After nearly five straight months of competition, Cal runners, throwers, vaulters, jumpers and coaches can all look back on their experiences during an exhausting track and field season.

They have much to take from an up-and-down season that featured roughly an equal amount of individual successes and disappointments.

Discus extraordinaire Martin Maric's final year was probably the best story for the Bears this season, as he took a national title in the discus last weekend.

"(Maric was) on a mission this year to finish his career on a high note," coach Tony Sandoval said after the NCAA Championships.

Maric powered through NCAA Championships to cap off what has been quite an enviable series of events for the senior.

Last summer in Beijing, Maric competed for his native Croatia in the discus at the 2008 Summer Olympic Games and, just two weeks before he locked up a win at nationals, Maric clinched his second straight West Regional title.

The final score for Cal at NCAA Championships was quite descriptive of the Bears' shortcomings this year, however.

The men's team, going into nationals ranked 15th in the nation, came out with only 10 points scored-all 10 points coming from Maric's win in the discus-good enough for 25th place.

The women's team did not score and, as such, came up short of 70 other schools at nationals.

While it is true that many of Cal's disappointments stemmed from injuries and bad luck, the team will need to work on its performances in the clutch and aim to gather points from a greater number of events. Improvements in these problematic areas, could help close the gap between the Bears and their Pac-10 rivals.

After all, many of the team's most electrifying performances came when the marks didn't quite mean all that much.

At the Brutus Hamilton Invitational, Michael Coe set a program record in the mile with a time of 3:58.62, but his effort earned no extra points or awards for the squad.

Luckily for Cal, many of the team's most talented athletes are on the younger side and should have their best years ahead of them. Another season of experience is what could push a number of them to that elite level.

Sophomores Cherrelle Garrett and Coe lead this collection of Cal's youth, and both will undoubtedly be putting in all their efforts this off-season to sharpen their racing ability.

Garrett was arguably the team's most consistent performer during the regular season, but fell short both indoors and outdoors in the postseason.

Coe carried momentum from a spectacular indoor season on his way to a record-setting mile run early on outdoors, but an injury left him short-handed when it counted.

At the end of the season, Coe said that when he was healthy, there was no competitor who he couldn't run with.

Hopefully for the Bears, Coe's teammates will be able to adapt similar sentiments in their off-season training.

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