BearTalk

Cal junior Deborah Maier finished second in the women’s 3,000 meters on Saturday at the NCAA indoor track and field championships in Nampa, Idaho. On the heels of her runnerup finish in the 5,000 on Friday night, Maier became the first Cal athlete to score in two events at the meet in 22 years.

Georgetown’s Emily Infield passed Maier with 20 meters to go to win the 3K race in  9:15.44. Maier crossed in 9:15.74.

“What a phenomenal effort,” Cal coach Tony Sandoval said. “To turn it around after (Friday), Deborah went for it with 200 meters to go and beat some terrific people . . . This certainly puts a stamp of greatness for her future. I have to take my hat off to her. She put the disappointment of not winning Friday behind her and went for the win.”

Cal’s powerhouse rugby team lost 22-20 at Cal Poly, snapping the Bears’ 63-match win streak.

The Bears fell to 10-1 this season.

Meanwhile . . .

   — Swimming: Liv Jensen won the 100-yard freestyle (47.42 seconds) and Caitlin Leverenz won the 200 breakstroke in a school-record time (2:05.49) as the Cal women captured their second Pac-12 team title in four years at Federal Way, Wash.

   – Track and field: Deborah Maier set a meet record to win the 3,000 meters (9:02.35) at the MPSF indoor championships in Seattle. Teammate Chelsea Reilly set a school record in the mile (4:41.29) to finish third.

   – Softball:  Valerie Arioto pitched a four-hitter and hit her eighth home run of the season as the No. 1/3 Golden Bears (11-0) topped Cal Poly 4-1 at the Cathedral City Classic. The Bears face Cal State Northridge on Sunday. 

   – Baseball: Vince Bruno tripled to open the 10th inning and scored on Chad Bunting’s sacrifice fly and the Bears (4-1) beat Long Beach State 2-1.

A detour from hoops: Cal junior Deborah Maier made her track and field indoor season debut, breaking her own school record in the 5K by more than 30 seconds.

Her time of 15 minutes, 29.14 seconds at the FloTrack Husky Classic in Seattle is the fifth-fastest collegiate time of all-time. Maier’s previous indoor school record was 15:58.49.