Cal’s Men Win 5th Straight Big Meet

California track & field traveled down to Stanford’s Cobb Track and Angell Field Saturday, battling rainy conditions to clash with the Cardinal in the 131st Big Meet. The Golden Bears’ men won the dual contest for the fifth straight year with a score of 112-45, while Stanford’s women won for the third consecutive season by a margin of 101-57. Points were allocated in a 5-3-1 dual meet format.

Cal started off the day by winning both the hammer throw contests, with Kai Barham (61.22m/200-10) and Valentina Savva (68.18m/223-8) taking the wins for the men and women, respectively. The Bears also won both the 100m races thanks to Chukwunonso Udeh (10.62) and Nairobi Smith (11.44), with Udeh’s time also setting a new personal best, as well as a pair of javelin competitions featuring only Cal competitors (Seth Johnson, 50.25m/164-10; Grace Reinhardt-Perez, 31.92m/104-8).

Nik Iwankiw’s breakthrough season continued with wins in both the shot put (17.84m/58-6.5) and discus (52.33m/171-8). Lucija Leko also took a win in the former event, putting the shot a season-best 16.45m (53-11.75).

Ali Sahaida matched her outdoor PR (and No. 2 program all-time entry) in the women’s pole vault, winning the event title with a mark of 4.30m (14-1.25). The men’s pole vaulters only cleared one bar each to decide placement as Will Siemens came out on top at 4.40m (14-5.25), with nine points to Cal already predetermined without any Stanford entries in the event.

Cal’s men won each of the other jumps competitions. Freshman Antonio Bayon cleared a height of 1.96m (6-5) to take the high jump title, while Jason Plumb claimed the long jump at 7.57m (24-10) and Jeremiah Bolaños placed first in the triple jump (15.21m/49-11).

The men’s 800m was the most exciting race for the Bears as Lamarr Kirk Jr. ran down Stanford’s Zane Bergen in the final 100m to clinch the win in a personal-best 1:49.45. Cal’s runners also posted wins in the 200m (Wazell Wright, 21.17), 110m hurdles (Donovan Bradley, 14.09) and 4x100m relay (40.89). On the women’s side, Georgia McCorkle won the 3000m steeplechase with a season-best time of 10:38.82 (followed by Sarah Perkins and her PR of 10:47.79 that improved her own program No. 10 entry), while Inara Ukawuba claimed the 100m hurdles title with a time of 13.45.

Stanford’s 4x100m relay team of Alaysia Oakes, Alyssa Jones, Samantha Ennin and Tess Stapleton matched the women’s meet record set by former Cal sprinters Jada Hicks, Jordyn Grady, Makhaila Mills and Aysha Shaheed in 2023, posting a time of 44.23.

THE 131ST BIG MEET – MEN’S RESULTS

100m – 1. Chukwunonso Udeh 10.62 (PR); 2. Wezel Wright 10.68 (PR); 3. Aidan Orias 10.75; 5. Javon Hampton Jr. 11.00; 6. Jakobi Smith 11.09; 7. Josh Myers 11.21

200m – 1. Wazell Wright 21.17; 3. Aidan Orias 21.59 (PR); 5. Jakobi Smith 22.57

400m – 2. Arian Naim 49.37; 3. Nathan Lee 49.92

800m – 1. Lamarr Kirk Jr. 1:49.45 (PR); 3. Jackson Hein 1:50.15; 5. Justin Pretre 1:51.47

1500m – 3. Julian Doak 3:56.69; 4. Bradley Arrey 3:58.76 (PR); 5. Alexander Lodewick 4:00.12; 6. Gabriel Rodriguez 4:04.22

3000m – 2. Caden Carney 8:13.73; 7. Roland Ruckmann-Barnes 8:29.22

110m Hurdles – 1. Donovan Bradley 14.09; 2. Seth Johnson 14.31; 3. Matt Gladney 15.12

400m Hurdles – 2. Daniel Chen 55.14; 3. Luke Tanguay 56.08

4x100m Relay – 1. California (Aidan Orias, Chukwunonso Udeh, Wazell Wright, Javon Hampton Jr.) 40.89

4x400m Relay – 2. California (Arian Naim, Jackson Hein, Lamarr Kirk Jr., Nathan Lee) 3:16.50

High Jump – 1. Antonio Bayon 1.96m/6-5 (PR); 2. Victor Ezike Jr. 1.73m/5-8

Pole Vault – 1. Will Siemens 4.40m/14-5.25; 2. Parker Terrill 4.40m/14-5.25; 3. Kai Anderson 4.40m/14-5.25

Long Jump – 1. Jason Plumb 7.57m/24-10; 2. Chukwunonso Udeh 7.37m/24-2.25 (PR); 3. Javon Hampton Jr. 7.10mw/23-3.5; 4. David Brok 6.15m/20-2.25

Triple Jump – 1. Jeremiah Bolaños 15.21m/49-11; 2. Frankie Cruz Jr. 14.35m/47-1 (PR); 3. Victor Ezike Jr. 14.19mw/46-6.75

Shot Put – 1. Nik Iwankiw 17.84m/58-6.5; 2. Eliot Traxler 16.18m/53-1 (PR); 4. Matas Mikulėnas 15.05m/49-4.5

Discus – 1. Nik Iwankiw 52.33m/171-8; 2. Eliot Traxler 48.56m/159-4; 5. Luke Buddie 38.66m/126-10

Hammer – 1. Kai Barham 61.22m/200-10; 3. Miles Clark 59.83m/196-3; 4. Kai Burich 57.90m/189-11

Javelin – 1. Seth Johnson 50.25m/164-10; 2. Luke Buddie 49.21m/161-5

THE 131ST BIG MEET – WOMEN’S RESULTS

100m – 1. Nairobi Smith 11.44; 4. Caitlyn Johnson 11.96; 7. Saqqara Ruffin 12.35; 8. Kaitlyn Williams 12.36; 9. Inara Ukawuba 12.40

200m – 5. Kaitlyn Williams 25.59

400m – 5. Diana Scott 58.07

800m – 3. Salma Bejia 2:06.01 (collegiate PR); 7. Carolina Dawson 2:09.56 (PR); 9. Savannah Harris 2:16.42 (PR)

1500m – 5. Addie Johnson 4:31.20; 6. Lily Montilla 4:38.85

3000m – 3. Sophie Tau 9:33.90 (PR); 5. Sabine Kim 9:43.71 (PR)

100m Hurdles – 1. Inara Ukawuba 13.45; 2. Saqqara Ruffin 13.58

400m Hurdles – 4. Jaya Westby 1:07.09

3000m Steeplechase – 1. Georgia McCorkle 10:38.82; 2. Sarah Perkins 10.47.79 (PR, 10th Cal History)

4x100m Relay – 2. California (Caitlyn Johnson, Nairobi Smith, Inara Ukawuba, Paige Porter) 45.93

4x400m Relay – 2. California (Diana Scott, Savannah Harris, Carolina Dawson, Nairobi Smith) 3:49.52

High Jump – 2. Zahra Amos 1.62m/5-3.75; 3. Kimiko Hirahara 1.57m/5-1.75; - Grace Reinhardt-Perez NH

Pole Vault – 1. Ali Sahaida 4.30m/14-1.25 (=PR, =2nd Cal History); 3. Anya Patel 3.45m/11-3.75

Long Jump – 2. Caitlyn Johnson 6.06mw/19-10.75 (wind-aided PR); 5. Avery Hart 5.95m/19-6.25 (PR)

Triple Jump – 3. Avery Hart 12.60mw/41-4.25 (wind-aided PR); 5. Leah Anderson 12.23m/40-1.5

Shot Put – 1. Lucija Leko 16.45m/53-11.75; 3. Audrey Jacobs 12.24m/40-2 (PR)

Discus – 4. Lucija Leko 47.38m/155-5; 5. Adrianna Coleman 45.52m/149-4

Hammer – 1. Valentina Savva 68.18m/223-8; 2. Audrey Jacobs 62.69m/205-8; 3. Adrianna Coleman 61.45m/201-7; 4. Isabella Popejoy 56.77m/186-3 (PR); 5. Angie Schykerynec 52.82m/173-3

Javelin – 1. Grace Reinhardt-Perez 31.92m/104-8