Sunday, April 09, 2017

Cal Wins 123rd Big Meet
Paramveer Chohan pulls away to win the men's 4x400-meter relay and clinch the Big Meet for Cal.

Cal Wins 123rd Big Meet

Story Links

STANFORD – Throughout much of the afternoon, Cal and Stanford traded leads in the 123rd edition of the Big Meet. The Golden Bears, though, came on strong late and pulled away to claim the men's competition, 91-70. Stanford prevailed in the women's meet, 85-74.

Cal capped the men's race with a thrilling victory in the final event – the 4x400-meter relay – as freshman Paramveer Chohan surged ahead in the final 50 meters to hand the Bears the win in 3:11.55.

Overall, the Bear men prevailed in 11 different events. Of note, Ashtyn Davis ran the fifth-fastest 110-meter hurdles race in school history as he was timed in 13.65, and Cole Johnson broke a 10-year Stanford winning streak in the 400 meters with his victory in 48.33.

Cal trailed for much of the first half of the afternoon and finally took its first lead, 49-46, after Eugene Hamilton III and Josh Lewis went 1-3 in the 800 meters. The Cardinal soon moved back ahead, before the Bears closed with wins in the discus, triple jump, 3000 meters and the 4x400 relay.

"I've said it over and over again, this meet isn't about the superstars," director of track & field Tony Sandoval said. "It's about a third place or a third place over a second place or an upset here and there. This why it's a team sport. On the men's side, we had a little bit of a cushion, but we had a few stumbles along the way. But it seemed like in one event after another, someone had a bright spot. For the women to come that close at the very end, I'm very proud of their performance."

In the first event on the track, senior Megan Bordes won the women's 3000-meter steeplechase, lowering her personal best by 10 seconds and running the No. 3 time in school history with her 10:22.24 finish. Max Leach gave the Bears a sweep of the steeple, claiming the men's race in 9:15.39.

Peter Simon posted his own lifetime best in the men's shot put, winning the event with a mark of 63-8.25, which keeps him fourth all-time at Cal. McKay Johnson gave the Bears valuable points with his second-place finish at 60-2.50.

Ashley Anderson claimed with women's long jump with a wind-aided 19-2.50 and came back a short while later to earn a victory in the triple jump with a mark of 42-3.25.

Late in the afternoon, Malik McMorris posted a mark of 178-2 in the men's discus, which led a 1-2-3 Cal finish and essentially clinched the meet for the Bears.

Other winners for Cal on the day were:
Cal is back in the Bay Area at the end of the month, hosing the Brutus Hamilton Open April 28 and Brutus Hamilton Challenge April 29 at Edwards Stadim.
 
Print Friendly Version


No comments: