Bears Secure Most NCAA Qualifiers In Program History

From left: Jada Hicks, Jordyn Grady, Aysha Shaheed and Makhaila Mills will compete for the 4x100m relay title in Austin.

T&F5/27/2023 9:58 PM | By: Cal Athletics

Women’s 4x100m, Hicks, Fletcher Round Out Finals-Bound Group

SACRAMENTO – California track & field attacked its top-10 lists with a vengeance on Saturday as it closed out competition at the NCAA West Preliminary, setting three new marks in the program record books and qualifying those athletes to the upcoming NCAA Outdoor Championships in Austin, Texas. With that, the Golden Bears are set to send their largest group in program history to the season finale, with 17 total competitors (including pre-qualifiers and alternates) set to make the trip.
 
Cal’s first qualifying performance of the day came in the 4x100m relay, which featured the school-record squad of Jada Hicks, Jordyn Grady, Makhaila Mills and Aysha Shaheed which captured the Bears’ highest-ever finish at the Pac-12 Championships two weeks ago. Saturday’s race showed that they have no intentions of slowing down, as they beat their own program record by 0.06 seconds to claim their heat’s third qualifying spot at 43.75. Three of the four – Hicks, Grady and Shaheed – were part of last year’s NCAA-qualifying relay squad, while Mills will experience the Championships for the first time in her collegiate career.
 
Hicks was not done – she had another race to run in the 100m hurdles just over an hour later. Two days after moving up to No. 2 in program history, the senior blazed her way to a time of 13.04 in the quarterfinals, shaving 0.07 seconds off her personal best to qualify to the NCAA Championships for the first time in an individual event. She will be Cal’s first women’s hurdler to advance since Osarhiemen Omwanghe in 2006.
 
For the second straight year, Cal will send a women’s triple jumper to the NCAA finals, as senior Asha Fletcher turned in the performance of a lifetime for a wind-legal PR of 13.33m (43-8.75) that ranks fourth in program history. A first-time NCAA Championships qualifier, Fletcher will join the nine other Bears making their debuts on the big stage.
 

“I am really excited for all these kids – I’m so proud of them,” Director of Track & Field/Cross Country Robyne Johnson said. “They really showed up this week. It’s going…