According to Cal track and field coach Tony Sandoval, senior discus thrower Martin Maric was "on a mission this year to finish his career on a high note."

Did he ever.

On Saturday, Maric captured the men's discus title to earn the Bears' only event victory at the four-day long NCAA Track and Field Championships in Fayetteville, Ark.

In a dramatic final, Maric's last throw (196-3 feet) catapulted him out of a third place hole to edge Arizona State's Ryan Whiting by one inch.

The win for Maric capped off a collegiate career that included two consecutive regional championships, three a

All-American honors in the discus and the javelin and an Olympic appearance for his native Croatia in 2008.

Yet the senior hardly considered himself a favorite heading into the last day, noting that the final "turned into anyone's competition" due to the challenging weather conditions.

"I was frustrated by the very strong tailwind," Maric said. "It kept pushing down the discus."

But he adjusted at the right time and, as a result, Cal left the NCAA championships with an individual event victory for the third straight year.

Last year, it was pole vaulter Katie Morgan who claimed a title for the Bears-but the senior's performance this week was not enough for her to repeat.

After barely qualifying during the prelims, Morgan rebounded to clear three bars in a row in the final before eventually finishing 13th with a mark of 13-5.25 feet.

"It's upsetting," Morgan said about not ending going out with a win. "Last year went so well … (but) it's hard to have everything go for you."

In fact, Morgan had a number of things going against her.

Morgan not only felt the added pressure of defending her title, but had to compete against a much stronger field than last year's.

"The pole vault just gets better and better ... The depth of competition is wicked," said Sandoval about this year's final, in which the top mark (14-5.25) was six inches higher than Morgan's winning mark from 2008.

The coach also noted that Morgan's marks were about equal to last year's despite her being "in catch-up mode" after losing training time due to injury.

But Morgan was not the only Cal track member in Fayetteville that was not competing at full strength.

Sophomore Michael Coe, who sprained an ankle at the Payton Jordan Invitational on May 4, admitted that he was not in top form during his 10th-place finish in Saturday's 1500m final.

"When I'm strong, there's no competition I can't run with," he said.

But the training that Coe missed while recovering showed during Saturday's race, as he fell behind early and could not recover.

"I felt I was going to sit at the front," Coe said, "but I couldn't keep up ... The pace was very fast."

His finish was a disappointment, but Coe's preliminary time (3:41.6) was a personal best and his final mark was just over two seconds off the winning time.

"(The finish) was not what I was looking for," he said, "but I'm not going to hang my head."

Coe's thoughts mirrored Sandoval's attitude when talking about the team as a whole this week.

While Maric, Morgan and Coe were the only Bears to advance to their event finals, Sandoval was still pleased to bring 14 representatives to McDonell Field.

"It's one of the higher numbers we've had," he said. "Overall, we've had a great year, and getting to the NCAAs is pretty special."

Tags: KATIE MORGAN, CAL TRACK AND FIELD, MARTIN MARIC, MICHAEL COE