Steve Pretre
Camryn Rogers advanced to her second Olympic Games after earning her fourth Canadian title.
Reigning World Champion Wins Fourth Canadian Title; Hamilton Takes Second Place
MONTREAL – Two California track & field hammer throwing alumni posted standout performances on Wednesday, the first day of the Bell Track & Field Trials at Montreal’s Complexe Sportlife Claude-Robillard, as 2023 graduate Camryn Rogers officially punched her ticket to the Olympic Games with her fourth national title and 2024 grad Rowan Hamilton added a second-place finish to further build his case for Team Canada consideration.
After opening her season in Berkeley at the Brutus Hamilton Invitational with a mark of 76.87m (252-2), Rogers, the reigning world champion and collegiate record-holder, has strung together a series of performances that included five wins in six meets, including a Diamond League-record 77.76m (255-1) at the Prefontaine Classic in May. Her only legal throw at the Bell Track & Field Trials – her second – sailed 75.05m (246-2) to surpass the rest of the field by 8.16 meters (26 feet, 9 inches). Rogers placed fifth at the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021, the highest finish ever reached by a Canadian woman in the hammer throw; now, she will head to Paris as the world No. 1 and the favorite to win gold.
Hamilton, a two-time World Championships competitor who also earned Cal’s first NCAA title in the men’s hammer since 1919, has not yet reached the Olympic Standard but currently sits at 15th in the World Rankings quota – Canada’s No. 2 man in the event this year. On Friday night, he trailed only reigning World Champion Ethan Katzberg (82.60m/271-0) in the standings, posting a best mark of 75.83m (248-9) on his fifth attempt to match his best career finish at the Canadian Championships. Hamilton’s Olympic fate will be determined in early July, when Athletics Canada sends its final team nomination to the Canadian Olympic Committee.
Cal will have two athletes compete for national titles on Thursday, with rising sophomore Justin Pretre appearing in the qualifying round of the men’s 1500m at the Bell Canadian U20 Championships and volunteer assistant coach Elena Bruckner hoping to book a trip to Paris in the women’s discus final at the…
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