Camryn Rogers hopes to be back at Hayward in July for the World Athletics Championships. She’d be representing Canada. Photo by Kevin Neri
Camryn Rogers and her Cal teammate, Anna Purchase, embraced each other in an emotional celebration of her third consecutive NCAA hammer throw title after Rogers set yet another record.
When Rogers stepped in the cage Thursday, dressed in Cal’s Yale Blue and California Gold, she competed in her last collegiate event.
“I feel like it was an outpouring of every single one of those emotions we’ve experienced together,” said Rogers.
“It was hard, ’cause when she was really good, it was hard not to get excited and stay focused,” said Purchase. “It was a good way to end it for her.”
Rogers’ first throw, a distance of 245 feet, 9 inches, was five inches farther than runner-up Alyssa Wilson’s best throw. However, it was Rogers’ fifth throw of 254-10 that broke her previous NCAA and meet records.
That fifth throw extended her margin of victory to about nine and a half feet. Wilson 245-4, a personal best.
Notably Cal and Arizona State had two athletes win All-American honors. Arizona State’s Beatrice Llano and Shelby Moran finished third and fifth, respectively. Purchase placed seventh.
Rogers leaves her collegiate career with three NCAA and Pac-12 champion titles — and unofficially she also holds the “queen of the hammer” title.
Although this is a wrap for Rogers’ track and field career at Cal, this isn’t the last Hayward Field will see of her. In just a few weeks she’ll head back home to compete in the Canadian trials in hopes to make her national team for the World Athletics Championships, which will be held in Eugene in July.
