This season’s Big Meet produced a big performance from the California men’s track and field team.
The Golden Bears snapped a three-year losing streak to Stanford on Saturday with a 96-66 victory in the annual battle of Bay Area rivals.
California dominated many events, most notably the long jump, where senior Vincent Ibia (first, 23 feet, 11 3/4 inches), sophomore Brandon Williams (second, 23-1 3/4) and senior Bruce Giron (third, 23-0) swept the event.
The Golden Bears won 11 of 19 total events.
“It was a wonderful day to stop the streak on the men’s side,” California head coach Chris Huffins said. “Our program is moving rapidly towards the forefront of West Coast track and field.”
Several other Bears produced promising marks with the Pacific-10 Conference Championships just two weeks away. Junior Rhuben Williams set personal records in the hammer (first, 205-2) and the shot put (first, 64-9 3/4), while senior Nick Mazur ran a personal best in the 100-meter dash at 10.54 seconds.
Giron also won the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 52.71 seconds, more than 1.5 seconds behind the conference leading time ran by Oregon’s Brandon Holliday (51.08) at the Oregon Twilight.
One bright moment for Stanford was Stanley Wilson’s performance in the 100. A defensive back on the Cardinal football team, Wilson had been limited in his training because of football commitments. Despite this conflict, the junior ran an NCAA Regional qualifying time of 10.49.
“Stanley Wilson did an outstanding job,” Stanford men’s head coach Robert Weir said. “We did the best we could but it was just not enough. It’s a great rivalry and a great tradition.”
Other Stanford athletes who met the NCAA Regional qualifying standard included Jason Goff in the javelin (217-10), Nick Sebes in the 400 (46.74) and Solomon Welch in the triple jump (50-5 1/4).

Bruins bash the Trojans
UCLA dominated USC to the tune of a 111-52 victory Saturday in the 72nd annual dual meet between southern California rivals.
The Bruins’ 59-point margin of victory was the largest for UCLA since the use of traditional scoring (5-3-1 individual events, 5-0 relay events) since 1992.
UCLA’s day included 12 event winners, 13 personal best and 22 regional qualifying performances. They also swept five events.
Senior Dan Ames and sophomore Chad Galbreath were both multiple event winners for the Bruins. Ames took home first place in the hammer, with a personal best throw of 212-2, and the shot put (64-7 3/4).
Galbreath won the steeplechase (9:46.92) and the 5,000 (15:16.94).

Kings of the desert
Arizona State earned state bragging rights Saturday, defeating Arizona and Northern Arizona in the annual “Dual in the Desert” in Tucson.
The Sun Devils defeated the Wildcats, 104-96, and the Lumberjacks, 130-60.
Despite the loss, Arizona had one of its top meets of the season, recording 28 conference qualifying marks and 22 NCAA Regional qualifiers.
Senior Matt Wagner was impressive with the javelin for the Wildcats, winning the event with a throw of 225-2. Freshman Daniel Cook won the 110 hurdles (14.79) and also finished third in the 400 hurdles (55.94).