Cal Opens 2010 Season at USF Invitational

Courtesy Cal


Aug. 31, 2010



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THIS WEEK
Saturday, Sept. 4
at USF Invitational
Golden Gate Park
Women's 5K: 9:15 a.m.
Men's 8K: 10 a.m.

CAL OPENS 2010 SEASON: California kicks off the 2010 cross country season with both the men's and women's teams competing at the 18th annual USF Invitational in Speedway Meadow at San Francisco's Golden Gate Park Saturday morning. The women's 5K race begins at 9:15 a.m., followed by the men's 8K event at 10 a.m. Last year, the Cal men placed first among eight teams and the Bear women were second of 10 schools behind individual winner Keena Kohl (18:20.30). Then-freshman Collin Jarvis, in his first race for Cal, was the men's runner-up in a time of 25:02.60. Other Bears in the top 10 were Cody Schmidt (7th, 25:25.00) and Maxime Chevee (8th, 25:25.30). The Cal women also had three top-10 finishers. In addition to Kohl, Michelle Davis was sixth (18:35.30) and Nicole Hough was seventh (18:35.70).

MORE EXPERIENCED CAL MEN LOOK TO RETURN TO NCAAS: With senior Michael Coe back for his final campaign after a redshirt year and classmates Steve Sodaro and Kari Karlsson also in the mix, the Bears are looking to return to the NCAA Championships this fall after earning berths in both 2007 (16th) and 2008 (22nd). Last year's squad featured five freshmen among its top seven runners, and they all return as more experienced competitors. Coe placed as Cal's No. 2 or 3 runner at the 2007 and '08 nationals - the first NCAA appearances in school history. He is a two-time indoor track & field All-American and the school record-holder in the mile (3:56.18). Sodaro led the Bears in four of his five races last season and earned all-region honors. Later in the spring, he captured the 2010 Pac-10 title in the 3000-meter steeplechase before placing sixth in the event at the NCAA championships. Karlsson, a member of Cal's NCAA teams in '07 and '08, also gained all-region notice in cross country last fall

CAL WOMEN POISED FOR NCAA TRIP: With first-team All-Pac-10 junior Deborah Maier leading the way, the Bears believe they have a strong chance to qualify for the NCAA Championships for the first time in 1988. Maier, who was sixth at the conference meet, paced Cal in all four of her races and was named to the all-region team. She is joined this year by sophomore Laurynne Chetelat, a transfer from Stanford who placed 13th at Pac-10's and ninth at NCAA regionals as a freshman for the Cardinal in 2008. Junior Keena Kohl was Cal's No. 2 runner at regionals in '09, taking 38th place, while sophomore Ellie Keene finished 20th at the Pac-10 meet last fall.

GOLDEN BEAR NOTES: In the first set of rankings for the season, the Cal men are seventh in the West Region and the Cal women are sixth ... James Brewer, who redshirted in 2009 after transferring from the University of Bath, has returned to his native England to train for the 2012 Olympic Games in London. Brewer was a World Championships semifinalist in the 1500 meters in 2009 and he has run a 3:54.80 mile ... last season, Maier became the first Cal woman ever to earn first-team all-conference honors ... freshman Heather Cerney placed 14th at the 2009 CIF state cross country meet her senior year, while freshman Elisa Karhu took 20th at the meet ... junior transfer Brianna Schofield was a cross country All-American at Division II UC San Diego in 2008 ... freshman Taylor Lawson, the state Division IV Athlete of the Year, finished 17th at the California Division IV championships last fall.

HEAD COACH Tony Sandoval: Tony Sandoval is in his 19th season as head coach of the Cal men's and women's cross country teams and his 29th year overall at the university. Also in his fourth year as head men's and women's track & field coach, Sandoval was the head women's track & field and cross country coach at Cal from 1982-91, prior to the merger of the men's and women's programs into a single entity in 1992. He has guided the Golden Bear men's cross country team to its best finishes in school history, claiming 15th place at the NCAA championship meet in 2007 and coming in 22nd place in '08. A combined eight men's and women's runners have gained All-American status under his guidance, including Yosef Ghebray, who became the third Cal male ever to earn cross country recognition in 2008. Among the women who have benefited from his coaching are Magdalena Lewy, a U.S. Olympian in the marathon in 2008, and Alysia Johnson, the U.S. champion in the 800 meters in 2007 and '10. The Bear women finished 15th at the 1984 NCAA meet, then returned in 1988 to take ninth place.