Hopefully this is the first 2 of many but a couple early XC/distance recruits. Both from St Francis but different locations:

Haley Silva SF in Sac. Best 800 2:16.47, 1600 5:04.95, 3200 11:26.91

Quote:

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Juan Pablo Garcia SF Mountain View 1600 4:13.38 State meet prelims., 3200 9:21.10.

edit: Since early signing period is not until Nov 13th, these are non binding verbals only until they they sign on the dotted line.

Another verbal Gianna Beasley South Pasadena HS in Socal. 800-1500. Best of 2:14.44 & 5.17.83 (1600) all done as a 10th grader. Also has run 57.74 as a frosh.




article on her commitment. https://tigernewspaper.com/senior-gianna-beasley-commits-to-uc-berkeley-to-run-track/

From Half Moon Bay HS Claire Yerby has verbal to Cal. Best of 2:17.51 800 and 4:47 1500.

First weight recruit from the state of Ohio, Justin Wirtz. He will concentrate on the discus & hammer events.

Story: https://chroniclet.com/news/176458/avon-lakes-justin-wirtz-commits-to-berkeley/

Another thrower has made a commitment and he is a good one. Jeff Duensing from Esperanza HS in Socal. He was 8th (58.35) in the SP and 4th in the discus (177) at state last year but he underachieved in both events. He has the best during the year of 66-8 & 190-9. There is a picture of him wearing a Cal shirt on his instragram acct but I'm not able to copy it Here is his comment though

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'I've decided to commit to Cal Berkeley to further my academic and throwing career. Thank you to my parents for making me."

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I have heard from a 3rd party yet another weight person has made a verbal too but so far haven't confirmed it. Perhaps we will hear when the early signing period occurs! No doubt one of the strengths of the program has been the weights under the coaching of Mohamad Saatara and with 3 news recruits added to our returners it should remain our strongest events.

Garrett MacQuiddy Westmont has committed to CAL. 3rd in last yrs 800 at State 1:52.25. Also has run 4:15.36 in the 1600 and 9:24.09. He is one of CCS top XC runner this year too!

Not previously mentioned a transfer from TCU (Soph)
60: 7.41
100: 11.67 (0.7)
200: 24.27 (0.8)



Here is the thrower that I previously mentioned but could not verify his commitment.

Garrett MacQuiddy is quite a middle distance runner (800m) from my alma-mater Westmont HS-Campbell!
GO BEARS!

George Monroe Sprinter/Hurdler from Missouri. Best 100/200 10.75 & 22.19. Not sure about his hurdling times couldn't find times relating to hurdles..

Can George Monroe also play safety?

Ashtyn Davis set the precedent. He has finished his eligibility and is leaving.

There may be an opening for another fast hurdler.

This is most excellent information. Congratulations to all.
Go Bears !

From Great Oak HS, Cole Yager has committed to CAL in XC & Track! Best times of in 1600/3200 4:17.35 & 9:42.37

That's a lot of middle distance recruits. Can we find just one quarter miler?

Polodad said:

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That's a lot of middle distance recruits. Can we find just one quarter miler?

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I thought we had Ismail Turner in the 2019 class, where his best time as a jr was 46.74. However he is not listed in our freshmen class but now changed is commitment to UCLA. Oh well ..maybe one of these years!

New horizontal jumper/sprinter from Canada Busola Akinduro. Best of 17' 11.25" LJ, 41' 4" TJ, and 13.4 100. Will be a great addition to our field events.

From Hong Kong Toby Lai. She is about a 5' 9" HJ'er!

Last month, Robyne Johnson added 3 time Gold Medalist Tianna Bartoletta to the coaching staff.

If I'm one of the top high school jumpers, I'm going to want to come to CAL now!

https://calbears.com/news/2019/12/11/track-field-adds-olympian-bartoletta-to-staff.aspx

Hey - just had a Cal sophomore from the club explode in the 400. Andrew Orellana dropped his PR from 50.02 as a freshman to 48.17 at the last all-comers meet. Long story short he is going to be the latest walk-on from Strawberry Canyon Track Club.

Cal Junkie said:

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Hey - just had a Cal sophomore from the club explode in the 400. Andrew Orellana dropped his PR from 50.02 as a freshman to 48.17 at the last all-comers meet. Long story short he is going to be the latest walk-on from Strawberry Canyon Track Club.

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Cool! Thanks for the info. I actually googled him when I saw the time and tried to get more information on him to determine where is was attending school. Couldn't find anything. Wow in our own backyard! Would he be the first sprinter from SCTC?

Got 3 more distance recruits from Great Oak HS joining previously announced Cole Yaeger & 2019 Fatima Cortes (though don't see Fatima on the current roster. Hopefully she is still here). I would say the best of the 3 is Gabriel but hopefully our new XC/distance coach will work wonders with all our new recruits. Our guys team struggled this past XC season.

Aric Reza



Gabriel Abbes



Arianna Griffifth

OBear073akaSMFan said:

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Cal Junkie said:

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Hey - just had a Cal sophomore from the club explode in the 400. Andrew Orellana dropped his PR from 50.02 as a freshman to 48.17 at the last all-comers meet. Long story short he is going to be the latest walk-on from Strawberry Canyon Track Club.

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Cool! Thanks for the info. I actually googled him when I saw the time and tried to get more information on him to determine where is was attending school. Couldn't find anything. Wow in our own backyard! Would he be the first sprinter from SCTC?

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He is our first sprinter walk-on and we've had several sprinters but none who've put up this kind of a mark. We have had over a half-dozen distance runners walk on over the years, but this is the first sprinter I've worked with who made it, and I suspect it's timely for Cal as I think they may need a walk-on guy for whom we think 47s is coming up very soon.

Fatima Cortes ran the all-comers meet 3000 and I think she was unattached. Maybe they're blue-shirting her. Results are at www.recordtiming.com

Cal Junkie said:

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. Results are at www.recordtiming.com

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Actually when I did google the time yesterday I did get the info from that site. Any idea where the winner Myles Ellis is attending. Think his 2 yrs JC stint is over.

2 more recruits

Shiqi Liu from Beijing, China. 2nd recruit from China (HJ'er Toby Lai) who is a javelin thrower. I can't find much on her. There is a person of the same name who threw 47.86 meters (157') in a meet 7/17/2016. Seems kind of long ago but the distance is good.



Michael Gupta a thrower from Mass. My guess a HT or WT. His SP & Discus are subpar

3 new sprinters all JC transfers.

Kamu Carlise 100m - 10.87 ,LJ - 23' 5"



Kyle Johnston 100m - 10.87, 200m - 21.78



Christian Catlin 100m - 10.78 ,200m - 22.15



None with spectacular times but hopefully they will improve with better coaching

Several intriguing recruits shown above! Cal has several male weight prospects with major potential. The TCU transfer female sprinter is a talent. The two Chinese female athletes appear to be competitive, too. Many male sprinters and middle distance runners in the class. GO BEARS!

This number of recruits since extraordinarily high for Cal compared to the past 30 years. Did JK find some additional scholly $ for the new staff?

Maybe some of these recruits just wanted to get accepted to CAL.

bearchamp said:

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Maybe some of these recruits just wanted to get accepted to CAL.

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Yep. I think this is about normal and there aren't any really 5 star athletes recruits. Maybe some 2-3 stars at this time. Many are probably only getting scholars for books.

Many extraordinary "Olympic" sport athletes compete without scholarships. Only basketball and football have full team scholarships.

"I'm an outdoorsman," he said. "You're surrounded by all kinds of interesting things (at Berkeley). For instance, Yellowstone Park is five hours away. Lake Tahoe is 2 miles away.

maybe means Yosemite?

I wish tahoe was 2 miles away

Oak, with all due respect, what are you talking about???

Anyone else notice that anyone who scored points (or had the potential to) for the Bears in the last couple years has left/transferred sides a couple a throwers? Like Chohan (UT), Coralles (USC), Kettles (USC), Colter (didn't finish eligibility), Kokulati (didn't finish eligibility), Johnson (USC), Martinez (Arkansas), Brendel (Arkansas), I'm sure I'm missing a few? Do the kids know something we don't? I'm rooting for Coach Johnson to replace those points but I don't see it in the incoming class besides a couple throwers. Anyone know of any other recruits they haven't released yet? GO BEARS!

BayAreaClubCoach said:

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Anyone else notice that anyone who scored points (or had the potential to) for the Bears in the last couple years has left/transferred sides a couple a throwers? Like Chohan (UT), Coralles (USC), Kettles (USC), Colter (didn't finish eligibility), Kokulati (didn't finish eligibility), Johnson (USC), Martinez (Arkansas), Brendel (Arkansas), I'm sure I'm missing a few? Do the kids know something we don't? I'm rooting for Coach Johnson to replace those points but I don't see it in the incoming class besides a couple throwers. Anyone know of any other recruits they haven't released yet? GO BEARS!

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Wonder what happened to Chohan. He was sensational in the Big Meets! Gonna be missed. Which Johnson? McKay or Josh or both.

OBear073akaSMFan said:

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BayAreaClubCoach said:

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Anyone else notice that anyone who scored points (or had the potential to) for the Bears in the last couple years has left/transferred sides a couple a throwers? Like Chohan (UT), Coralles (USC), Kettles (USC), Colter (didn't finish eligibility), Kokulati (didn't finish eligibility), Johnson (USC), Martinez (Arkansas), Brendel (Arkansas), I'm sure I'm missing a few? Do the kids know something we don't? I'm rooting for Coach Johnson to replace those points but I don't see it in the incoming class besides a couple throwers. Anyone know of any other recruits they haven't released yet? GO BEARS!

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Wonder what happened to Chohan. He was sensational in the Big Meets! Gonna be missed. Which Johnson? McKay or Josh or both.

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Boo Hoo. What a disappointment after he received all of the year end accolades My guess he might be a 5th year transfer after sitting out last year due to a serious injury.