Bears Begin Competition At NCAA West Regionals

The California track & field team’s 26 qualifiers will throw down against hundreds of the best athletes in the nation this week, each ready to put their best effort forward at the NCAA West Regionals in College Station, Texas, to earn a coveted spot at next month’s NCAA Outdoor Championships. The four-day meet at Texas A&M’s E.B. Cushing Stadium runs Wednesday-Saturday, with each day’s evening events streamed on ESPN+. Live results will be available at Flash Results.
 
Track athletes will need to advance past two rounds (first rounds and quarterfinals) to book their spots at Oregon’s Hayward Field, where the NCAA Championships will be contested. Field athletes have just one round (a semifinal) to pass. Only 12 individuals per event will move on to Eugene.
 
The men’s events are scheduled for Wednesday and Friday while the women will compete on Thursday and Saturday.
 
Eighteen of the Golden Bears’ entries have posted at least one outdoor program top-10 mark this season, which includes a world record from discus thrower Mykolas Alekna. He, along with fellow discus thrower and Olympian Caisa-Marie Lindfors, will look to qualify for their third NCAA Championships (Alekna – 2022-23; Lindfors – 2021, 23).
 
Hammer thrower Giavonna Meeks and pole vaulter Tyler Burns each competed at this year’s NCAA Indoor Championships, with Meeks finishing fourth in the weight throw and Burns 12th in the indoor pole vault. Distance runner Garrett MacQuiddy and hammer thrower Audrey Jacobs both reached the NCAA Outdoor Championships in 2023, with Jacobs earning Second-Team All-American status.
 
Trevor Rogers (long jump) and Valentina Savva (hammer) are Cal’s only two freshmen set to compete this week, following silver-medal performances at the ACC Outdoor Championships earlier this month. Savva is just one of three first-years appearing in the women’s hammer throw and the only one listed in the final flight.
 
NCAA WEST REGIONALS SCHEDULE (All Times PT)
 
Wednesday, May 28
8 a.m. – Men’s Hammer Semifinal (Jared Freeman – Flight 3)
2:30 p.m. – Men’s Long Jump Semifinal (Jason Plumb – Flight 3; Trevor Rogers – Flight 3)
3:30 p.m. – Men’s Pole Vault Semifinal (Tyler Burns – Flight 2; Parker Terrill – Flight 2; Will Siemens – Flight 2)
4 p.m. – Men’s Shot Put Semifinal (Nick Godbehere – Flight 1)
4 p.m. – Men’s 110m Hurdles First Round (Donovan Bradley – Heat 5)
4:30 p.m. – Men’s 1500m First Round (Garrett MacQuiddy – Heat…