Canada's Rowan Hamilton is U. of California's 1st NCAA men's hammer throw champ in 102 years

Rowan Hamilton is aware of the need to be in championship form with the Paris Olympics in two months and he didn't disappoint Wednesday night.

A native of Chilliwack, B.C., he threw a personal-best 77.18 metres for the University of California to win the men's hammer throw at the NCAA outdoor track and field championships in Eugene, Ore.

Hamilton had previously captured three national collegiate titles while representing the University of British Columbia, where he delivered the 27 longest throws in National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) history.

The graduate transfer is Cal's first individual men's NCAA track and field champion in 13 years and its first hammer throw winner since John Merchant in 1922.

"My mind is definitely focused on the competition this summer, obviously in Paris," the 24-year-old told SI.com this week. "I think [the NCAA championships] is an excellent way to prepare for that. You have to come out and perform, just like you'll have to do [in August] at the Olympics."

At Hayward Field, Hamilton overtook defending champion and Harvard junior Kenneth Ikeji (77.12) in the third round. His toss measured two centimetres longer than his previous best and is eighth on the all-time collegiate list but fell 1.2m shy of the automatic entry standard for Paris.

Still, Hamilton occupies the 21st spot among the 32 for Olympic selection on world rankings points.

Nine have achieved standard including Ethan Katzberg of Nanaimo, B.C., the Canadian record holder who tops Olympic qualifying with a world-leading throw of 84.38. Adam Keenan of Victoria is 15th in the world rankings quota, with each country allowed a maximum of three athletes per gender from each Olympic event for selection.

'Exciting point in my life'

"For so long, I've wanted to become an Olympian, even if I wasn't sure in what sport," Hamilton told the Vancouver Province newspaper recently. "I played soccer and basketball as a kid before track and I always told my parents, I just want to go to the Olympics.

"Now, to see it becoming a possibility for me, it's just such an exciting point in my life to see that dream becoming more realistic."

On May 11, Hamilton won at the Pac-12 meet with a throw of 76.53 in Boulder, Colo.

He became Cal's first male weight thrower to qualify for the NCAA indoor championships in March, where he was 12th (21.52) in Boston.

Two weeks earlier, Hamilton broke the Golden Bears record with a 22.36 throw at the Ken Shannon Invitational in Seattle.

Hamilton was second to Katzberg at last year's Canadian championships and has appeared at the past two World Athletics Championships. He finished seventh in his qualification group last August – up three spots from the previous year – and missed the final by 77 cm.

With the 16th-best hammer throw in the world this year, Hamilton will be one of the spotlighted performers at the June 15-16 Harry Jerome Track Classic. The hammer and discus throw events will be held at McLeod Stadium in Langley, B.C.

Sutherland to defend title Saturday

Barring illness or injury, Savannah Sutherland will arrive at the Canadian Olympic trials later this month in Montreal having qualified for the Paris Olympics, and more.

The hurdler from Borden, Sask., lowered the Canadian record to 54.04 seconds in the preliminary round of the women's 400 event at the NCAA outdoor track and field championships on Thursday.

The University of Michigan athlete, who was second to Arkansas' Rachel Glenn (53.80), will try to defend her title Saturday at 6:57 p.m. ET.

Two-time Olympian Sage Walker (formerly Watson) held the previous Canadian mark of 54.32 since the semifinals of the 2019 World Athletics Championships in Doha, Qatar.

Sutherland, 20, had already achieved the 54.85 entry standard for the Paris Olympics this summer after clocking 54.61 at the NCAA Division 1 East First Round meet on May 23 in Lexington, Ky.

On April 25, she posted a 55.36 winning time for a Penn Relays record.

She also holds the national indoor 400 mark of 51.60, set March 11, 2023 at the NCAA event in New Mexico.

She reached the outdoor 400 hurdles semifinals at worlds last August in Budapest, Hungary, where she was sixth in her heat in 54.99.

Lone runner under 45 seconds

Also Wednesday, Vaughan, Ont., sprinter Christopher Morales Williams qualified first for Friday's 10 p.m. ET final of the men's 400 in Eugene.

The 19-year-old University of Georgia sophomore was the lone athlete to run under 45 seconds, clocking 44.96. Auhmad Robinson of Texas A&M was next in 45 flat, followed by University of Southern California's Johnnie Blockburger (45.13).

Morales Williams ran a world-leading 44.05 on May 11 to win the 400 at the Southeastern Conference outdoor championships in Gainesville, Fla.

The performance lowered Tyler Christopher's 44.44 Canadian mark from 2005, reigning Olympic 100 silver medallist Fred Kerley's meet record of 44.09 from 2017, along with his school's and the facility's records.

On March 6, Morales Williams was the third Bulldog to be named SEC indoor men's runner of the year after setting a Canadian and all-time best mark of 44.49 at the SECs the previous month.