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Cal put forth its best effort but was swept at the Big Meet for the second year in a row Saturday at Edwards Stadium. On men’s side, the Cardinal won 94-69, marking its first victory at Cal since 1966. The Cardinal women posted a 101-62 victory.  

“(The streak) meant a lot to the kids on different teams,” said Cal Director of Track and Field Erv Hunt. “You always want to win, but it’s amazing that it’s been that long of a time (since Stanford won in Berkeley). To win something that many times is pretty amazing.”  

The Golden Bears had less athletes entered than Stanford in many events, but those that competed had arguably their best meet of the year. Among those that scored, 18 personal bests were set by Cal athletes. Additionally, the Bears posted three of the six Big Meet records set Saturday. The teams also combined to set three school records - two for Cal and one for Stanford.  

“Kids really stepped up and did a great job,” said Hunt. “Stanford just had too many people. There were a lot of really good performances. You can’t ask for them to do better than their best.”  

The most impressive of all of the records set in the 108th Big Meet (23rd for women) came from Cal senior Jennifer Joyce. The Vancouver product broke her own Canadian record and school record in the hammer by winning the competition with a throw of 214’0”, bettering her previous Canadian record of 212’7” set two weeks ago at the Mount SAC Relays. Joyce, who ranks second in the nation in the hammer this year, also shattered her previous hammer Big Meet record of 200’4” from 2000.  

Three other seniors and one junior accounted for the several of the other Cal highlights. Senior Bubba McLean won the pole vault by eclipsing the 18-foot mark for the first time in his career. He cleared an NCAA provisional 18’0.5”, becoming only the third Cal athlete to ever clear 18 feet. McLean broke the previous Big Meet record of 17’8.5”, set in 1991 by Brent Burns. Burns and Clarence Phelps are the other two 18-foot pole vaulters in Cal history.  

“You kind of knew (an 18-foot clearance) was coming,” said Hunt. “This was a good time to get it. It was pretty exciting.”  

Senior Marielle Schlueter finished second (NCAA provisional: 10:22.38) in the 3000-meter steeplechase and bettered her previous Cal record by almosts eight seconds.  

Senior Erin Belger, who entered the meet with the second-best mark in the nation in the 800, easily won the event Saturday with a new personal best and NCAA automatic time of 2:04.39. Stanford’s Ashley Wysong was second in 2:06.94.  

“She wasn’t pushed really,” said Hunt of Belger. “She can go faster. That’s for sure. She’s setting herself up to make a run at the NCAA championship.”  

Cal swept two events Saturday - the men’s javelin and the women’s 400-meter hurdles. Junior Joe Berro claimed top honors in the javelin with a modern era Big Meet record of 220’2”. That distance was a personal record, an NCAA provisional qualifier and ranks second on the Bears all-time list. Sophomore Deanna Slaton also posted a PR of 1:00.05 to take first in the 400-meter hurdles.  

Overall, Cal won 12 events - six men’s and six women’s - and nine of the victories came with personal best performances.