Joyce Wins Don Bowden Mile in 3:58.69 at Brutus Hamilton
Golden Bears follow Joyce's first sub-4 Mile win with third and fourth place finishes, both under 4:02
From Cal Athletics
The California Golden Bears concluded their 2015 home slate with the Brutus Hamilton Challenge on Saturday at Edwards Stadium in Berkeley. The Cal men finished first with 210 points and the women finished second with 176 points in the scoring meet against UTEP, Kansas State and Utah State. The Cal men, the third ranked dual meet team in the country coming into the weekend, figure to push forward in the polls with their comfortable victory on Saturday.
Individually, the Don Bowden Mile was an incredible race, as Cal junior Thomas Joyce defeated the indoor national champion, UTEP’s Anthony Rotich, as Joyce set a new PR and moved into fourth on Cal’s All-Time Performers List, clocking his first sub-4 time of 3:58.69 and moving past legend Bowden himself. Additionally, teammates and fellow juniors Leland Later and Josh Lewis finished third and fourth, respectively, clocking times of 4:01.33 and 4:01.84, which are both lifetime bests.
“There is something magical about the Mile,” Director of track and field Tony Sandoval said on Saturday. “I think the fans come out of the woodwork to see that and Thomas (Joyce) and his crew did not disappoint. For him to beat (UTEP’s Anthony) Rotich, who was the indoor national champion last year, says something. Thomas is going to be in a great position, because I think that he can kick with anybody. What is great too is that his training teammates Leland Later and Josh Lewis also ran around the 4:01 mark. That was a great finish for them and was certainly a highlight, but there were a lot of highlights this weekend. On the men’s side, we won the meet and placed second on the women’s side and I am very proud of their efforts.”
Continue reading at: calbears.com
