California Dreamin’: Collegians Take Aim At History Out West

Meets hosted in the state of California aren’t strangers to the collegiate outdoor record book. Not by a long shot.

While the Payton Jordan Invitational and the Stanford Invitational routinely steals headlines, the Bryan Clay Invitational and the Mt. SAC Relays have seen their share of all-time marks thoughout the years.

All told, there are 26 instances from the Bryan Clay Invitational and the Mt. SAC Relays in the annals of collegiate track & field with a lion’s share (25) occurring in Walnut or Torrance.

MEET HOME: Bryan Clay Invitational | Mt. SAC Relays
FROM THE USTFCCCA: Collegiate Outdoor Record Book

Three current standards were set during the Mt. SAC Relays, which has the tagline “Where the world’s best athletes compete” for a reason.

Former Oregon standout Raevyn Rogers toppled Suzy Favor’s record in the 800 last year. Rogers, who won The Bowerman in 2017 as collegiate track & field’s most outstanding female athlete, clocked a time of 1:59.10 at the meet, .01 seconds faster than Favor.

Rogers wasn’t the only athlete from Oregon that shined last year in Torrance.

The quartet of Makenzie Dunmore, Deajah Stevens, Hannah Cunliffe and Ariana Washington lowered their own record in the 4×100 relay from 42.34 to 42.12. LSU finished runner-up in that race 0.02 seconds behind the Ducks, but tied the record two weeks later at the SEC Relays.

Rewind 36 years to 1981 and that’s when Meg Ritchie truly started her dominance of the discus chart. Ritchie hit the current record of 67.48m (221-4), which no other woman has come within seven feet of since. Seven of the all-time top-10 marks in the discus actually belong to Ritchie: No. 1, No. 2, No. 4, No. 5, No. 6 and both of those tied at No. 9.

UTEP’s Gabriel Kamu and Providence’s Kim Smith both made history at the Mt. SAC Relays, but their records were both broken by the inaugural winners of The Bowerman. Kamu’s standard in the men’s 10000 lasted 25 years until Galen Rupp bettered it, while Smith’s mark in the women’s 5000 stood for five years before Jenny Barringer added it to her growing collection.

Less than 30 miles away from where the Mt. SAC Relays are traditionally held, Josh Kerr took a healthy crack at the men’s 1500-meter record last year. That’s a record that has stood since 1981 when Sydney Maree seemingly put it out of reach at 3:35.30.

Kerr ended up running the sixth fastest time in collegiate history (3:35.99). He is one of six men to go sub-3:36 and the Scotland native will look to do the same again this year in a stacked field alongside Syracuse’s Justyn Knight, Oregon’s Sam Prakel and Western Oregon’s David Ribich, among others.

Don’t be surprised to see a few more record-breaking attempts this weekend, especially at the Mt. SAC Relays. There are strong fields across the board, but none more so than in the sprints.

Three athletes who set collegiate indoor records – among other superlatives – at the NCAA Championships in March are entered in those respective outdoor events: Southern California’s Kendall Ellis in the 400, Houston’s Elijah Hall in the 200 and Southern California’s Michael Norman in the 400. Don’t be surprised if those three standouts help threaten collegiate records in the 4×100 (Hall) and 4×400 (Ellis and Norman) either.

Keep an eye on Arizona State’s Maggie Ewen and Georgia’s Keturah Orji as well. Ewen, who bettered her own collegiate record two weeks ago, is only entered in the hammer and can focus on that, while Orji hits the runway for the first time in the triple jump, her signature event.