WALNUT, CALIFORNIA, April 12–15 — Camryn Rogers has been on a tear. Living and breathing that Bear-Air in Berkeley has been working wonders for her and her former Cal teammates, with whom she trains. It also doesn’t hurt having Mo Saatara as your coach and the common denominator for all the Cal throwers. But for the 23-year-old Canadian the last couple of weeks have been magical.
Having had a successful indoor campaign in the weight throw, the only blight being a no-mark at the NCAA, the 2-time collegiate titlist who finished her outdoor eligibility last year started her hammer season with a 253-7 (77.30) National Record toss in Berkeley, with Cal’s Anna Purchase just behind her in an NCAA-leading 239-7 (73.02).
Next up was Mt. SAC, the place where she finished runner-up to world champion Brooke Andersen in ’22. This time Rogers took it a step, bettering Andersen’s 251-10 (76.76) meet record and setting another Canadian mark with her 255-4 (77.84) that made her the No. 6 all-time performer. Not surprisingly, British training mate Purchase finished 2nd in 229-7 (69.97), with Virginia Tech’s Sara Killinen taking 3rd in 222-10 (67.93).
A keen battle in the high jump saw 7-time winner Vashti Cunningham take on reigning NCAA indoor and outdoor champ Lamara Distin of Texas A&M. Both entered at and clearing 6-0 (1.83), then cleared 6-2 (1.88) and 6-4 (1.93) on their first attempts.
Next up was 6-6 (1.98) and both were down to their final attempt. Distin — jumping at a PR height — was first to go and knocked the bar off, while Cunningham cleared, securing her eighth Mt. SAC title, breaking the relays record she shared with 12-time World Ranker Debbie Brill.
Other field eventers who fared well were Oregon NCAA leader Jorinde van Klinken in the discus (211-5/64.45) and three who put up or equaled college-leading marks of one kind or another.
Wisconsin senior putter Josie Schaefer’s 62-3¼ (18.98) was an outdoor CL and moved her to No. 10 on the ATL. Nastassja Campbell of Washington’s 14-11 (4.55) outdoor leader in the vault equaled the height cleared by South Dakota’s Marleen Mulla indoors, and Georgia’s Mikeisha Welcome reached 46-2 (14.07) in the triple jump, longest by a collegian outdoors thus far in ’23.
On the track, Texas A&M’s Jermaisha Arnold and Tierra Robinson-Jones produced solid performance as the duo finished 1-2 in the 400 (50.79 and 51.01), just ahead of the 51.06 by USC’s Jan’Taijah Jones.
Arizona’s Talie Bonds, just a 13.14 hurdler in ’22, first cracked 13 with 12.96 on March 25, then got down to 12.67 on April 05. Her 12.65 victory here victory proved the Wildcat senior’s recent times were no fluke.
Possibly the best race of the day was the 800, where Stanford’s fantastic frosh duo of Juliette Whittaker and Roisin Willis upended 23-year-old veteran Sammy Watson.
Kendra Chambers led the field through 200 in 28-flat, with China’s Olympic 5th-placer Chunyu Wang at her heels followed by Willis, Whittaker and Watson. The places remained the same as Chambers passed 400 in 59.97 and tried to stretch her lead.
With 300 to go, Willis and Whittaker moved past Wang to get closer to Chambers, who passed 600 in 1:30.6. Chambers, feeling the pressure, put in another surge, but the two Cardinal runners and Watson weren’t fazed.
Entering the home straight, the three were even with Chambers, but Willis moved wide, allowing Watson to spring and slide between her and Chambers for the lead, with momentum. 50m from the line, Watson looked like a sure winner, but Willis and Whittaker clawed closer and closer, and Whittaker with her long strides got to the line first in 2:01.79, followed by Willis (2:01.97) and Watson (2:01.98).
USC grad student Allie Jones, formerly at Stanford, posted a 6217 heptathlon score that raised her to No. 7 American collegian all-time. She helped her cause with 1st-place finishes in the 100H, 200, long jump and 800 and pulled Washington’s Ida Eikeng and Vanderbilt’s Beatričė Juškevičiūtė to 6000-plus scores.
Jones set PRs in 3 of her 7 events: 100H (13.10), shot (42-10¼/13.06) and 800 (2:13.03).
MT. SAC RELAYS WOMEN’S RESULTS
(4/13—St, 10K, Hept; 4/14—1500, 5K, 20W, JT, heats)
100(2.2): 1. ***Kaila Jackson (Ga) 11.04w (a-c: 9, x AJ);
2. ***Autumn Wilson (Ga) 11.05w; 3. *Jadyn Mays (Or) 11.09w; 4. **Samirah Moody (USC) 11.11w; 5. Marie-Josée Ta Lou’ (CI-CI) 11.12w; 6. Cecilia Tamayo-Garza’ (Hous-Mex) 11.22w.
200(1.5): 1. Caisja Chandler (USC) 22.67; 2. ***Autumn Wilson (Ga) 22.71; 3. Jackson 22.78; 4. Jessika Gbai’ (CI) 22.78; 5. Mays 22.88.
400: I–1. Shereen Vallabouy’ (Winona-Mas) 51.80; 2. ***Yemi John’ (USC-GB) 51.87; 3. Bailey Lear (USC) 51.89.
II–1. **Jermaisha Arnold (TxAM) 50.79; 2. Tierra Robinson-Jones (TxAM) 51.01; 3. *Jan’Taijah Jones (USC) 51.06;
4. *Ziyah Holman (Mi) 51.60; 5. Kendall Ellis (NBal) 51.95.
800: 1. ***Juliette Whittaker (Stan) 2:01.79; 2. ***Roisin Willis (Stan) 2:01.97; 3. Sammy Watson (adidas) 2:01.98; 4. Kendra Chambers (Ois) 2:03.24; 5. *Olivia Howell (Il) 2:03.83.
1500: 1. Whittaker (Stan) 4:12.49; 2. Howell 4:13.27; 3. Willis 4:13.31; 4. Melissa Tanaka (Stan) 4:13.91; 5. *Lucy Jenks (Stan) 4:14.81.
St: 1. Stevie Lawrence’ (GB) 10:03.95; 2. **Katja Pattis’ (Id-Ita) 10:05.31; 3. *Caroline Jerotich’ (WaSt-Ken) 10:14.57.
5000: 1. Veerle Bakker’ (Neth) 15:39.42; 2. Dani Shanahan (McK) 15:41.06; 3. Tristin Van Ord (ZapE) 15:42.78.
10,000: 1. Wuga He’ (Chn) 32:25.35; 2. *Lindsay Cunningham (Winona) 32:43.64; 3. Xiuzhen Ma’ (Chn) 33:07.47; 4. Muriel Coneo’ (Col) 33:09.02; 5. *Fiona Smith (StBen) 33:23.89.
100H: I(1.3)–1. ***Aaliyah McCormick (Or) 13.03. II(1.2)–1. Talie Bonds (Az) 12.65; 2. Cha’Mia Rothwell (unat) 12.85; 3. *Aasia Laurencin (Mi) 13.07.
Open 100H(1.2): 1. *Denisha Cartwright’ (Mank-Bah) 13.04.
400H: I–1. Sanique Walker’ (SFl-Jam) 57.06; 2. *Dominique Mustin (Ga) 57.34. II–1. Bianca Stubler (unat) 56.83; 2. Deshae Wise (unat) 56.85; 3. ***Sanaa Hebron (Mia) 56.96;
4. Shannon Meisberger (unat) 57.58; 5. Erin Dowd (unat) 57.70.
20W: 1. Miranda Melville (unat) 1:37:45.8 (AL);
2. Maria Michta-Coffey (unat) 1:38:23.3; 3. Stephanie Casey (TS) 1:41:09.3; 4. Katie Burnett (unat) 1:41:37.1;
5. Janelle Branch (TS) 1:45:26.4; 6. Katherine Miale (NEW) 1:45:34.5.
4 x 100: 1. USA Stars 43.07 (Sant-Price, Prandini, Akinosun, Henderson); 2. Georgia 43.35; 3. Oregon 43.72; 4. Côte d’lvoire’ 43.77; 5. Canada’ 43.98; 6. USC 44.01.
4 x 400: 1. USA Stars 3:25.31 (Anderson, Prandini, Aveni 50.95, Ellis 50.53); 2. Texas A&M 3:25.79 (Wade, Robinson-Jones, Jallow 51.60, Arnold 50.12); 3. Duke 3:29.19; 4. Miami 3:32.98; 5. Michigan 3:33.12; 6. Stanford 3:33.71; 7. Oregon 3:33.74.
Field Events
HJ: 1. Vashti Cunningham (NikeRB) 6-6 (1.98) (out AL, =out WL) (6-0, 6-2, 6-4 [out AL], 6-6 [3]) (1.83, 1.88, 1.93, 1.98 [3]); 2. Lamara Distin’ (TxAM-Jam) 6-4 (1.93) (out CL);
3. **Elena Kulichenko’ (Ga-Rus) 6-2 (1.88); 4. *Cierra Tidwell (BYU) 6-2; 5. Jelena Rowe (Asics) 6-0 (1.83); 6. Zarriea Willis (NvGaz) 6-0.
PV: 1. Nastassja Campbell (Wa) 14-11 (4.55) (=CL);
2. tie, Sophie Gutermuth (unat) & Kristen Leland (unat) 14-11; 4. Rachel Baxter (unat) 14-11; 5. Olivia Gruver (unat) 14-7¼ (4.45).
LJ: 1. *Alysah Hickey (Or) 22-¼ (6.71); 2. Jasmine Todd (unat) 21-9½w (6.64) (21-5¼/6.53); 3. Rhesa Foster (Nike) 21-2½ (6.46); 4. Mengyi Tan’ (Chn) 21-¾ (6.42);
5. Donghue Jin’ (Chn) 21-½w (6.41) (20-10½/6.36).
TJ: 1. *Mikeisha Welcome’ (Ga-StV) 46-2 (14.07) (out CL);
2. Lexi Ellis (Or) 44-7½ (13.60); 3. *Temitope Ojora’ (USC-GB) 44-2½ (13.47); 4. Titiana Marsh (Ga) 43-10w (13.36) (43-7¼/13.29); 5. *Cierra Pyles (VaT) 43-3¼ (13.19).
SP: 1. Josie Schaefer (Wi) 62-3¼ (18.98) (out CL) (10, x C; 6, x AmC) (59-5½, 62-3¼, 60-10, 58-2½, f, 56-1¾) (18.12, 18.98, 18.54, 17.74, f, 17.11);
2. Linru Zhang’ (Chn) 61-3½ (18.68); 3. Jessica Woodard (Iron) 59-3 (18.06); 4. Hannah Hall (Mia) 59-2 (18.03);
5. *Jaida Ross (Or) 58-2½ (17.74).
DT: 1. Jorinde van Klinken’ (Or-Neth) 211-5 (64.45); 2. Lagi Tausaga-Collins (unat) 205-10 (62.74); 3. Elena Bruckner (unat) 201-9 (61.51); 4. Jade Lally’ (GB) 201-4 (61.37); 5. Vanessa Kamga’ (Swe) 193-11 (59.12).
HT: 1. Camryn Rogers’ (Can) 255-4 (77.84) NR (WL) (6, x W) (255-4, 248-0, 251-11, 249-5, 247-3, 253-1) (77.84, 75.61, 76.79, 76.03, 75.37, 77.14);
2. Anna Purchase’ (Cal-GB) 229-6 (69.97); 3. *Sara Killinen’ (VaT-Fin) 222-10 (67.93); 4. Joy McArthur’ (Jpn) 221-3 (67.44); 5. Lisa Wilson (TS) 220-0 (67.07); 6. *Emma Robbins (KsSt) 219-11 (67.03).
JT: 1. *Arianne Morais’ (UTEP-Nor) 188-3 (57.38); 2. **Lianna Davidson’ (TxAM-Aus) 183-11 (56.07); 3. Sophia Rivera’ (Mo-PR) 178-0 (54.26); 4. **Katelyn Fairchild (TxAM) 176-3 (53.73); 5. *Dana Baker (Duke) 174-9 (53.26); 6. Ariana Ince (VelIron) 170-8 (52.02); 7. Vanja Spaić’ (Bos) 170-3 (51.89).
Hept(4/12-13): 1. Allie Jones (USC) 6217 (AL, CL) (7, x AmC (13.10, 5-8½/1.74, 42-10¼/13.06, 23.43, 20-5¼/6.23, 118-11/36.25, 2:13.03);
2. *Ida Eikeng’ (Wa-Nor) 6100; 3. Beatričė Juškevičiūtė’ (Vand-Lit) 6073; 4. Hope Bender (unat) 5837; 5. Erin Marsh (unat) 5812; 6. *Taylor Chocek (Or) 5625; 7. Melanie Winters (unat) 5621; 8. **Joniar Thomas’ (TxAM-Grn) 5557;… dnf—Erica Bougard (Nike) (13.43, 5-8½/1.74, 3f).
