mile run as well as the nation's 33rd fastest time and a provisional qualifier (1:49.65) in the men's 800-meter run this season. In addition, Coe ran for the Cal cross country team earlier this year, taking 51st place in a time of 30:29 in the NCAA Cross Country Championships.

Men's Distance Medley Relay - Cal's foursome of junior Mark Matusak (Torrence, Calif.), senior Jake Hanson (Yelm, Wash.), freshman Sebastian Sam (San Jose, Calif.) and sophomore Michael Coe clocked an NCAA automatic-qualifying and Cal overall record time of 9:29.71 to win the MPSF Indoor Championships title on Feb. 27 in Seattle. That time broke the previous Cal record of 9:33.77 that the Bears set in taking second place in the event in the 2007 NCAA Indoor Championships.

Ed Wright - The Oakland, Calif., native will close out his collegiate career with the national meet. He posted an NCAA provisional-qualifying and Cal indoor record mark of 7-3 (2.21 meters, tied for 2nd-best in the nation) when he won the men's high jump crown at the MPSF Indoor Championships on Feb. 28 in Seattle. In the 2008 season, he took seventh (7-3.25/2.22) in the high jump at indoor NCAAs and placed 14th (6-10.75/2.10) in the high jump at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Wright finished sixth in the indoor and outdoor NCAA meets in 2007. He won the Pac-10 outdoor title twice (2007-08) and the MPSF championship twice (also in 2007). This is the last chance for Wright, whose personal-best mark is 7-3.25 (2.22), to fulfill his goal of breaking the Cal record of 7-5.75 (2.33) set by his high school coach, Jeff Rogers.

Inika McPherson - The Port Arthur, Texas, senior notched an NCAA provisional qualifier of 5-11.5 (1.82 meters, tied for 7th-best in the nation) when she took second in the women's high jump at the MPSF Indoor Championships. In 2007, McPherson placed sixth in the NCAA Outdoor Championships and seventh in the NCAA Indoor Championships. She won the MPSF Indoor Championship title as a freshman with a mark of 5-9.25 (1.76).

Kristen Meister - A junior from Toledo, Ohio, Meister posted a provisional-qualifying 5-11.5 (1.82, tied for 7th-best in the nation) when she won the women's high jump at the UW Invitational on Jan. 31 in Seattle. The Davidson College transfer earned All-America honors when she placed 11th as a Wildcats freshman at the 2007 NCAA Outdoor Championships.

Cherrelle Garrett - The sophomore from Hayward, Calif., reached NCAAs with a provisional-qualifying time of 7.34 (tied for 15th in the nation) to win the women's 60-meter dash in the Husky Classic on Feb. 14. She also ran 7.34 in the 60-meter prelim at the MPSF Indoor Championships on Feb. 27 in Seattle. Garrett earned All-American honors as part of the eighth-place Cal 4x100-meter relay at the 2008 NCAA Outdoor Championships, at which she also ran in the prelims of the 100-meter dash.

Cal Outdoor Opener
While preparing for the NCAA Indoor Championships, the Bears Cal posted seven outdoor NCAA regional qualifiers in the Cal Outdoor Opener on March 7 at Edwards Stadium and Goldman Field. The Bears won six of those seven events, including senior Brook Turner's win in the women's 400-meter dash in a time 54.35 and senior Kellan Patterson's win in the men's 100-meter dash in 10.54.

Cal also won the following events with regional-qualifying marks or times: the men's 110-Meter Hurdles (senior Jordan Paul, 14.08), women's high jump (Inika McPherson, 5-10.75/1.80 meters), women's triple jump (senior Artensia Young, 40-9.75/12.44 meters) and men's discus throw (senior Martin Maric, 186-1/56.71 meters).

Junior Kristen Meister took second behind her teammate, McPherson, in the women's high jump with a regional-qualifying 5-8.75 (1.75).

Next Week
Cal continues the outdoor season by competing in the Hornet Invitational at Sacramento State's Hornet Stadium on March 21 in Sacramento, Calif.


Courtesy Cal Bears Outdoor Track