Cal Competes at Sacramento State Elite Invite This Week

Cal Competes at Sacramento State Elite Invite This Week
Bears boast 19 regional qualifiers thus far


April 1, 2009


BERKELEY -

Sacramento State Elite Invitational Schedule


This Week
California makes a short trip to Sacramento this week for the Sacramento State Elite Invitational on Saturday, April 4, on the Sacramento State campus. The Invitational kicks off with the women's hammer at 10 a.m. The running events begin at 12:30 p.m. with the women's 5,000 meters. Cal added 10 NCAA regional qualifiers last weekend at Stanford Invitational, and now has 19 on the season. The Cal men are ranked No. 21 in the USTFCCCA preseason rankings.


Last Time Out: Stanford Invitational and UC Davis Multis
At last weekend's Stanford Invitational, junior Yosef Ghebray clocked in at 28:32.27 in the 10,000 to set the school record, surpassing Girmay Guangul's time of 29:17.78. Ghebray's time was also an NCAA automatic-qualifying time. Sophomore Cherrelle Garrett won both the 100 and the 200, and set regional-qualifying times in both those events. In the 200, Garrett clocked a personal-best time of 23.63, just shy of fifth on Cal's all-time career list (23.62).
Sophomore Kyle Mills-Bunje and freshman Kevin Kuechler also competed in the UC Davis Multis last week. Mills-Bunje set a new personal best in the event with a final score of 6,778 points and placed third overall. Current Cal volunteer assistant coach, Mark Jellison, won the event with 7,274 points.


Cal's Lineup
Some of the featured athletes for the Bears this weekend will be defending NCAA champion Katie Morgan in the pole vault, the women's 2008 All-American 4x100 relay (Cherrelle Garret, Kandi Bonty, Kristin Holmes, Kayla Dixon), senior Jake Hanson in the 400-meter hurdles and senior Jordan Paul in the 100-meter hurdles.







Last Year's Sacramento State Elite Meet
Cal won six events and earned 13 NCAA regional qualifiers at last year's Sac State Elite Meet. Among the highlights for the Bears was Allison Stokke, who set the school record in the pole vault with her leap of 13-3.50 (4.05m). At that time, she owned the school's freshman record, outdoor record and a share of the indoor record before teammate Katie Morgan eventually went on to set the outdoor record multiple times last season. The event winners who regionally qualified were Martin Maric (discus), Cherrelle Garrett (100 meters), Kimyon Broom (100-meter hurdles), Jake Hanson (400-meter hurdles), Mackenzie Pierce (800 meters) and the women's 4x100-meter relay consisting of Broom, Kandi Bonty, Kayla Dixon and Garrett.


NCAA Regional Qualifiers
Cal currently boasts 19 NCAA regional qualifiers, 10 on the women's team and nine on the men's team. The regional qualifiers are - Brook Turner (400), Cherrelle Garrett (100, 200), Debra Maier (5000), the women's 4x100 and 4x400, Allison Stokke (Pole Vault), Inika McPherson (High Jump), Kristen Meister (High Jump), Artensia Young (Triple Jump), Kellan Patterson (100), Jordan Paul (110-H), Jake Hanson (400-H), Francis Gadayan (800), Yosef Ghebray (10,000), Martin Maric (Discus), Patrick Kowalsky (Shot Put), Ryan Shuler (Pole Vault), Ryan Young (Javelin).


Next Week
Cal heads to Los Angeles for the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Invitational from Friday, April 10, to Saturday, April 11.


Courtesy Cal Bears Outdoor Track