Cal Track and Field: Camryn Rogers Repeats as Pac-12 Hammer Throw Champion

Junior Hakim McMorris has a 202-point lead at halfway point of the decathlon.

Camryn Rogers repeated as hammer throw winner at the Pac-12 Track and Field Championships on Friday in Los Angeles.

Rogers threw 72.22 meters (236 feet, 11 inches) to beat runner-up Alyssa Wilson of UCLA by more than 10 feet.

Her throw was the second-best winning mark in the event at the Pac-12 meet, behind only Arizona’s Maggie Ewen, who also holds the overall Pac-12 record for the hammer.

Camryn Rogers / Photo by John McGillen

Rogers became the first Cal woman to repeat as conference champion in any event since Kimyon Broom did it in the 100 hurdles in 2008 and 2009. She is the Bears’ first two-time Pac-12 champ in the hammer among either the women or men.

The Pac-12 meet -- and the entire outdoor season -- was wiped out in 2020 by the COVID-19 pandemic. Rogers won her first conference title in 2019.

Rogers, who fell short of her personal best and school record of 73.09 meters (239-9), won with her second-round throw. She also had three fouls along with throws of 68.00 (223-1) and 72.15 (236-8).

A native of British Columbia, Rogers already has achieved the Olympic qualifying standard and is almost certain to represent Canada at the Tokyo Games.

Rogers currently sits at No. 11 on the 2021 world leaders list and is No. 4 on the all-time collegiate list. Her next competition will be the NCAA West Regionals, May 27-28-29 at College Station, Texas.

Teammates Anna Purchase (62.98/206-4) and Jasmine Blair (58.80/192-11) finished fourth and seventh, respectively, in the hammer throw Friday. Those three performances provided the Bears 17 points in the meet’s first event, giving Cal what was expected to be a short-lived lead in the team race.

Cal’s Ivar Moisander was sixth in the men’s hammer with a personal-best throw of 63.57 meters (208-6), which lifts the freshman from Falun, Sweden to No. 8 on the school’s all-time list.

Junior Hakim McMorris of Cal forged a 202-point lead after five events of the decathlon. McMorris scored 4,268 points, compared to 4,066 for runner-up Max Vollmer of Oregon.

McMorris had the day's best marks in the 100 meters (10.71), long jump (24-9 1/4) and high jump (6-5 1/2) and the 400 meters (48.22) and was second in the shot put (45-5 3/4). McMorris set personal bests in the 100, long jump and 400.

The final five decathlon events are Saturday. The Pac-12 meet at USC runs through Sunday.

Cover photo of Camryn Rogers by John McGillen

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo