Cal Athletics
Rowan Hamilton joins Jack Merchant (1922) as the only men to win an NCAA hammer title for the Bears.
Rowan Hamilton Win’s Cal’s First Men’s Hammer Title In 102 Years; Bears Earn 9 All-American Honors
EUGENE, Ore. – Presented with the opportunity to carry on a proud hammer tradition for California track & field at Hayward Field, it took Rowan Hamilton just three throws to find himself in a position that no Golden Bear has in over a century.
Before Wednesday, the last Cal athlete to win a title in the men’s hammer was Jack Merchant in 1922. Now, that distinction belongs to Hamilton, whose personal-best throw of 77.18m (253-2) surpassed 2023 champion Kenneth Ikeji of Harvard’s top mark by just two inches; he also became the program’s first NCAA men’s champion in any event since 2011 (Mike Morrison, decathlon).
“Those are things that people take for granted, but that’s hard to do, to keep stepping up when somebody else steps up,” said Director of Track & Field/Cross Country Robyne Johnson.
Hamilton, who hails from Chilliwack, B.C., is also the first Canadian man to win the event since Scott Neilson in 1979. He was the favorite to win after leading the NCAA standings for nearly the entire season and climbing to No. 8 in the all-time men’s collegiate hammer standings.
“Rowan was really stable today,” assistant coach Mohamad Saatara said. “That’s what we were trying to do – we were expecting these other guys to really get going, so for him to succeed, he had to be very stable and just execute. I think there are some really big throws in his future.”
“I think it’s really special, just being able to carry on the legacy at Cal that was set by (women’s hammer alum) Camryn Rogers, (who won) three consecutive national championships,” Hamilton said. “I’m happy that I can come here, compete with Mo, the Cal Bears, and represent the school very well.”
Teammate Ivar Moisander joined Hamilton in the men’s hammer as the other half of Cal’s first-ever duo in the event. Moisander’s mark of 68.13m (223-6), while not enough to earn him another three attempts, still earned him a second-career Second-Team All-America nod and his highest career placement (13th) at the NCAA Championships.
The 4x100m relay squad of Chase…
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