Track & Field Announces 2021-22 Recruiting Class

Aug 25, 2021

BERKELEY – California Director of Track & Field/Cross Country Robyne Johnson announced the addition of 28 new student-athletes for the 2021-22 school year on Wednesday, her second recruiting class as the leader of the program.

"I'm very excited about the new additions to our track & field and cross country programs," Johnson said. "This class is full of exciting athletes who bring a wealth of both youth and experience to Berkeley. I applaud the efforts of my staff in putting this group together and am excited for the future of Cal track & field and cross country."

The class features a large group of sprint/power runners, with nine women and four men, including transfers and freshmen additions. Cal also adds seven new members to the throws group, three multi-event athletes, three distance runners and two jumpers.

Distance:
Erin Archibeck | Albuquerque, N.M. | Notre Dame | Albuquerque Academy
Landen Lee | Mission Viejo, Calif. | Trabuco Hills
Arjun Vadgama | Los Angeles, Calif. | Loyola

Cal adds a small, but strong group of distance runners to the team for the upcoming season, led by Notre Dame graduate transfer, Erin Archibeck. A native of Albuquerque, N.M., Archibeck finished sixth in the 5,000-meters at the 2021 ACC Championships and 12th at the ACC Cross Country Championships, running the 6k distance. Landen Lee joins the Bears after winning the Mt. Sac Championship with a time of 15:06 and a 14:43 3-mile personal best. Arjun Vadgama rounds out the class as the CIFSS 1,600-meter champ and holds a 4:12 personal record.

Jumps:
Felicia Renelus | Valley Stream, N.Y. | Brown University
Ijeoma Uche | Lawrenceville, Ga. | Brown University

The Bears add two standout transfers to the jumps squad in Felicia Renelus and Ijeoma Uche, both coming to Berkeley from Brown University. Uche won the Ivy League indoor long jump title in 2020 and holds a personal best leap of 6.27 meters (20-7). She has won 20 long jump competitions in her collegiate career. Renelus won both triple jump competitions entered in 2021 and took sixth at the 2020 Ivy League indoor championships in the triple while finishing 10th in the long jump. She has a lifetime best of 12.47 meters (40-11) in the triple jump.

Multi Events/Pole Vault:
Tyler Burns | El Dorado Hills, Calif. | Oak Ridge
Riley Knott | Fairbanks, Ak. | Lathrop
Adriana Ellard | San Antonio, Texas | San Antonio Christian High School

Tyler Burns joins the Bears with a personal best of 5.02 meters (16-6) in the pole vault and is the son of former Cal pole vaulter Brent Burns, a member of the Cal Athletics Hall of Fame. Riley Knott will compete in the Decathlon at Cal and Adriana Ellard is a high jumper.

Cal adds a mix of solid transfers who will bring immediate experience along with a group of strong talent from the high school level to the sprints group. Jazlynn Shearer comes to Berkeley from UNLV, where she finished second at the 2021 Mountain West Championships in the 100-meter hurdles and the long jump. Jada Hicks won the 60-meter hurdle title at the 2020 Mountain West Indoor Championships with a time of 8.18 seconds for UNLV. From the high school side, David Foster was the 2020 AAU men's 100-meter national champion, while Jordyn Grady won the Baseline League 100-meter and 300-meter hurdle titles.

Throws:
Mykolas Alekna | Vilnius, Lithuania | Jusis Training Club
Charlie Dang | San Jose, Calif. | Silver Creek
Amelia Flynt | Katy, Texas | Katy Cinco Ranch
Ariana Novela | Corona Del Mar, Calif. | Corona Del Mar
Destiny Okoh | Long Beach, Calif. | Long Beach Poly
Sara Pettinger | Mission Viejo, Calif. | Mission Viejo
Rebecca Tomman | Berlin, Germany | North Dakota State

The throws group adds a star-studded combination of two men and five women student-athletes to the mix for the 2021-22 school year. Mykolas Alekna won the discus throw title at the world U20 championships, setting a new meet record with a throw of 69.81 meters (229-0). It was the second-farthest throw in U20 world history. Ameila Flynt comes to Berkeley with the top discus throw in the country at 52.91 meters (173-5) and was the All-Greater Houston Area Women's Track & Field Athlete of the Year after winning the state title in the discus and shot put. Sara Pettinger finished third in California with a shot put mark of 13.44 meters (44-1) and Charlie Dang was second in California with a top discus throw heave of 59.04 meters (193-7).

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