Valentina Savva, Mykolas Alekna Lead 8 Cal Qualifiers to NCAA Track

Originally posted on Cal Bears on SI | By Jeff Faraudo | Last updated May 31, 2025 7:59 PM ET

Cal will send eight athletes to the NCAA track and field championships after four days of qualifying ended Saturday at the West Regional meet at Texas A&M.

Six members of the Bears’ throwing group — including three women hammer throwers — secured spots at the collegiate nationals, June 11-14 at Eugene, Oregon.

Valentina Savva, a freshman from Cyprus, won the women’s hammer with a mark of 222 feet, 3 inches (67.75 meters) Junior Audrey Jacobs of the Netherlands was fifth with a season-best throw of 213-1 (64.94) and Giovanna Meeks, a sophomore transfer from Vanderbilt, took sixth at 211-9 (64.55).

The Bears’ other regional winner was world-recordholder Mykolas Alekna, who had the three best throws of the men’s discus competition and prevailed with a mark of 236-7 (72.12), which set a facility record at E.B. Cushing Stadium.

Mykolas Alekna is heading back to Eugene.

Qualifying for his 3rd NCAA Championship in discus with a throw of 72.12m (236-8).#NCAATF x ESPN+ / @CalTFXC pic.twitter.com/HDdVnakg34
— NCAA Track & Field (@NCAATrackField) May 31, 2025

The mark was shy of his month-old world record of 247-11 (75.56), but was the third-longest of his career and the longest in a collegiate competition.

Alekna returns to the NCAA meet for the third time, after finishing second as a freshman in 2022 and third in 2023. The 22-year-old Lithuanian bypassed the 2024 college season to prepare for the Paris Olympics, where he won a silver medal.

Lucija Leko, a sophomore from Croatia, advanced after finishing seventh in the women’s shot put with a personal-best throw of 56-1 1/4 (17.10).

Caisa-Marie Lindfors, a senior transfer from Florida State and native of Sweden, finished third Saturday in the women’s discus with a mark of 193-8 (59.03).

Cal also will send a pair of runners to the NCAAs.

Garrett MacQuiddy, a senior from Saratoga, advanced in the 1,500 meters after finishing third in his quarterfinal heat with a time of 3 minutes, 47.06 seconds. In his event, the top five finishers in each of two heats, plus the next two fastest finishers, qualified for the national semifinals.

MacQuiddy is the Bears’ program-recordholder in the 1,500 with a best of 3:38.50 set earlier this season. He also owns the program standard for the indoor mile.

Junior Johnny Goode, who came to Cal this year from College of San Mateo, finished just fifth in his quarterfinal 400-meter race but qualified ninth with a mark of 45.84. The top 12 made it through to the NCAAs.

Goode broke a 40-year-old Cal record in the event this spring with his 45.02 clocking.

Among non-qualifiers, sophomore Nick Godbehere delivered a personal-best by nearly a foot in the shot put while finishing 16th. His throw of 61-4 (18.69) ranks No. 10 on Cal’s all-time list.

In an opening-round 100 hurdles race on Thursday, senior Asjah Atkinson ran a personal-best mark of 13.22 to climb to No. 4 on Cal’s all-time chart. In the quarterfinals on Saturday, Atkinson finished a non-qualifying 19th place at 13.28.

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This article first appeared on Cal Bears on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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