Cal’s Mykolas Alekna was an inch shy of putting together a perfect rookie season throwing the discus.
Unbeaten all season – including twice breaking the college record – Alekna finished second in the NCAA Athletics Championships on Friday. Claudia Romero of Virginia beat him by an inch.
His senior teammate Iffy Joyner (left in cover photo) finished fourth on Friday.
Alekna’s college record of 225 feet 6 inches (68.73 meters) places him fifth on the 2022 world list.
While Friday wasn’t the ending he wanted, an All-America final in their first NCAA meeting capped off what was nonetheless an excellent rookie season for the 19-year-old from Lithuania.
His performance made us think of other elite rookie seasons delivered by Cal’s athletes over the years. Here are a few worth celebrating:
— COLLEEN GALLOWAY, Basketball (1977-78): Cal’s first women’s basketball star, Galloway averaged 16.4 points and 10.4 rebounds and hit 51 percent as a freshman. She earned All-NorCal Conference first-team honors for an 18-12 team. Galloway led the Bears to four straight seasons, twice won the All-America award, and became the show’s top scorer with 2,000 points.
— MICHELE GRANGER, Softball (1990): Cal’s top softball pitcher, Granger won 24 games as a rookie (including five no-hitters), compiling a run-win average of 0.35 with 327 strikeouts in 277.6 innings for a team that advanced to the NCAA tournament. . She earned All-America first-team honors for the first of four consecutive seasons. Granger went on to win 119 career games with an ERA of 0.46 and 1,640 strikeouts. She later helped pitch Team USA to a gold medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
— JASON KIDD, Basketball (1992-93): Kidd was named National Rookie of the Year after averaging 13.0 points, 5.9 rebounds, 7.7 assists and an NCAA-leading 3.8 steals for a Cal team that defeated two-time national champions Duke to reach the Sweet 16. In three NCAA games that season, he averaged 13.3 points, 6.7 rebounds, 10.3 assists, and 4.3 steals. Kidd went on to a career in the NBA Hall of Fame, won two Olympic gold medals, and is currently the head coach of the Dallas Mavericks.
— SHAREEF ABDUR-RAHIM, Basketball (1995-96): Abdur-Raghim averaged 21.1 points, 8.4 rebounds, 1.9 steals and shot 52% from the field as a rookie. He scored 33 points in his college debut against Northern Arizona, 29 against Texas Southern, and 32 against USF in his third game. He averaged 31.3 points and shot 74% (34 of 46) from the field in those games. He led Cal to an NCAA tournament bid and was named Pac-10 Rookie of the Year and Pac-10 Player of the Year. The number 3 pick in the 1996 NBA draft, Abdur-Rahim won an Olympic gold medal and averaged 18.1 points in 12 NBA seasons.
— XAVIER NADY, Baseball (1998): Nady earned rookie All-America honors after hitting .404 — still the second-highest single-season mark in the show’s history. Nady went on to hit 57 home runs and drive 191, both of which Cal’s career records still stand. He went on to play 12 major league seasons.
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— NATALIE COUGHLIN, Swimming (2001): Coughlin won the 100 backstroke, 200 backstroke, and 100 butterfly as a freshman in the NCAA Championship and was part of three relays that finished second in the NCAA. She was named Pac-10 Swimmer of the Year and NCAA Swimmer of the Year for the first of three times. Coughlin went on to win 12 Olympic medals, including a record six at the 2008 Beijing Games.
— DeSEAN JACKSON, Football (2005): One of Cal’s most elusive wide receivers, Jackson had 38 catches for 601 yards and seven touchdowns as a rookie and had his only punt return for 49 yards and a TD. The Bears were 8-4 and defeated BYU in the Las Vegas Bowl with Jackson catching six passes for 130 yards and 2 TDs in the win. He scored 31 touchdowns in his career from Cal, including six on punt returns, and caught 632 passes for 58 touchdowns in his 14-year professional career.
Alex Morgan
Photo by Eric Hartline, USA Today
— ALEX MORGAN, Football (2007): Morgan led the Bears in scoring for the first of four straight seasons, scoring eight goals as a rookie. She also scored a total of 18 points for a team that went 15-5-1 and advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament. She became one of America’s greatest players, scoring 115 goals for the US national team as she helped the team win two World Cups and gold at the 2012 London Olympics.
— JARED GOFF, Football (2013): As a rookie on a horrible team, Goff passed for 3,506 yards with 18 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He passed for 450 yards on his college debut against Northwestern, then had games for 485 yards in a win over Portland State and 504 yards in a loss to Washington State. Goff ended up as Cal’s career passing leader in virtually every category. He helped the Los Angeles Rams to a Super Bowl appearance and is gearing up to start his second season with the Detroit Lions.
— RYAN MURPHY, Swimming (2014): Murphy won the 100 and 200 backstrokes and swam in three winning relays as a freshman in the NCAA Championship. He set NCAA records in the 200 backstroke and 200 medley relay. At the Pac-12, he won the 100 and 200 backstrokes and was part of the 200 free relay. Murphy set a world record in the 100 backstroke and won four Olympic gold medals.
Missy Franklin
Photo by Erich Schlegel, USA Today
— MISSY FRANKLIN, Swimming (2014): Franklin won the 200-meter freestyle in an American record time and anchored the 800-meter freestyle relay in a freshman victory at the NCAA meeting. She won three individual events and three relays in the Pac-12 to earn Swimmer of the Meeting honors. By the time she swam her freshman season at Cal, Franklin had already won four gold medals at age 17 at the 2012 London Olympics and a record six golds at the 2013 World Championships. She ended her career with a total of 60 medals in major international competitions.
— KRISTINE ANIGWE, Basketball (2015-16): She averaged 20.5 points and 9.3 rebounds and hit 57%, winning the first-team All-Pac-12 for the first of four straight seasons. Anigwe was also named Pac-12 Rookie of the Year. She ended her career as Cal’s scoring and rebounding leader and plays for the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury.
— ANDREW VAUGHN, Baseball (2017): Starting his second season in the Majors with the Chicago White Sox, Vaughn hit .349 as a rookie with Cal, earning rookie All-America honors. He was the winner of the Golden Spikes Award as the 2018 National Player of the Year and ended his career at Cal with 50 home runs and a batting average of .374.
Cover photo of Mykolas Alekna, right, with teammate Iffy Joyner by Al Sermeno, KLC photos
Flook at Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo
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