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Sophomore Justin Pretre, Freshman Valentina Savva Ready For Biggest Junior Stage
LIMA, Peru – Most of the California track & field team will be attending classes this week, but two members – sophomore Justin Pretre and freshman Valentina Savva – will have to delay their arrival on campus, as they will be representing Canada and Cyprus, respectively, at the World U20 Athletics Championships. This year’s meet will be held from Aug. 27-31 at Estadio Nacional in Lima, Peru; fans can watch a live stream here.
Pretre, who won the Canadian U20 1500m title in June, arrived at Cal last year with a resume chock-full of accolades, including a 2023 All-State Second-Team nod from MileSplitCA and three West Bay Athletic League (WBAL) MVP awards. His personal best of 3:44.29, set at the 129th Big Meet, ranks ninth in men’s program history and is the 25th-fastest time among all entries for the World U20 Championships; he also helped Cal’s men to a third-place finish at the 2024 Pac-12 Championships, placing eighth in the 1500m to score a point for the Golden Bears.
Savva, a decorated hammer thrower who has placed in the top five in the last two World U20 Championships, comes into the meet as the reigning European U20 champion and two-time Cyprus national champion. She boasts a PR of 67.87m (222-8) in the event, which she set at the Greek Winter Throwing Championships in February; should she repeat that in a Cal uniform, it would smash the program’s freshman record set by Olympic Gold Medalist Camryn Rogers in 2018 and put her in the top-three hammer throwers in program history. Savva has the second-farthest throw of all entries at the World U20 Championships, trailing only China’s Zhang Jiale.
Schedule – World U20 Athletics Championships (All Times PT)
August 28
Men’s 1500m Heats – 2:05 p.m.
August 29
Women’s Hammer Qualification A – 7:10 a.m.
Women’s Hammer Qualification B – 8:25 a.m.
August 31
Women’s Hammer Final – 3:40 p.m.
Men’s 1500m Final – 4:10 p.m.
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