Track & Field – The Stanford Daily https://stanforddaily.com Breaking news from the Farm since 1892 Wed, 06 Mar 2024 09:54:18 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.3 https://stanforddaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/cropped-DailyIcon-CardinalRed.png?w=32 Track & Field – The Stanford Daily https://stanforddaily.com 32 32 204779320 Garrett Brown wants to keep raising the bar https://stanforddaily.com/2024/03/05/garrett-brown-wants-to-raise-the-bar/ https://stanforddaily.com/2024/03/05/garrett-brown-wants-to-raise-the-bar/#respond Wed, 06 Mar 2024 07:27:56 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1244096 Garrett Brown has already solidified his place in the Stanford record books for pole vaulting. But the junior isn't just a pole vaulter — he has also excelled at multi-events.

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Garrett Brown did not expect to clear a lifetime best height on Jan. 20. 

The junior pole vaulter’s warmups had not gone as well as he had hoped, and it had been almost a year since his last personal record (PR). By now, Brown appreciates that records in the event can come in quick succession, yet also very far apart. 

But that variability is one of the reasons why Brown loves the pole vault. Each attempt necessitates a number of tactical calls, ranging from pole selection to positioning of the standards holding the bar to where on the runway he begins his approach. If even one of those choices is off, a technically solid jump can still result in a miss.

The two-time All-American’s favorite analogy for describing his sport is the game of darts. “If you throw enough darts,” Brown said, “one of those days, everything’s gonna line up and you’re gonna hit a bull’s eye.”

Jan. 20 was one of those days, when the countless practice jumps, strategic decisions and muscle memory all aligned at the right time. Brown only needed one try to clear each of the first five heights he attempted. Having qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championships, he then pushed on to clear a new PR at 5.57 meters (18-3 ¼), further solidifying his place at No. 3 in the school record books and demonstrating early in the season his intentions for an eventful 2024. 

Growing up in Carlsbad, Calif., Brown tried a number of sports — the most unorthodox of which included parkour and freerunning — before landing on pole vault in large part due to a family legacy. His father and older brother both vaulted collegiately at UCLA, and from eighth grade onward, Brown was hooked. 

When a local college decided to upgrade their old pole vaulting pit, Brown’s dad offered to take the setup off their hands and relocated it to the family’s property. Though the space only allowed for a short runway, it meant that Brown literally grew up with the sport in his backyard.

The importance of reps became even more pressing during the COVID-19 pandemic. As facilities shut down, making practice difficult, Brown was in the middle of the college recruiting process.

“He would be sharing and sending me some videos of him practicing in his backyard on some very sketchy setups,” said Arthur “Iggy” Ignaczak, Stanford’s jumps, pole vault and multis coach. “Literally, the standards were two other poles holding up a bungie.” But for Ignaczak, this underscored how much Brown, the third-ranked recruit nationally, cared about the sport and improving despite extenuating circumstances.

In his first year on the Farm, Brown broke the Stanford freshman pole vault record. The summer after freshman year, Brown took second at the USATF U20 Outdoor meet before finishing just off the podium in fourth at the World Under-20 Championships. He then had a breakout sophomore season, reaching both the indoor and outdoor NCAA Championship meets where he placed eighth and 14th, respectively. 

Brown’s coaches describe him as someone who thrives off of his sport’s volatility and any challenge thrown his way. This competitive drive was what initially led him to pursue other events. In the lead up to last year’s Big Meet against Cal, Jarius Cooper, Stanford’s sprints and hurdles coach, remembers how he and his colleagues were trying to fill in entrants for various events. Brown had demonstrated significant potential in other areas in training, Cooper said, especially considering that he was recruited exclusively as a pole vaulter.

“We needed a hurdler, we’re trying to find somebody to stand in that space and find some points,” said Cooper. “And we literally joked about Garrett doing the hurdles and just practicing a couple of times.”

The then-sophomore was intrigued. He offered Cooper a bet: If he completed the 110-meter hurdles in under 15 seconds, Cooper would have to dye his hair.

Brown finished in 14.93 seconds. “For somebody who doesn’t run the event,” Cooper said, “running 14-high is kind of astonishing.”

The result motivated Brown to start playing around with additional disciplines. He had long thought from afar that the multis — competitions consisting of five, seven or 10 disciplines — “seemed pretty fun,” and saw an opportunity in training for seven distinct events to build up his athleticism and endurance for the pole vault. Moreover, Ignaczak believes that trying out other events can help his athletes stay loose in their primary specialties.

It was a nice coincidence, too, that his first heptathlon in early February took place at the Albuquerque Convention Center in Albuquerque, N.M., the site of Brown’s last two PRs in the pole vault. The junior has competed well there throughout his collegiate career, something he and Ignaczak attribute to the location’s high altitude and bouncy runway.

“If there was a girlfriend named Albuquerque,” Ignaczak said, “he would probably ask her out immediately, because he loves that place.”

At that venue on Feb. 3, and in a field dominated by Texas standout Leo Neugebauer — the defending NCAA decathlon champion and holder of both the collegiate and German national records in the event — Brown delivered wins in the pole vault and 60-meter hurdles to finish fifth overall with 5370 points, the third-best score in school history.

Cooper was awed by Brown’s ability to quickly pick up and excel at the different disciplines. “I still don’t know if we’ve seen his best hurdling yet,” Cooper said. “So that’s kind of scary.”

But while neither Brown nor Ignaczak shut the door on attempting another multi in the future, they emphasized that — for now — their energies remain on maximizing Brown’s performance in his specialty event. The junior is focused on achieving high placements at the indoor and outdoor NCAA meets, and then hopefully carrying that momentum into June’s Olympic Trials. 

“Everything has kind of been leading up to this indoor meet,” Brown said in mid-February of the Indoor Championships set to begin Friday in Boston, Mass. “I feel like I’m more ready than ever to PR.”

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Udodi Onwuzurike signs with Adidas, redefining his legacy https://stanforddaily.com/2023/12/05/udodi-onwuzurike-signs-with-adidas-redefining-his-legacy/ https://stanforddaily.com/2023/12/05/udodi-onwuzurike-signs-with-adidas-redefining-his-legacy/#respond Tue, 05 Dec 2023 09:11:10 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1239033 Onwuzurike will be forgoing his last two years of college eligibility. As he starts his track and field career as an Adidas athlete, he reflects on the start of his career at The Daily.

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Junior Udodi Onwuzurike announced last month that he will be forgoing his last two years of college eligibility to start his professional career as an Adidas athlete. 

Onwuzurike, in his two years competing for Stanford, broke four individual school records, contributed to the Stanford men’s third place finish at the 2023 NCAA Track and Field Outdoor Championships and became the first Cardinal to win an NCAA sprint title in 10 years when he ran 19.76 to take home the 200-meters victory. 

Onwuzurike is one of the best sprinters in Stanford history, but his legacy at Stanford goes beyond the numbers. As he prepares to embark on his professional journey, Onwuzurike shares his journey at Stanford — while his teammates and coach reveal the impact he made at the school both on and off the track. 

Onwuzurike, inspired by his brother, started running track in fifth grade and hasn’t looked back. In high school, he became the U20 200-meters world champion and was highly sought after by the top sprint programs in the nation. Stanford, a distance-focused school, seemed an unlikely choice for Onwuzurike.

“When I committed here, a lot of people told me … you’re making the wrong decision, Stanford’s never had a sprinter do what you’ve done before, your sprint career is just going to die when you get there. So, it was very fulfilling to be able to come into Stanford and do what I set out to do,” Onwuzurike said.

Onwuzurike certainly capitalized on his two short years at Stanford, but success did not come right away. “Freshman year, I came into the NCAA thinking … I’m about to take over. I’m just going to do exactly what I did in high school and see if it works … And it didn’t,” he said.

During his first year on the collegiate circuit, he placed third at Nationals in the 200 meter, and did not make the final in the 100 meter, which he says was “not a mission accomplished” for him.

So, Onwuzurike approached his next season with a different mindset. “I came into sophomore year super open-minded, realizing like … let me find all of my weaknesses from the previous year and then just hammer out all those points,” he said. 

Onwuzurike locked in on the track. “He’s one of the people that I literally have to stop from running because he will run himself too much sometimes,” said sprint coach Jarius Cooper. “He is his worst critic, which I think most really great athletes always have a subconscious voice of that in their mind at all times. He works through those moments where he doesn’t like what he’s doing and he works really hard to change them in that moment.” 

Onwuzurike’s determination went beyond the track too — he spent one-on-one time with assistant coach Thomas Gesser in the weight room to get stronger and also met with the nutritionist to improve his diet. 

Onwuzurike was open to feedback, and even changed his running form in order to optimize performance in races. According to Onwuzurike, what worked in high school wasn’t as successful on the collegiate level, and he had to adapt. “I really had to believe in myself and [what] Coach has been telling me,” Onwuzurike said. 

This mindset paid off his sophomore season — and it started with Pac-12s. Having just missed the title in the 200 meters his freshman year, he said he “really came with almost a vengeance of like, let me see what I can do, let me see how fast I can run, let me make some noise.” 

This determination led to a 200-meters victory and his first sub-20 second performance. From there, he kept improving, culminating with his 200-meters victory at the NCAA championships — one of the first meets where his entire family was in the stands cheering him on.

It was a dream come true for Onwuzurike. “It really meant a lot for me because I always knew I could be an NCAA champion,” he said.

Onwuzurike was not alone in his collegiate journey. “I would say my teammates are some of the most instrumental people to help me reach my success in track, because you really need people to hold you down, you know? People you can go to when you’re at your highs and when you’re at your lows,” Onwuzurike said. “It really feels like family here.”

Junior sprinter Olufemi Cole, who ran with Onwuzurike during their Stanford-record-setting 4×100-meter relay, said Onwuzurike had an intensely collaborative mentality. 

“Considering the times he was running, he could have very easily been incredibly self centered, but he was anything but that,” Cole said. “He always paid attention to how the other members of our spirit squad, boy or girl, did during workouts, and offered advice and encouragement … Even if it was not his main event, Dodi was willing to step in and run when he was needed, and that selflessness is what makes him such a great teammate.”

Not only is Onwuzurike a phenomenal teammate, but he’s also close with his coach. “We can chat about anything on and off the track … I think that that’s what kind of helps us … lean on each other as we try to get different results,” Cooper said.

Onwuzurike, despite leaving Stanford, is continuing to work with Cooper. “This is a new space for me and Coach Coop. This is my first time being a professional, obviously. And then this is Coach Coop’s first time having to coach both a collegiate team and a professional athlete simultaneously,” he said.

Onwuzurike is excited about what lies ahead, his goal being to compete for the Nigerian national team at the Olympics.

“I really want to see what I can do, especially with the upcoming Olympics — focusing on Paris 2024,” Onwuzurike said. “I’m super excited for that. I really feel like I can go out there and get a medal for my country, even for myself. And make a name for myself in the sport. I’m super excited.” 

Turning professional early allows Onwuzurike to compete on the professional circuit and challenge himself against the best in the world. However, it also means he has to leave his team behind.

Coming from such a supportive team atmosphere at Stanford, when choosing which brand to sign with, Onwuzurike was focused on finding somewhere that felt like home. For Onwuzurike, it was Adidas, “a brand that both my parents both love … I definitely got good feedback from the family. I feel like those three stripes are kind of, just for me.” 

Onwuzurike’s success inspires his teammates. “I’ve always been super inspired by Dodi because everything he does, he does for the love of the sport,” said junior Maya Valmon, a runner on the women’s team who holds the school record in the 400 meters. “Going pro is a personal dream of mine, so getting a front-row seat to watch him achieve that over the last two years has been incredible.”

He inspires more than just his teammates. Recently, Onwuzurike announced that he became the lead ambassador of MTN Champs, an organization dedicated to unlocking Nigeria’s global potential in sports. “I really want to use my platform to inspire other athletes to believe in themselves,” he said. 

Though Onwuzurike’s time competing for Stanford is over, he will carry the knowledge and connections he gained here at Stanford with him to the next phase in his career.

 “Stanford has helped me grow on the track … running faster, being in a great team atmosphere, having a great coach. But most specifically, off the track … it’s [given] me a fire of never giving up,” he said. 

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Much more than just a number: Stanford’s women throwers https://stanforddaily.com/2023/03/21/much-more-than-just-a-number-stanfords-women-throwers/ https://stanforddaily.com/2023/03/21/much-more-than-just-a-number-stanfords-women-throwers/#respond Tue, 21 Mar 2023 22:23:15 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1224514 For Stanford’s women throwers, sophomores Brandy Atuatasi and Kaiah Fisher, discus is more than antiquity. It runs in their blood, a craft passed down by their families, sustained between generations. Their sport means more to them than to the spectators that gather to witness it.

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The laws of Olympia were written on a discus in the Hera Temple. At the ancient games, the original Olympics which long preceded the televised rituals of a new world, discus shined. Homer wrote of its might, with godlike heroes such as Odysseus and Achilles solidifying their legacies by unleashing their discs into the air and surpassing the marks of their opponents.

Today, people file into stadiums, excited to watch the sprinters fly across the track, high-jumpers spring and arch unto the mats, bar unscathed and in place. But behind the seated rows, far past the chatter and booming voices of announcers overhead, lie the throwing pits with dust rising over the white lines on the field.

For Stanford’s women throwers, sophomores Brandy Atuatasi and Kaiah Fisher, discus is more than antiquity. It runs in their blood, a craft passed down by their families, sustained between generations. Their sport means more to them than to the spectators that gather to witness it.

Both athletes were introduced to throws by their parents. Atuatasi, hailing from San Diego, Calif., picked up throwing from her older sister, who picked it up from their father. Fisher’s parents met in college while competing in throws, and together they passed it down.

Atuatasi still remembers telling her father that she was being recruited by Stanford and witnessing him and her mother cry at the news. “It’s just that for my parents, growing up, there weren’t many opportunities for women and girls in sports during their time,” she said.

In the Atuatasi family, sports might as well have been coded into their genes – growing up, Brandy played 10 of them. For her, discus ended up being the perfect fit. It was an outlet, a space where she could hone her strength and self-discipline.

Fisher steps into the ring at Cobb Track and Angell Field. It looks just as she envisioned it in bed last night. Many athletes have pre-match rituals, ways to prepare themselves for the mental aspect of competition. For some, it’s overthinking; for others, thinking nothing at all. For Fisher, she walks herself through the entire competition a whole day in advance. She visualizes the ring, the background of the pits, her name being called before her throw.

“When it comes to competition time, and my name gets called, I walk in the ring and think, ‘I’ve been here. I know what to do. I’m here right now and I can be present,’” Fisher said.

She holds a 2.2-pound disc in her hand, slightly lighter than those launched in Ancient Greece. But it weighs the same as the discs she would let rip from her ranch in a little town called Applegate, Ore., population 6,916, where everybody knows everybody else and the town boasts a café, a library and a church. The tranquility there is not too different from the quiet of the throwing pits. Fisher, as many others do, has big dreams. She hopes to bring joy and pride back to her small town, to her parents who inspired her to embark on this journey that would begin at her ranch and end at the ring.

She has three chances, three throws, to do just that.

Throwing is just as mental a sport as it is physical. The body, through memory-building and calculated movement, must achieve two core elements: repeatability and predictability. It must obey the laws of physics, momentum and torque, at nearly perfect accuracy to deliver a good throw. Atuatasi and Fisher get about 50 throws in at each practice, in hopes of excelling in one of the three allotted to them during competition.

“All of your work that you’ve ever put in, it’s only expressed through a single set of numbers. Sometimes it can feel like you’re just that – a number,” Fisher said.

It doesn’t help that despite all of their hard work, throwers are covered the least out of any event in Track and Field. Fisher recalls watching replays of filmed content from their meets, noting that the cameras stayed on the sprinters and long-distance runners — even during their warm-ups — while the throwers were competing.

“I just think if more people knew about throws in general, more people would go out and do it,” Fisher said.

Although times have changed, representation of women’s throwing has only improved slightly. In its nature, throwing requires incredible strength and muscle. 

“Women in throws, we love lifting, we love getting dirty, we’re out there working hard and getting super strong,” Fisher said. “I wish more people understood that not everything you are is how you look. More so, what you can do, how you think, how you feel, how you interact with others.”

For most women in throwing, the Olympics may seem like more of a pipe dream than a goal. From the rigorous maintenance required to keep the body and technique in tune, to the aging process that can alter one’s entire form in just a year, the challenges pile up and seem to obscure any visibility of that dream.

Atuatasi’s personal best clocks in at 162.3 feet, Fisher’s at 166.10 feet. The qualifying round for the Olympics requires a baseline of 192 feet. What may seem like a small difference between their PRs and the Olympics actually entails years of work and technique refinement. 

But so what if the Olympics aren’t in the cards for these throwers? Does that mean their countless hours of training, throwing and lifting were for nothing?

“It has played a big part in developing who I am: my discipline, my time management, how I respond to conflict,” Fisher explained. “Even if I don’t continue to throw, I will always be a strong woman who is confident and knows she can accomplish something.”

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Cardinal Track and Field achieve five first-place finishes at Spokane Invitational https://stanforddaily.com/2022/12/16/cardinal-track-and-field-achieve-five-first-place-finishes-at-spokane-invitational/ https://stanforddaily.com/2022/12/16/cardinal-track-and-field-achieve-five-first-place-finishes-at-spokane-invitational/#respond Sat, 17 Dec 2022 06:03:46 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1216325 Stanford track and field made their mark at the Spokane Invitational as they posted five wins across the course of the competition.

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After last week’s triumph at the Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener, where junior Ky Robinson set a Stanford record in the 5000-meter, the Cardinal were feeling confident as they prepared to make their first appearance at the Spokane Invitational. Without a doubt, Stanford made their mark in Spokane, Wash. as they posted five wins across the course of the competition.

Among the 23 Cardinal athletes that competed, all eyes were on All-Americans fifth-year Max McKhann and junior Samantha Thomas who competed in the 35-pound men’s weight throw and the 400-meter and 4×400-meter relay, respectively. Both excelled in the spotlight, with McKhann winning his event with a throw of 20.90 meters and Thomas being victorious in the 4×400-meter with her team, consisting of sophomores Trinity Price and Camille Peisner, as well as junior Megan Olomu, finishing in 3:46.63.

Additionally, Spokane witnessed the collegiate debuts of freshmen Alaysia Oakes and Alyssa Jones. Oakes competed admirably in the triple jump and the 60-meter with the latter being won by former Cardinal athlete, G3 Performance’s Cheetah Burrell (formerly, Chauntae Bayne). Jones certainly did not disappoint, comfortably winning her long jump event with a distance of 6.25 meters, claiming her place as No. 2 on Stanford’s all-time freshman list and No. 6 on the school’s all-time indoor record.

The Cardinal dominated the pole vault event, achieving all three podium positions thanks to first-place sophomore Garrett Brown and seniors second-place Max Manson and third J.T. Herrscher. Brown exceeded his indoor personal best with a clearance of 5.40 meters and gained his position as joint No. 3 on the Stanford indoor all-time rankings, while the seniors cleared 5.30 meters and 5.05 meters respectively to complete the podium.

Other notable performances came from Stanford’s fifth winner of the day – senior Sam Liokumovich – who won the shot put with a distance of 17.32 meters and senior Laurel Wong in the pole vault who cleared 3.90 meters to become the No. 9 indoor all-time at Stanford.

After another successful meet, the Cardinal eagerly look ahead to the Cougar Classic which is set to be held on the same banked track on Jan. 13 in Spokane, Wash.

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Track and Field starts off the season strong https://stanforddaily.com/2022/12/05/track-and-field-starts-off-the-season-strong/ https://stanforddaily.com/2022/12/05/track-and-field-starts-off-the-season-strong/#respond Tue, 06 Dec 2022 07:55:53 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1215730 The Stanford track and field team traveled to Boston to compete in the Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener against collegiate athletes from around the country.

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The Stanford track and field team traveled to Boston to compete in the Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener against collegiate athletes from around the country. Both the men’s and women’s teams found success in the 5000-meter run, the only event Cardinal runners competed in.

Junior Ky Robinson placed first for the men in the 5000-meter on Saturday, recording the best-ever time for a Stanford athlete in the event. 

Robinson finished with a time of 13:11:53 in the event, crushing his previous best by more than eight seconds and landing him the fourth-fastest time in indoor collegiate history (11th-fastest including outdoor). Robinson beat Stanford’s all-time fastest in the 5000 by almost four seconds, surpassing both the indoor record set by 14-time All-American Chris Derrick ‘12 (13:19:58) and the outdoor record set by former Olympian Ian Dobson ‘05 (13:15:33).

The race itself was one for the books, as nine runners finished within the top-20 times in NCAA indoor racing history. The Cardinal’s other competitor in the race — fifth-year senior Meika Beaudoin-Rosseau — also recorded a personal best of 13:40:50, placing 41st. 

The women’s team entered four runners in the 5000. Leading the Cardinal was junior Zofia Dudek, who placed 15th and recorded a personal best of 15:40:41 — placing her third on the Stanford women’s all-time indoor list for the event. Junior Lucy Jenks placed 18th and landed fourth on the same list, while sophomore Audrey Dadamio set a personal record on her way to 44th. Senior Grace Connolly placed 66th. 

After a great performance in Boston, Stanford will travel to the Spokane Invitational on Saturday.

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Track and field puts on impressive showing at Pac-12s https://stanforddaily.com/2022/02/27/track-and-field-puts-on-impressive-showing-at-pac-12s/ https://stanforddaily.com/2022/02/27/track-and-field-puts-on-impressive-showing-at-pac-12s/#respond Sun, 27 Feb 2022 18:37:21 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1195896 In the team’s final meet in the NCAA qualifying window, many Cardinal athletes established their place in the history books as they fought for qualifying positions.

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Stanford track and field traveled to Seattle this weekend, participating in the Pac-12 Invitational indoor meet on both Friday and Saturday. In the team’s final meet in the NCAA indoors qualifying window, many Cardinal athletes established their place in the history books as they fought for qualifying positions. 

On Friday, the women’s distance medley relay team found themselves in a tight race. The team of sophomores Lucy Jenks, Samantha Thomas, Ellie Deligianna and graduate student Julia Heymach placed third behind Oregon and Colorado, running 10:57.74 — only 0.5 seconds behind first-place Oregon, constituting the 6th fastest time in school history. The group put themselves in a good position to earn a berth to qualify for NCAA’s, as only Arkansas has posted a faster time this season prior to the race. 

In the weight throw, senior Jordan Fong set a personal best with a 17.51 meter performance. With that, Fong moved up to No. 5 all-time indoors in program history and earned herself a seventh place finish.

Later in the day, senior Allie Jones ran a personal-best 8.32 in the 60 hurdles to start off the pentathlon, where she came within eight points of the school record. Her 4,055 point performance landed her in second place, narrowly behind Arizona’s Skylar Sieben’s 4,072, and slotted her at No. 3 in Stanford indoor history. This was Jones’ first 4,000-point score.

Cardinal runners in the 60 meter dash had themselves a day, with four either setting personal bests or moving up the Stanford indoor top-10 list. Leading the pack was senior Kennedy Gamble, whose time of 7.38 seconds sent her to Saturday’s final. Graduate student Olivia Okoli also punched a ticket to Saturday’s final, where her 7.41-second performance landed her in seventh place. Rounding out the team from the preliminaries were junior Alexa Rossum and sophomore Megan Olomu, who posted times of 7.47 and 7.68 seconds, respectively.

For the men, junior Max Manson earned a first place finish in the pole vault by tying his personal best of 5.48 meters — the fourth highest at Stanford all-time. Freshman Garrett Brown also had a great showing, clearing 4.98 meters to finish in fourth place.

Junior Evan Burke improved his personal best in the 5,000 meter by nine seconds, posting a 13:46.37 time, which gave him a third-place finish. Two other Cardinal runners had strong performances, as freshman Robert DiDonato and Nolan topper finished eight and ninth in the event.

And in the weight throw, the Cardinal posted a top-five finish behind senior Max McKhann’s 21.29m throw.

The team continued their display of excellence on Saturday. The Cardinal started off strong, getting a 1-2-3 sweep in the men’s 3,000. Sophomore Cole Sprout, junior Charles Hicks and sophomore Ky Robinson all posted personal bests. Impressively, Sprout’s 7:43.10 was only 0.48 seconds behind the school and American collegiate record, and Hicks was not far behind with a time of 7:43.84. On Stanford’s all-time indoor list, Sprout now sits at No. 2 with Hicks at No. 3 and Robinson at No. 9.

In the 800 meter, freshman John Lester finished third overall with a time of 1:48.71. That time slots him in No. 3 on Stanford’s all-time list. 

Senior Keyshawn King came in second place in the triple jump, leaping 15.65 meters, just two inches from the winning length. Right behind him, sophomore Kevin Yang posted a 14.59 meter distance which landed him fourth overall.

The women also performed well in the triple jump, earning third and fourth place finishes behind impressive jumps from freshman Elise Miller and senior Allyson Weiss. Miller’s effort gave a distance of 12.44 meters, while Weiss finished with an 11.85 meter distance.

Gamble continued her impressive weekend with a third place finish in the 60 meter dash. She posted a new personal best with a 7.37 time, improving the position she previously held in the No. 5 spot in school history.

Sophomore Ellie Deligianni finished the 800 meter event in 2:06.92, good for third place. Sophomore Hannah Wilson was the other Cardinal competing in the event, where a time of 2:15.00 landed her in 12th place.

The 3,000 meter saw a second-place performance from Heymach, whose person-best 8:59.69 lands her at No. 7 on Stanford’s all-time list. Junior Grace Connolly also ran a personal-best on Saturday, where her 9:23.03 granted her a 15th-place finish.

Had the meet been officially scored, the Cardinal men would have placed third and the women fourth. 

After many personal bests and continued movement in the all-time record books, Stanford now looks to the NCAA Indoor Championships in Birmingham, AL. Their return to action will take place on Friday, March 11 and Saturday, March 12.

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Valarie Allman ’17 wins first track and field gold for team USA in the women’s discus https://stanforddaily.com/2021/08/07/valarie-allman-wins-first-track-and-field-gold-for-team-usa-in-the-womens-discus/ https://stanforddaily.com/2021/08/07/valarie-allman-wins-first-track-and-field-gold-for-team-usa-in-the-womens-discus/#respond Sun, 08 Aug 2021 04:23:11 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1184218 Stanford alum Valarie Allman '17 won gold in the discus throw, team USA’s first medal in Track and Field at the Tokyo Olympics. Allman is the third American to win a gold in women’s discus.

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Stanford alum Valarie Allman ’17 emerged as the women’s discus throw champion in her Olympic debut last Monday. And she did it with one formidable throw.  

Allman came to Tokyo ready to win. The only finalist to throw past the 70 meters at the U.S. Olympic Trials in June, she was a strong contender in the discus throw and she didn’t disappoint. She stormed into the lead by throwing an impressive 68.98 meters in her very first throw, beating the silver medalist by over 2 meters. 

The competition paused for an hour after the first round due to an unexpected downpour. Despite the disruption, Allman’s strong first throw secured her gold despite fouls in her second, third and final attempts. She threw 64.76 meters on her fourth throw and 66.87 meters, the third-longest throw of the night, on her fifth throw. 

Germany’s Kristin Pudenz and Cuba’s Yaime Perez won the silver and bronze medals, respectively. 

Allman became the first athlete to score a podium finish for team USA in track and field events at this year’s Olympics. And that isn’t the only reason her gold is historic: Allman is now one of three American women discus-throwers to win a gold medal in the history of the Olympics. Her win is the first gold in women’s discus since Stephanie Brown-Trafton in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

The discus thrower previously broke records when she threw a record-breaking first throw at the Iron Wood Throws Center Invitational in Idaho. Allman threw the discus 70.15 meters — the first time in a decade a discus thrower crossed the 70-meter mark, making her the American discus record holder. This throw remains her personal best.

Allman majored in product design at Stanford. She was a six-time All American, a two-time Pac-12 champion and Pac-12 Woman of the Year in 2018 as a member of the University’s track and field team. She is also a three-time U.S Champion and represented the U.S. at the 2019 Doha World Championships, where she placed seventh. 

Allman is currently taking a break from her master’s degree in communications to focus on training and competing full time. Reflecting on her win, Allman said, “I couldn’t be any happier or proud. I’m still waiting for my feet to touch the ground,” in a post-interview.

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Grant Fisher ’19 finishes top-10 in both Olympic races https://stanforddaily.com/2021/08/07/grant-fisher-finishes-top-10-in-both-olympic-races/ https://stanforddaily.com/2021/08/07/grant-fisher-finishes-top-10-in-both-olympic-races/#respond Sun, 08 Aug 2021 04:19:20 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1184214 Fisher turned in two impressive performances in the 10,000 and 5,000 meter races at his first Olympics.

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Former Stanford runner Grant Fisher ’19 made an impressive Olympic debut in Tokyo, placing in the top ten in both the 10,000- and 5,000-meter races. 

On Friday, July 30, Fisher, a middle and long distance specialist during his time at Stanford, competed in the 10,000-meter race and placed fifth in the finals. Shortly after the race started, Fisher already found himself with the leading group of runners. 

Finally, in the last mile, the pace accelerated and the lead pack of 12 international runners began to split up. Selemon Barega of Ethiopia dashed into first place with Kenyan Joshua Cheptegei and Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo following behind him. Meanwhile, Fisher sprinted into fifth place while sticking with the leaders. 

The race came down to the final lap, and Barega took gold in 27:43.22, Cheptegei — who holds the 10k world record from 2020 — took silver and Kiplimo took bronze. Fisher’s time was 27:46.39, making him the top American and the highest-placing runner who was not from a country in Africa. What made Fisher’s performance all the more impressive was that it was only his third official 10,000-meter race — he raced one 10k before the Olympic Trials, and his other two came at the Trials and the Games. 

Then, on Aug. 3,  Fisher stepped up to the starting line for his second event, the preliminary rounds of the 5,000-meter race. The prelims consisted of two heats, with Fisher competing in the second. 

The first five to cross the finish line from each heat in the prelims earn an automatic spot in the 5,000-meter finals later in the week. Aside from the automatic qualifiers, the next five runners with the next-best times also qualify. Fisher’s entire heat ended up running faster than the first heat, making it crucial that he finish in the top 10 to snag either an automatic or time qualification. Fisher finished the race in eighth place with a time of 13:31.80, ensuring his spot in the finals on Friday. 

Fisher took his place in the 5,000-meter final race on Friday morning. The pace of the race remained calm and consistent until the final few laps. Paul Chelimo, another U.S. runner, dashed into first at one point during the end of the race, but quickly fell back and finished in third. Mohammad Ahmed of Canada took second and Joshua Cheptegei, who also raced in the 10,000-meter finals alongside Fisher, placed first in 12:58.15. In the last 400 meters, Fisher was sprinting close behind the leading pack of runners but ultimately finished in ninth place with a time of 13:08.40.

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Olympic rookie Elise Cranny ’18 places 13th in the women’s 5000m https://stanforddaily.com/2021/08/03/olympic-rookie-elise-cranny-18-places-13th-in-the-womens-5000m/ https://stanforddaily.com/2021/08/03/olympic-rookie-elise-cranny-18-places-13th-in-the-womens-5000m/#respond Wed, 04 Aug 2021 04:54:41 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1184121 While at Stanford, Cranny was 12-time All-American, two-time Academic All-American and a two-time Pac-12 champion.

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With only a few years of experience with 5,000 meter races under her belt, Stanford alum Elise Cranny ’18 finished 13th in the Olympic event final Monday morning. 

Cranny trailed a mere 18 milliseconds behind fellow team USA member Karissa Schweizer.

Kicking off the race, Cranny led the pack alongside predicted winner Hellen Obiri of Kenya for the first 30 seconds, only to be overtaken by Japanese pace-setter Hironaka Ririka. Settling into a position in the middle of the pack, the American runner battled intense heat — an uncomfortable 86 degrees Fahrenheit — and humidity that Schweizer described during the live coverage as “the silent killer.”

With ten laps left to go, Team USA, consisting of Cranny and Schweizer, sat towards the rear of the pack behind 1500m world champion Sifan Hassan. 

Eight laps in, the Kenyans and Ethiopians quickened the pace, pushing Cranny to hold a slightly increased speed or fall behind. But, as Obiri maintained her heightened pace, the Americans could no longer keep up and detached from the pack.

Even as Cranny slid back in the standings, she did not give up. Cranny is used to running with incredible competitors, training with fellow USA Olympians Schweizer and Shelby Houlihan. Practicing with them has pushed Cranny to become a better athlete.

“It was hard for me to walk away from a workout feeling confident because I was getting dropped hard and not finishing the full workout. However, they were always great at reminding me to keep showing up and continue to put myself in it,” Cranny said in an interview with her team, Bowerman Track Club.

For the last 80m of her 5000m race, Cranny sprinted neck and neck with Schweizer and Kenyan Lilian Kasait Rengeruk, finishing in 13th with a time of 14:55.98. Hassan won gold with a time of 14:36.79. 

Cranny first showcased potential in the 5000m race at the Olympic Trials, where she ran a 15:27.81 and earned a spot in Tokyo. At Stanford, Cranny ran cross country and both indoor and outdoor track. She was a 12-time All-American, two-time Academic All-American and a two-time Pac-12 champion.

Although Cranny did not medal, her Olympic performance showed strong persistence and drive. 

As Cranny once said, “It isn’t one day that makes or breaks an athlete, but the consistency over time that leads to something great.” 

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Grant Fisher’s path to Tokyo https://stanforddaily.com/2021/07/27/grant-fishers-path-to-tokyo/ https://stanforddaily.com/2021/07/27/grant-fishers-path-to-tokyo/#respond Wed, 28 Jul 2021 04:07:56 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1184034 Before the Tokyo Olympics were postponed, distance runner Grant Fisher ’19 considered making an Olympic team “a long shot.” But after qualifying in both the 5,000 and 10,000 meters at the trials, Fisher will look to compete against the world's best in his Olympic debut.

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Before the 2020 Tokyo Olympics were postponed, distance runner Grant Fisher ’19 considered making an Olympic team “a long shot.” 

But on June 18, with an additional year of preparation under his belt, Fisher stepped onto the Hayward Field Track for the men’s 10,000m Olympic trials final in Eugene, Ore., ready to secure his spot on his first Olympic team. 

“This sport rewards consistency, so knowing that I had been pretty consistent leading up to the trials was a confidence booster,” Fisher said. “I felt like there wasn’t anyone on the field who could just run away from me as far as just pure fitness goes.”

Fisher began his race conservatively, running in the middle of the pack while focusing on the front to ensure that he didn’t miss a breakaway group. He explained the real race starts with maybe a mile or a lap left, “and that’s when I want to be at the front,” he added. 

Heading into the final lap of the race, Fisher led a group of half a dozen athletes, including his Bowerman Track Club teammate, Woody Kincaid, who was also surging towards the lead. Kincaid overtook Fisher within the final stretch of the race, finishing 0.67 seconds ahead of Fisher.

Fisher called the race “an emotional high,” clocking 27:54.29 to qualify for his first Olympic Games. Pro Joe Klecker placed third, earning himself a spot with a 27:54.90 alongside Fisher and Kincaid.

After the race, Fisher recovered in Park City, Utah, where he lives and trains, but he returned to Eugene just one week later for the men’s 5,000m final. Fisher (13:27.01) outran his training partner Kincaid (13:27.13) by a margin of 0.12 seconds, placing second behind 2016 Olympic silver medalist Paul Chelimo (13:26.82). The trio — Fisher, Kincaid and Chelimo — will represent the U.S. at the Olympics in the event.

“We joke about our head-to-head matchups and who’s beaten the other more times,” Fisher said of his friendly rivalry with Kincaid, adding that he finds racing with his training partner advantageous. “Woody’s a very, very accomplished runner, so I know if I’m hanging with him in practice, I’m in a pretty good spot.”

At the trials, Fisher went head-to-head with many of his heroes, including Chelimo, Galen Rupp, Ben True and fellow Stanford alumnus Garrett Heath ’08 M.S. ’09 Ph.D. ’14. Heath placed seventh in the 1,500 meters at the 2010 World Indoor Championships; True was the sixth-place finisher at the 2015 IAAF World Championships 5,000 meters. Rupp also raced on the world stage, competing in the past three Olympics where he took home two medals for Team USA. 

“There’s a whole list of people who have come before me and have done a lot of the things I hope to do someday, so it was cool to be rubbing shoulders with them, and I kind of feel like I’m at that level with them, which is a cool feeling,” Fisher said.

Fisher will compete in the Olympic 10,000m final on Friday, July 30 and the first round of the 5,000m on Tuesday, Aug. 3. If he qualifies for the finals, Fisher will race again on Aug. 6. 

He says he’s most excited to compete with such impressive athletes.

“I’ve never raced on this stage before, and it will be really cool to see where I stack up against the world’s best runners.” 

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Stanford track and field to be represented by 28 athletes at NCAA West Prelims https://stanforddaily.com/2021/05/25/track-and-field-at-ncaa-west-prelims/ https://stanforddaily.com/2021/05/25/track-and-field-at-ncaa-west-prelims/#respond Wed, 26 May 2021 05:08:37 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1182989 Twenty-eight Stanford track and field athletes will test their luck against a stacked field at the NCAA West Prelims in College Station, Texas from Wednesday through Saturday.

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Twenty-eight Stanford track and field athletes will test their luck against a stacked field at the NCAA West Prelims in College Station, Texas from Wednesday through Saturday. The competition is the second stage in the postseason for the Cardinal after both the men’s and women’s quads took seventh place at the Pac-12 Championships with scores of 59 and 64, respectively. 

At NCAA West Prelims, the competition field will be made up of the top 48 athletes in each individual event and the top 24 teams in each relay from the western half of the country; the NCAA East Prelims in Jacksonville will host the top 48 in individual events and top 24 in relays from the nation’s eastern half. The Cardinal will be equally represented in men’s and women’s competition in Texas, with 14 athletes competing on the men’s side and 14 competing on the women’s. 

Much is on the line for Stanford competitors as they enter the weekend. From College Station, the top 12 finishers in each event will advance to the NCAA Championships, to be held June 9 – 12 in Eugene, Ore.

To the surprise of few, fifth-year Ella Donaghu is the highest-seeded Cardinal athlete. In the women’s 5,000 meters, Donaghu boasts the No. 2 mark for the western region. Her time of 15:29.42 situates her a tight seven seconds ahead of the region’s No. 3 seed, Northern Arizona’s Taryn O’Neil, but Whittni Orton of BYU sits comfortably at the No. 1 spot on the start list with a time of 15:12.91. 

Donaghu will be joined in the event by senior Julia Heymach, freshman Lucy Jenks, sophomore Grace Connolly and senior Jessica Lawson. Heymach was a highlight for the Cardinal at the Pac-12 Championships when she cruised to the individual title in the women’s 5,000 meters despite never having run the event on the track before and having raced to a personal best in the women’s 800 meters just an hour prior. Her mark of 15:40.74 is good enough for the No. 9 spot at NCAA West Prelims. 

There are also five Cardinal women slated to compete in the women’s 1500 meters: fifth year Christina Aragon is set to run alongside Donaghu, Heymach, Jenks and Lawson. 

On the men’s side of the 5,000 meters, Stanford holds nine of the 48 spots in the event. Redshirt freshman Charles Hicks leads the Cardinal in the race as the No. 10 seed and fourth-highest Pac-12 runner behind Oregon’s Cole Hocker and Cooper Teare — the region’s No. 1 and No. 2 seeds, respectively — and Colorado’s Eduardo Herrera (No. 5). Fifth year Alek Parsons and senior Callum Bolger claim spots No. 15 and 16, and freshmen Thomas Boyden and Cole Sprout follow up as No. 21 and No. 25, respectively, to round out the Cardinal’s top five.

Sophomore Devin Hart (No. 27), senior D.J. Principe (No. 34), freshman Ky Robinson (No. 39) and junior Meika Beaudoin-Rousseau (No. 41) will also represent Stanford in the event, in which all nine of the Cardinal athletes have recorded sub-14-minute marks this season.

For Stanford’s sprints squad, redshirt freshman Alexa Rossum will aim for a top-10 finish in the women’s 100 meters, which she enters as No. 9 with a time of 11.29. The Pac-12 is set to make a statement in the event: Including Rossom, four of the top nine seeds are from the Cardinal’s conference, with USC’s Twanisha Terry in the top spot, boasting a time of 11.02. Rossum will also make an appearance in the women’s 200 meters as the No. 26 rank. 

The men’s 200 meters will feature junior Gabriel Navarro — the lone representative of Stanford’s men’s team in the sprints. Houston’s Shaun Maswanganyi leads the men’s 200 field with a speedy mark of 19.93. 

In the field, Stanford has athletes set to compete in both men’s and women’s pole vaults: sophomore J.T. Herrscher will compete Wednesday in the first round of the men’s side, and graduate student Erika Malaspina will test her luck in the first round of the women’s side on Thursday. 

A complete list of the Cardinal athletes set to compete in Texas can be found here, and live results can be found here, beginning with the men’s hammer throw at 11:30 a.m. PT on Wednesday.

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Men, women take seventh at track and field conference championship https://stanforddaily.com/2021/05/17/men-women-take-seventh-at-track-and-field-conference-championship/ https://stanforddaily.com/2021/05/17/men-women-take-seventh-at-track-and-field-conference-championship/#respond Tue, 18 May 2021 06:45:43 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1182631 Both the Stanford men and women placed in seventh at the conclusion of the meet on Sunday evening.

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Redshirt freshman Charles Hicks ran the second-fastest winning 10k time at the Pac-12 Championship in 38 years to start the Cardinal off strong on Friday, and senior Julia Heymach capped the meet with a surprise 5k victory on Sunday in an eventful weekend. Both the Stanford men and women placed in seventh at the conclusion of the meet on Sunday evening. 

With two laps left, Hicks and John Dressel of Colorado were in a two-man battle for the 10k title but Hicks dropped a blazing 55.74 second final lap to notch the three-second victory. Hicks is the second Cardinal in three years to win the men’s 10k conference title. Junior Meika Beaudoin-Rousseau finished in 29:49.63 for a 21-second personal best and fifth place finish to score four more points for Stanford on day one. 

On the women’s side of the 10k, sophomore Grace Connolley finished eighth in 34:15.92, just 0.42 seconds slower than the Loker Stadium record at USC. Senior Virginia Miller placed fifth and sophomore Brielle Smith finished eighth in the javelin on Friday as well to earn additional points for the Cardinal. This year marks the first time in nine years that a Cardinal woman did not win the conference title in the javelin throw.

Over the first two days, junior Allie Jones set or tied personal bests in six of the seven heptathlon events and nearly won the Pac-12 title but finished just eight points behind Washington’s Lyndsey Lopes to claim second place. Jones’s final score of 5727 was a personal best by 255 points and the second best in program history.

Freshman Ky Robinson finished third in the 3k steeplechase to set a freshman school record, and his performance made him the highest placing Cardinal on the men’s side on the second day of the meet. He also moved up one spot in the Stanford record books, and his 8:41.81 time now sits him in eighth in Cardinal history.

On Sunday, senior Ella Donaghu won the 1500 in 4:15.43 and shortly thereafter notched a third place finish in the 800 with a time of 2:04.42. Donaghu’s 1500 title was the first Pac-12 title she has won at any distance. Heymach finished one place above Donaghu in a personal-best 2:02.91 as well.

Additionally in the 1500, fifth-year Christina Aragon took third in 4:16.10 and freshman Lucy Jenks became Stanford’s fourth-fastest freshman of all-time in the 1500 with a personal best of 4:17.22.

The surprise of the meet was Heymach’s 5k title in 15:40.74, a meet and stadium record. After running the 800 a little over an hour earlier, she took the starting line again for her first ever attempt at the 5k on the track. She took the lead with about two laps to go and never looked back, en route to a nearly four second victory. Jenks also ran the 5k, running 15:55.33 to break 16 minutes for the first time. She finished in eighth place to score points for her team and move to third in the all-time freshman record books. 

The men garnered three podium finishes on Sunday. Sophomore J.T. Herrscher finished second in the pole vault, clearing 16-11 (5.16 meters). Junior Keyshawn King jumped 52-2.5 (15.91 meters) to earn third in the triple jump after almost missing the finals of the event. Hicks finished in third in the men’s 5k with a time of 13:35.60, leading six Cardinal men to top-13 finishes. His time was one of nine on the day that broke the stadium’s record for the event, but finished three seconds behind winner Cole Hocker of Oregon.

Oregon won the meet on the men’s side with 185 points while USC won the women’s title with 162.5 points. Next up for the Cardinal is the NCAA West prelims, of which the qualifiers will be announced on Wednesday.

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Track and field prepped for postseason https://stanforddaily.com/2021/05/13/track-and-field-prepped-for-pac12s/ https://stanforddaily.com/2021/05/13/track-and-field-prepped-for-pac12s/#respond Fri, 14 May 2021 04:10:04 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1182446 Having had only seven partial- or full-team competitions on its regular-season schedule to prepare, Stanford track and field ventures to Southern California for the Pac-12 Championships. USC will play host to the three-day competition, which gets underway on Friday, as Cardinal athletes seek to qualify for the next stage of the postseason: NCAA West Prelims.

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Having had only seven partial- or full-team competitions on its regular-season schedule to prepare, Stanford track and field ventures to Southern California for the Pac-12 Championships. USC will play host to the three-day competition, which gets underway on Friday, as Cardinal athletes seek to qualify for the next stage of the postseason: NCAA West Prelims. 

Much is on the line for the Cardinal as they head into the weekend’s action. In each half of the country, the top 48 athletes in individual events and top 24 teams in each relay advance to NCAA Prelims. May 16 — the conclusion of most conference championships around the nation — marks the final day athletes may qualify for the regional competition. 

Distance events are where Stanford has repeatedly seen some of its best performances this season. Fifth year Ella Donaghu enters the weekend boasting the conference’s No. 1 mark in the women’s 5000 meters; Donaghu’s time of 15:29.42 is seven seconds faster than the second-best mark in the Pac-12 — 15:36.41 by Oregon’s Carmela Cardama Baez — and situates her at No. 3 in the nation in the event. 

However, it remains to be seen whether Donaghu will seek the conference title in the 5000-meter run or will instead take on the women’s 800 meters or 1500 meters.  

Redshirt freshman Charles Hicks has established himself as a force to be reckoned with in the men’s 10,000 meters, with his 28:25.29 mark being not only the No. 1 time in the conference, but also among the top 15 in the country. Like Donaghu, however, it is still unknown whether Hicks will compete in the event in which he reigns supreme; the start sheet also lists Hicks as being available for the men’s 5,000 meters. 

With the No. 3 time in the conference, freshman Ky Robinson will contend for the men’s 3000-meter steeplechase title. His debut season mark of 8:45.32 puts him less than three seconds behind Washington State’s Colton Johnson, who leads the Pac-12 with a time of 8:42.80.

In shorter distances, fifth year Christina Aragon is among the conference’s top five performers in the women’s 1500 meters. She is one of Stanford’s top Pac-12 returning placers after having been the runner-up in the event at the 2018 Pac-12 Championships. Senior Jessica Lawson is set to join Aragon in the women’s 1500 meters and recorded a second-place finish in the distance at the most recent Pac-12 Championships in 2019. 

Redshirt freshman Alexa Rossum has been a star among Stanford sprinters in the women’s 100 meters and 200 meters, although Rossum’s lifetime-best marks in the events — 11.29 and 23.41, respectively — were both admittedly wind-aided. She is set to compete in both distances, with the women’s 200-meter prelims taking place Friday evening followed by the 100-meter prelims Saturday evening. 

In the field, senior Virginia Miller will look to capture Stanford’s ninth-straight women’s javelin conference title. Her mark of 171-9 ranks second heading into the competition behind a 174-7 launch by Arizona State’s Alizee Minard. Junior Keyshawn King and sophomore J.T. Herrscher will be in contention for the men’s triple jump and men’s pole vault titles, respectively. Both King and Herrscher enter the meet at No. 2 in their events and will look to build on a record of steady improvement. 

As for the men’s and women’s teams collectively, it has been over 15 years since the Cardinal have brought home a conference championship — longer than the Pac-12 has been in existence. The women’s squad last claimed the conference title — a Pac-10 crown — in 2005, while the men’s most recent was in 2002. 

The weekend in Los Angeles commences with the men’s hammer throw at 10 a.m. PT on Friday at Cromwell Field at Loker Stadium. Live results can be found here.

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Cal and Stanford split Big Meet https://stanforddaily.com/2021/05/01/cal-and-stanford-split-big-meet/ https://stanforddaily.com/2021/05/01/cal-and-stanford-split-big-meet/#respond Sun, 02 May 2021 05:20:38 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1181852 In its final meet before the conference championships, Stanford track and field reigned supreme men’s side of the 126th Big Meet with a final score of 85-75, but fell to Cal on the women’s side 88-74.

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In its final meet before the conference championships, Stanford track and field reigned supreme on the men’s side of the 126th Big Meet with a final score of 85-75, but fell to Cal on the women’s side 88-74.

The Cardinal men trailed the Bears for most of the day, but took the lead after the pole vault and 200-meter dash. Sophomore J.T. Herrscher, fresh off being named Pac-12 Field Athlete of the Week, landed a 5.21-meter pole vault, while junior Gabriel Navarro won the 200-meter dash with a time of 21.08 seconds. Navarro also took home a win in the 100-meter dash in 10.49 seconds.

At longer distances, Stanford’s men also dominated. In the 3000-meter race, sophomore Charles Hicks led a first-through-seventh Cardinal finish with a time of 8:02.41. Hicks also logged a 3:43.59 to win the men’s 1500 meters, and freshman Ky Robinson beat out Shane Bissell in the 3000-meter steeplechase.

Senior Jerry Zheng and freshman Kevin Yang finished first and second, respectively, in the men’s triple jump to land eight points for the Cardinal men. Five more points came for the Cardinal in the men’s 400-meter relay as they beat out the Bears by one one-thousandth of a second with a time of 40.483.

Senior Virginia Miller, the women’s Pac-12 Field Athlete of the Week, led a first-through-third finish for the Cardinal women with a 165-5 mark in the javelin. Sophomore Brielle Smith and junior Jordan Fong finished second and third in the event, respectively, for a total of nine points. 

Junior Allie Jones won the women’s long jump with a 19-7½ jump, and came up four inches short of the title in the women’s high jump with a 5-5¾ mark.

On the track, freshman Samatha Thomas won the women’s 400-meter hurdles with a 1:01.20 and sophomore Alexa Rossum won the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.29. 

Stanford’s women also swept the podium in the 800, 1500 and 3000-meter races. Senior Jessica Lawson won the 3000 meters with a time of 10:00.14, finishing ahead of freshman Lucy Jenks. Jenks beat out Lawson in the 1500-meter race and sophomore Grace Connolly finished third in both races. Freshman Ellie Deligianni won the 800-meter race with a 2:06.77, finishing ahead of fifth-year Christina Aragon and senior Kaitlin Ryan. 

The athletes now start preparations for the Pac-12 Championships, which commence in Los Angeles on May 14. The three-day competition will be Stanford athletes’ final opportunity to qualify for NCAA West Prelims, to be held in Texas at the end of the month.

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Nine individual titles for track and field at Oregon Relays https://stanforddaily.com/2021/04/25/nine-individual-titles-for-track-and-field-at-oregon-relays/ https://stanforddaily.com/2021/04/25/nine-individual-titles-for-track-and-field-at-oregon-relays/#respond Mon, 26 Apr 2021 04:16:18 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1181555 In its penultimate competition of the regular season, Stanford track and field tallied nine individual victories at the Oregon Relays on Friday and Saturday. Redshirt freshman sprinter Alexa Rossum paced the Cardinal with two event titles — her first collegiate outdoor victories.

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In its penultimate competition of the regular season, Stanford track and field tallied nine individual victories at the Oregon Relays on Friday and Saturday. Redshirt freshman sprinter Alexa Rossum paced the Cardinal with two event titles — her first collegiate outdoor victories. 

Rossum’s first win came Friday night in the women’s 200 meters, in which Stanford claimed three of the four top spots. Her 23.92 mark was nearly half a second off of her personal best (23.43) and just seven-tenths quicker than the finishing time of Oregon’s Iman Brown, who claimed second place in the event. Junior Allie Jones cruised to third place and a personal best in 24.39, and junior Kennedy Gamble finished fourth in 24.76. 

Junior Gabriel Navarro earned the men’s 200 meters title with a time of 21.14 to sweep the event for the Cardinal. Just behind Navarro, junior Andrew Franco crossed the line in 21.59, good enough for third.

Stanford also swept the pole vault on Friday evening as sophomore J.T. Herrscher and graduate student Erika Malaspina claimed the men’s and women’s titles, respectively. With a mark of 17-1¾ , Herrscher also set a new personal best and jumped to No. 7 on Stanford’s all-time list in the event.

Senior Virginia Miller rounded out the Cardinal’s Friday victories with a personal-record launch of 171-9 in the women’s javelin. The throw — No. 6 on Stanford’s all-time list — earned Miller a nearly nine-foot victory over runner-up Lauri Paredes of Oregon.

In an impressively close women’s invitational 1500 meters, fifth year Christina Aragon crossed the line fifth in 4:16.75, less than a second behind first place Addy Townsend’s 4:15.78.

On Saturday, Rossum continued her success with an 11.71 first place mark in the women’s 100 meters, narrowly edging out Gamble to help the Cardinal log a 1-2 finish. Freshman Ellie Deligianni raced to a personal best in the women’s invitational 800 meters, crossing the line in 2:06.97 for fourth place. It was the first time Deligianni has broken 2:07 in the event in college, and the mark may put the freshman in contention for one of the 32 spots at the NCAA West Prelims.

Stanford swept the triple jump as junior Keyshawn King captured the men’s title with a jump of 51-5, and senior Aria Small did the same on the women’s side with a mark of 40-11. King has jumped at least 51 feet in all four of the Cardinal’s outdoor competitions this year and has yet to finish below first place. 

Graduate student Miles Smith secured Stanford’s final individual title in the weekend’s track events with a 1:51.6 showing in the men’s 800 meters.

With four outdoor competitions in the books, the Cardinal has just one remaining before Pac-12 Championships commence on May 14. Stanford will travel to Berkeley for Big Meet on Saturday to close the regular season.

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Stanford track and field heads back to Eugene https://stanforddaily.com/2021/04/22/stanford-track-and-field-heads-back-to-eugene/ https://stanforddaily.com/2021/04/22/stanford-track-and-field-heads-back-to-eugene/#respond Fri, 23 Apr 2021 02:44:12 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1181512 Last weekend, Stanford track and field's distance squad and throwers travelled to Eugene to represent the Cardinal at the dual-location West Coast Classic. This week, the Cardinal return to Oregon and the infamous Hayward Field to take on 15 other teams at the Oregon Relays on Friday and Saturday.

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Last weekend, Stanford track and field’s distance squad and throwers travelled to Eugene to represent the Cardinal at the dual-location West Coast Classic. This week, the Cardinal return to Oregon and the infamous Hayward Field to take on 15 other teams at the Oregon Relays on Friday and Saturday. 

As the second-to-last meet on the team’s regular-season schedule, the Oregon Relays will be one of few remaining opportunities for Cardinal athletes to make NCAA Championship qualifying marks. With the last day to make qualifying marks being May 16, Stanford athletes will have two other competitions — Big Meet versus Cal on May 1 and the Pac-12 Championships beginning May 14 — to punch their tickets to NCAA West Prelims in College Station, Texas; the top 32 athletes from each half of the country earn a spot at the NCAA Prelims. 

Heading into the weekend’s events, 18 Cardinal athletes sit in qualifying position across 22 events. Fifth-year Ella Donaghu tops the ranking for Stanford women with a No. 3 national rank in the women’s 5,000 meters; she’ll compete in the women’s invitational 5,000 meters on Friday evening and will be joined in the event by sophomore Grace Connelly, freshman Lucy Jenks and senior Jessica Lawson. 

The men’s invitational 5,000 meters will feature Stanford freshmen Thomas Boyden and Cole Sprout as the duo test their skills against a challenging field. Boyden and Sprout rank No. 16 and No. 18 in the distance, respectively.

Fifth-year Christina Aragon is slated to run the women’s 1,500 meters on Friday evening after finding success in the women’s 800 meters on the same track last weekend. 

Stanford’s sprinters will look to improve on a challenging weekend in Tuscon, Arizona at the second venue of the West Coast Classic. After recording two new personal bests in the women’s 100 meters and 200 meters with finishing times of 11.53 and 23.62, respectively, sophomore Alexa Rossum has the chance to shave more time off in both of the events in Oregon. Also representing the Cardinal in the women’s 200 meters will be junior Allie Jones and senior Ashlan Best. 

On the men’s side, junior Gabriel Navarro will aim to build on a 47.59 third-place showing in the men’s 400 meters last weekend. Aside from the 400 meters, Navarro will test his luck in the men’s 200 meters. Junior Miles Zoltak will join Navarro in the former, while junior Andrew Franco is set to run the latter.

Junior Keyshawn King seeks to continue a streak of success. King’s three best career performances in the men’s triple jump have come in the last month, including a personal best of 52 feet, 6 inches recorded at the Stanford Invitational on April 3; the mark was just shy of the school record. 

Field events will kick off the meet, with men’s hammer throw starting at 3 p.m. PT in Eugene.

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Track and field off to Eugene, Tuscon for West Coast Classic https://stanforddaily.com/2021/04/17/track-and-field-off-to-eugene-tuscon-for-west-coast-classic/ https://stanforddaily.com/2021/04/17/track-and-field-off-to-eugene-tuscon-for-west-coast-classic/#respond Sat, 17 Apr 2021 17:46:20 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1181262 After a two-week break from competition, Stanford track and field divides its forces between Eugene, Ore. and Tuscon, Ariz. to take on six other schools at the West Coast Classic on Saturday. The Cardinal will measure up against five Pac-12 foes — Arizona, Arizona State, Cal, Oregon and UCLA — as distance and throwers head north to the famed Hayward Field and sprinters and jumpers take to the desert.

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After a two-week break from competition, Stanford track and field divides its forces between Eugene, Ore. and Tuscon, Ariz. to take on six other schools at the West Coast Classic on Saturday. The Cardinal will measure up against five Pac-12 foes — Arizona, Arizona State, Cal, Oregon and UCLA — as distance and throwers head north to the famed Hayward Field and sprinters and jumpers take to the desert. 

The meet is Stanford’s third outdoor competition of the year and fourth event overall, putting the Cardinal at a slight disadvantage against a number of schools who have had double the meets or more to hone their skills. UCLA, for example, enters Saturday’s action with six partial- or full-team outdoor competitions under its belt. 

Even with limited meets, Stanford has demonstrated its talent in numerous areas, with the distance squad being the most dominant. Fifth-year Ella Donaghu boasts Stanford’s highest ranking nationally; her 15:36.52 showing at the Stanford Invitational on April 2 and 3 was good enough for first place at the meet and No. 2 in national rankings in the event. Donaghu will abandon the event in Oregon in favor of the women’s 1500 meters, in which freshman Elli Deligianni has reigned supreme thus far. 

Sophomore Charles Hicks holds the highest ranking for Stanford men, with a 28:35.29 mark in the men’s 10,000 meters putting him at No. 8. 

Although Hicks’ performance earned him first place at the Stanford Invitational, and fifth-year Alek Parsons was close behind in third, it is the men’s 5,000 meters where Cardinal men have been especially successful thus far. Seven Stanford runners cruised to sub-14 finishes at the Stanford Invitational to earn first, third, six, seventh, eighth, ninth and eleventh places for the Cardinal. Freshman Cole Sprout led the way, crossing the finish line in 13:43.92 to earn the event title in his first home meet of his collegiate career. 

On Saturday, Sprout will take on a shorter, but faster challenge — the men’s 1500 meters — and will be joined in the event by senior D.J. Principe and freshman Thomas Boyden, both also dropping down from the 5000 meters. Hicks and Parsons will both opt for the 5,000. 

In Arizona, senior Ashlan Best will return after being absent from the start lists at the Stanford Invitational. Best is set to run the women’s 400 meters against a fast Pac-12 field. 

Junior Keyshawn King will look to highlight Stanford’s jumping with another personal best after setting personal records in the Cardinal’s last two meets. King narrowly missed the school record when he recorded a jump of 52 feet, six inches at the Stanford Invitiational. 

Saturday’s action gets underway first in Eugene, where throwing events are set for 12:30 p.m. PT. Jumps will start at 3 p.m. PT in Tuscon, and running events in both locations are slated for 6 p.m. PT.

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Track and field represents at Stanford Invitational https://stanforddaily.com/2021/04/04/track-and-field-represents-at-stanford-invitational/ https://stanforddaily.com/2021/04/04/track-and-field-represents-at-stanford-invitational/#respond Sun, 04 Apr 2021 08:02:25 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1180639 In its first and only home meet of the season, Stanford track and field took on an array of Pac-12 foes and outside competitors in the two-day Stanford Invitational. Conference challengers included Washington, UCLA, USC and Bay-Area rival Cal, each of which showcased the Pac-12's strength.

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In its first and only home meet of the season, Stanford track and field took on an array of Pac-12 foes and outside competitors in the two-day Stanford Invitational. Conference challengers included Washington, UCLA, USC and Bay-Area rival Cal, each of which showcased the Pac-12’s strength.

Friday evening saw Stanford dominance in distance events, with freshman Cole Sprout and fifth year Ella Donaghu racing to first place finishes in the men’s and women’s 5000 meter, respectively. Sprout crossed the finish line in 13:43.92 to narrowly edge out Iona competitor Ehab El-Sandali, with less than a second separating the two. 

Stanford freshman Thomas Boyden followed closely behind to earn third in 13:45.38, sophomore Devin Hart finished sixth and senior D.J. Principe, freshman Ky Robinson and senior Callum Bolger finished, in order, seventh through ninth to help the Cardinal claim six of the top 10 spots. 

Donaghu was met with less of a challenge on the women’s side, coasting to a near 24-second victory with a finishing mark of 15:36.52. She was joined in the top six by freshman Lucy Jenks at third place and sophomore Grace Connolly in fifth. The evening appeared to be a glimpse of the deep talent of Stanford’s distance squad. 

“The men’s 5K was outstanding with seven guys under 13:58,” said head coach J.J. Clark of Friday’s highlights. “And then Ella and the 5K with Lucy Jenks and Grace … that was also very good.” 

The Cardinal found less success in the Friday afternoon field events: men’s and women’s javelin, men’s and women’s hammer throw, men’s and women’s long jumps and women’s pole vault. Freshman Allan Hunter posted the top Stanford’s men’s finish with a 24’1″ third place showing in the men’s long jump, and a 162’8″ throw in the women’s javelin earned senior Virginia Miller second place. 

Saturday’s track events finished in the same manner as Friday’s: with a Cardinal win. Freshman Ellie Deligianni was the one responsible for the victory with a 2:08.31 champion showing in the women’s 800 meter run. The win was not without a challenge, however, as Deligianni struggled to hold onto an early lead through the second lap. Unattached runner Susan Aneno closed the gap during the final 100m to afford Deligianni just a 0.09 second victory. 

Sophomore Morgan Foster and senior Carolyn Wilson went three and four in the event to round out the Cardinal’s top finishers. 

Freshman Samantha Thomas continued Stanford’s dominance on the women’s side with a 1:01.85 victory in the 400 meter hurdles. Cal’s Deshae Wise was Thomas’ closest challenger with a 1:02.76 finish. 

The Cardinal did not field a team for either 4 X 100 meter relay, in which UCLA reigned supreme. The Bruins immediately followed up with another event title as Melani Rodney crossed the line in 53.37 in the women’s 400 meter dash — again a Cardinal-less race without senior regular Ashlan Best, who was out for precautionary injury measures. 

“We want to make sure that [Best] is able to maximize her abilities that will make her one of the nation’s best 400m runners, 200m runners in the country,” Clark explained. “We’re just trying to maximize her ability and get her in the position to help us at the national level.” 

Junior Gabe Navarro was Stanford’s top finisher on the men’s side of the 400 at third in 47.57, with junior Miles Zoltak hot on his heels at 47.80 in fourth. Navarro complemented his 400 meter dash showing with a 21.27 mark in the 200 meter, good enough for second place behind Washington’s Evan Mafilas. 

Fifth year Christina Aragon relied on an impressive final kick to secure second place in the women’s 1500 meter in 4:17.56, crossing the line shoulder-to-shoulder with senior Julia Heymach, whose official time was 4:17.82.

A familiar theme from Friday, Stanford was largely absent from Saturday’s field event leaderboards, with both the men’s and women’s triple jump and men’s pole vault being the exceptions. Junior Keyshawn King tallied a 52’6″ jump to claim the men’s title while sophomore Ellie Tallius and senior Aria Small logged a 1-2 finish, both jumping 41’1.5″. Sophomore JT Herrscher and Max Manson recorded a 2-3 finish in the pole vault with marks of 15’9” and 15’6″, respectively. 

The 1600 meter relay concluded the weekend’s track events, and the Cardinal men — Zoltak, Navarro, junior Andrew Franco and sophomore Karson Lippert — were unable to catch the UCLA’s four to claim a Stanford victory. The Bruins finished in 3:10.31 before the Lippert crossed the line at 3:13.73, with a nearly five-second cushion separating the Cardinal from third-place Cal. 

While the unique season has been constantly evolving, the Cardinal’s next challenge is currently set for April 17, when Stanford travels to Oregon for the West Coast Classic.

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Unfinished Business https://stanforddaily.com/2021/03/13/unfinished-business/ https://stanforddaily.com/2021/03/13/unfinished-business/#respond Sat, 13 Mar 2021 13:25:51 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1179574 One year after their seasons were cancelled by COVID-19, Stanford's student athletes faced a decision: return to avenge defeats and resume championship runs, or opt-out of a season during the pandemic.

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Unfinished Business
Photos: John Todd, Lyndsay Radnedge and Bob Drebin/isiphotos.com; Illustration: Mhar Tenorio / The Stanford Daily

This article is part of a series reflecting on the anniversary of Stanford’s shutdown due to COVID-19. Click here to read the rest of the stories.

“We didn’t know if we were going to have a season at all”


According to senior Jacklyn Luu, Stanford’s synchronized swimming team has one goal: “Winning a national championship.”  

This goal isn’t unique to the 2021 season, or to the current roster. Because of the pandemic and a year filled with “ups and downs,” though, Luu and the rest of her teammates are particularly locked in.

At the start of 2020, synchro appeared to be cruising toward another run at a national championship. In 2019, the Cardinal had placed second to Ohio State by just ten points, and the team had set its sights on avenging the close loss and claiming a ninth national championship for the program. 

On March 6 and 7 of last year, the Cardinal placed first at Western Regionals by nearly 20 points to set up the National Championships rematch. Luu placed first in the solo, trio and technical competitions. She had not lost a single solo competition all year.

And then — the pandemic hit, the rest of the season was canceled and that was the end of the 2020 season. Much like most other Stanford students, Luu and her teammates returned to their respective homes in March, uncertain of the future.

When practices picked back up in summer, the virtual training was highly unregulated.

“It was more on us, the team. There wasn’t any coach-initiated practice or land workouts,” Luu said. “Mainly since we didn’t know if we were going to have a season at all. So it was more upon us to think of ways to do virtual workouts over Zoom and try to have a buddy system to keep each other accountable.”

On July 8, this uncertainty turned to turmoil when the team was blindsided by devastating news. Synchronized swimming would be discontinued, along with 10 other varsity sports, following the 2020-21 academic year. Current and former synchronized swimmers and athletes from other programs have since spoken out against the University’s decision, but Stanford has yet to consider reinstatement. 

“Knowing that we won’t be a varsity sport anymore has really motivated us to make this season our best one by winning a national championship,” she said. “And then on the flip side we try not to think about it so much, because it’s definitely demoralizing to remember how we got cut.”

Amid the ongoing battle between the University and the discontinued sports, Luu was able to return to Avery Aquatic Center in the fall for socially-distanced training, the extent of which is determined by Santa Clara County’s guidelines and COVID-19 tier. It wasn’t until the following quarter that she and the 12-person synchro team were approved through special circumstances housing to live on campus in two pods of six. 

Initially, Luu could only practice with her five housemates, making it impossible to rehearse routines that required more people. (The team routine, for example, requires eight members.) Eventually, as the state of the pandemic improved in the Bay Area, the entire team was able to practice and compete together at Avery.

During the pandemic, though, the distinction between practice and competition has blurred as colleges have implemented virtual meets, meaning that everything takes place in the same physical location.

“We record each routine that we want to submit as an entry, and then we send it over to the host college,” Luu said, walking through the process of a virtual competition. “It’s judged asynchronously. The judges input their scores and send it over to whoever is the organizing school, and then the scores are averaged and calculated. And then whoever is the video master enters the scores into the video to make it look like our scores come right after we swim.”

A live stream of all the competing teams’ videos is then broadcasted, allowing teams to tune in and watch other school’s routines and the results of the competition in order.

“Even in this virtual format, I still get nervous because I know it’s going to be judged eventually,” Luu said. “In that sense, it does give me the same kind of nerves of competing live. It’s not the same, but it works given how weird COVID is.”

Besides athletics, the campus is almost entirely shut down due to the county’s restrictions, but Luu welcomes the “change of scenery” it has provided, particularly as the weather continues to warm up.

“It’s definitely easier to think and focus on synchro,” she said of the housing situation. “There’s no other social activities happening. And I’m living with my team 24-7, so we can spend all day together.”

Out of the water, Luu said living together has helped the team “in terms of being more in tune with each other,” effects that are “definitely translated to how we work together in the pool.”

Amid a pandemic, a cancellation and a plethora of uncertainty, Luu is using the negatives as extra motivation, while still finding the silver linings of the situation. It is a mentality not just for her, but the synchronized swimming program as a whole.

“We’re all very motivated to work every day in school and put our best foot forward each time we’re able to compete,” she said. “And I think that’s the mindset we’ve really dug into this whole season.”

Their mentality is paying off: So far, the team is well on its way to a championship, having placed first at the OSU Virtual Technical Invitational while competing against top level competition in Ohio State and Incarnate Word. Luu finished with a score of 78.6442 to pace the Cardinal. Although the exact date has yet to be announced, the 2021 National Championships are scheduled to take place sometime in April.

“It feels great to be back competing,” she said. “Just having the opportunity and the privilege to just come back on campus and train, as well as actually compete, even though it was virtual, has been really awesome.”

“We all wanted it so bad


As a freshman in 2019, Brody Malone helped Stanford men’s gymnastics defy the odds to earn its sixth national championship against four-time defending champion Oklahoma. In addition, Malone earned every award imaginable: three-time NCAA Champion in the all-around, floor exercise and high bar; College Gymnastics Association Rookie of the Year and Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Gymnast of the Year. 

The following year, he and his teammates looked to defend their team title for the first time since 1993. Stanford was the number one team in the nation and the only team to break 420.000 that season. Then, their season was canceled due to COVID-19.

“When we found out our season was all done and over with, we got together as a team, and a lot of tears were definitely shed,” Malone said. “We all wanted it so bad: to finish the season, to go to Nationals and to try to defend our championship.” 

Malone himself had even more on the line. The previous year, his prowess on all six events earned him a spot on the 2019-20 U.S. Gymnastics senior national team. He traveled to Lima, Peru, to compete at the 2019 Pan-American Games. He even had his sights set on the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. 

But COVID-19 also forced the postponement of the Olympics and threw a further wrench in Malone’s plans.

“I would have been in a tough situation if the Olympics would have still been going on because my training facility at home in Georgia is not the greatest,” he said. “I didn’t think it was fair to force the athletes to compete or try to get ready for high-level competitions, especially the Olympics.”

Like all other collegiate athletes, Malone adapted to the new normal and did everything he could at home to stay in as good of shape as possible. However, he acknowledged one thing that he struggled with during his modified training schedule: consistency.

“In a sport like gymnastics or any other sport, you want to have consistency and know what you’re doing in training,” he said. “In my gym, we have a calendar that tells us what we should do every single day, week and month, and it’s frustrating to not have that.”

After being sent back home in March, Malone has moved between three different states to maintain a somewhat normal training and home schedule. Initially, he started training at two different club gyms in his home state of Georgia — his home gym and a different gym with better equipment. When his family moved to Tennessee later in the summer, he trained during the weekdays, staying with his girlfriend or grandparents, and drove during the weekends to see his family. 

Then, he and a couple of his teammates were invited by alumni Grant Breckenridge ’19 and Akash Modi ’17 to train in Texas with a coach who knows a thing or two about the Olympics.

“Late last summer, a couple of alums — Grant Breckenridge and Akash Modi — invited me and a couple of other guys from the team to train at Cyprus Academy in Texas with coach Tom Meadows, who has been to multiple Olympics,” he said. 

“[Meadows] welcomed all of us with open arms, and I cannot thank him enough for what he did for us,” he added.

A few months later, Malone returned home to Tennessee to celebrate Thanksgiving with his family and was supposed to head back to Stanford to compete with his teammates for the 2020-21 season. However, the spike in COVID-19 cases during the holiday season again forced Malone to return to Texas.

Now, the men’s gymnastics team is finally back on campus and ready to resume its campaign. After a year of uncertainty amid the pandemic, Malone is looking on the bright side. COVID-19 hasn’t changed his lifelong goal of being a part of the Olympics.

“I have used this extra year to build consistency in my routines, get more numbers under my belt and get more comfortable with the stuff that I’m doing,” he said. “I’m still shooting for [the Olympics], though.”


He’s also excited to be back with the team.

“I love the guys so much, and we have such a great training environment here at Stanford,” he said. “We’re all very goal-oriented in that we want to defend our national championship.”

“That’s what drives our gymnastics. That’s what gets us out of the bed every morning,” he added.

“One of the best decisions I’ve ever made”


When women’s cross country and track junior Lindsey Payne heard that the NCAA was granting an extra year of eligibility to all Division I athletes whose seasons were in the fall, regardless of whether they competed or opted out of the 2020-21 season, she had a decision to make. 

Instead of returning to campus to train and compete with her team, Payne chose to opt out of her season and take the time to explore her world without collegiate athletics. Payne has been living in Los Angeles’s Arts District and has immersed herself more deeply in her classes and astrophysics research. 

Her verdict? Taking the season off was “one of the best decisions I’ve ever made because it was truly for myself.”

Payne, a physics major concentrating in astrophysics, has spent her time working with a postdoctoral student in Stanford astrophysicist Risa Wechser’s lab since the fall on the planes of satellite galaxies problem. Previous research has shown that some galaxies, including the Milky Way, are surrounded by a swarm of satellite galaxies that orbit in a line in the same direction. While current simulations and models have found this pattern in galaxies relatively near the Milky Way, it is exceedingly rare elsewhere.

“I’m trying to ask, how does the environment that a galaxy lives in affect its satellite formation?” Payne said.

In addition to being able to spend more time on her research, opting out of the season has allowed her to take a heavier course load than normal: She is taking 19 units, one below Stanford’s maximum per quarter. While her workload is substantial, she said she feels as though it is worth it because it’s “useful and applicable to the real world … not all classes do that.”

And, in between juggling research and classes, Payne said she has still been able to get a taste for LA’s culture and explore the area, somewhere she is interested in living and working after she graduates.

Back on campus, Stanford has brought her team back and is allowing them to compete in a shortened season. Though Payne thinks Stanford made the right call, she doesn’t regret her decision to take the season off. In January, she also had a minor operation to remove a tumor from her finger, setting her back in terms of training and making it unlikely she would have raced the cross country season anyway.

“I think it is definitely worth it for the upperclassmen who are either graduating or going into their fifth years or applying to grad school, or trying to get recruited by professional teams,” she said, “because for them, they have had a year without clocking any fast times.”

Although the year has looked anything but normal for Payne, taking time to explore new things during the academic year has also been valuable in giving her “a glimpse of what life will look like post-collegiately when I’m done running.”

“It wasn’t a decision made out of spite, or frustration, or anger towards my team or the situation or anything, it was just made in my best interest,” she said. And while she strayed from the decision most of her teammates made, it has been a valuable and formative experience for her all the same.

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Track and field season finished https://stanforddaily.com/2021/02/27/track-and-field-season-finished/ https://stanforddaily.com/2021/02/27/track-and-field-season-finished/#respond Sun, 28 Feb 2021 03:15:30 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1178767 Stanford performed well given the approximately 7,000 foot change in altitude from Stanford, CA to Air Force Academy, CO, but none of the 20 Cardinal competing were able to qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championships.

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After just one meet, Championships at the Peak, Stanford track and field concluded its season on Saturday. 

The team performed well given the approximately 7,000 foot change in altitude from Stanford, CA to Air Force Academy, CO, but none of the 20 Cardinal competing were able to qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championships. Coupled with the cancelation of the team’s trip to Texas for the Matador Qualifier last weekend and the cancelation of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation championship meet due to COVID-19, this was Stanford’s one and only chance to advance to the NCAA Championships.

Senior Ashlan Best placed fourth on Saturday in the event with a 53.38. A year ago, she finished with a time of 52.64 at the MPSF Championships. That time is Stanford’s all-time record for the indoor 400 meter. 

Junior Allie Jones also qualified for Saturday’s final round in the 200 meter. Although she ran a personal best, her 25.20 time slotted her in eighth in the final.

On the men’s side, freshman Allan Hunter nearly found success in his collegiate debut at the long jump, but finished just behind the eventual winner, Wyoming’s William Nolan. His distance still carried him to eighth place in Stanford’s all-time rankings, and fifth among all freshmen.

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Cross country gears up for Friday competition, but track and field meet canceled https://stanforddaily.com/2021/02/18/cross-country-gears-up-for-friday/ https://stanforddaily.com/2021/02/18/cross-country-gears-up-for-friday/#respond Fri, 19 Feb 2021 05:38:34 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1178189 As the Pac-12 and NCAA Championships inch closer, Stanford's cross country team will travel to North Las Vegas on Friday for the UNLV Battle Born Challenge.

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Every meet matters during an abbreviated season like that of Stanford cross country. As the Pac-12 and NCAA Championships inch closer, Stanford’s cross country team will travel to North Las Vegas on Friday for the UNLV Battle Born Challenge.

This will be the team’s second meet of the season, as the Cardinal took part in the FSU Winter Classic on Feb. 5. Stanford shone in Florida, with the No. 12 men’s and No. 4 women’s teams scoring first and second, respectively. The competition was the first cross country race for the teams since Nov. 23, 2019.

The men’s team finished with 67 points, well ahead of Iowa State and Colorado’s 98 points each. Freshman Cole Sprout paced the Cardinal with a fifth place finish as four total Stanford runners placed in the top-20. Sophomore Charles Hicks finished one spot behind Sprout, and the duo was followed by fifth year Alek Parsons (12th), senior DJ Principe (18th) and sophomore Devin Hart (29th) to round out the Cardinal’s top five in the runaway victory.

On the women’s side, Colorado’s 72 points edged out Stanford’s 77 for first place, but Donaghu and freshman Zofia Dudek finished first and third respectively in the team race. The Cardinal’s top five also included senior Julia Heymach (10th), senior Jessica Lawson (32nd) and sophomore Grace Connolly (34th). The race was Connolly’s first at the collegiate level.

On Friday, Stanford will be competing against Northern Arizona, Colorado, Boise State, Cal Baptist, Colorado State, New Mexico, Nevada, Southern Utah, Utah, Washington, Washington State, Weber State and Wyoming.

Matador Qualifier

Also on Friday, Stanford track and field was originally scheduled to travel to Lubbock, Texas for the Matador Qualifier. However, Stanford Athletics spokesperson David Kiefer confirmed on Thursday that Stanford would not be competing, but did not volunteer additional information on the matter.

The meet was going to be the first for the Cardinal since the team’s 2020 season, which was canceled the day before the NCAA Indoor Championships would have started on Mar. 13. Despite the abrupt finish, nine athletes were named All-Americans and multiple school records were surpassed that season. Two sprinters — senior Ashlan Best and sophomore Dorien Simon — broke Stanford’s indoor women’s 400 and men’s freshman 60 marks, respectively, over the course of the shortened season. Best, who originally set the new school record for the 400 at the Don Kirby Invitational, broke her own time two weeks later at the MPSF Championships in late February of last year.

Fifth year Ella Donaghu finished with Stanford’s fastest indoor women’s 3000 time in 37 years at the Husky Classic and also broke the team’s mile time record on a track that was regulation size at the Razorback Invitational. Her mile time was later surpassed by Heymach on an oversized track at the University of Washington.

This is the second year on The Farm for Director of Track and Field J.J. Clark, who had previously coached at the University of Connecticut and University of Tennessee.

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Decorated alums speak out against Stanford’s intention to cut 11 sports https://stanforddaily.com/2020/11/22/36-sports-strong/ https://stanforddaily.com/2020/11/22/36-sports-strong/#respond Mon, 23 Nov 2020 03:20:12 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1175447 Alumni from across sports then joined together to pen a response in Stanford Magazine's December edition, which was published on Friday. The alumni letter — written by the newly formed coalition, 36 Sports Strong — criticized the University's "fundamental shift" and called for "Stanford leaders" to engage "in an effort to remedy this situation."

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“What happens when trees fall,” the Stanford Rowing Association Instagram asked on Friday.

Their answer: The rest of the forest hears it.

More specifically, alums from all 36 varsity athletics teams currently offered by Stanford join together to defend the metaphoric threatened trees.

On July 8, the University announced that it intended to cut 11 sports: men’s and women’s fencing, field hockey, lightweight rowing, men’s rowing, co-ed and women’s sailing, squash, synchronized swimming, men’s volleyball and wrestling.

The University cited a mounting financial deficit exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, among other factors that prompted the cancellations. The University also announced that the 2020-21 season would be the final year for each of the 11 varsity programs before being downgraded to club teams.

About 240 current student-athletes and 22 coaches are a part of the affected sports — but over the last four and a half months, alums, families and the larger Stanford community has shown that a lot more people have a stake in the University’s decision.

They’ve fought back through fundraising, conversations with administration, newspaper publications and social media. Now, alums are adding Stanford Magazine to that list.

In its September issue, the magazine published an article describing Stanford’s planned cuts — primarily reiterating the University’s initial statement.

Alums from across sports then joined together to pen a response in the magazine’s December edition, which was published on Friday. The alums’ letter — written by the newly formed coalition, 36 Sports Strong — criticized the University’s “fundamental shift” and called for “Stanford leaders” to engage “in an effort to remedy this situation.” Their ultimate goal: reinstate all 11 programs.

The signees include, but are not limited to women’s volleyball’s Foluke Akinradewo ’09; women’s soccer’s Julie Foudy ’93; men’s basketball and volleyball’s Adam Keefe ’92; football’s Andrew Luck ’12; softball’s Jessica Mendoza ’02 M.A. ’03; wrestling’s Patricia Miranda ’01 M.A. ’02; women’s soccer’s Kelley O’Hara ’10; men’s volleyball’s Erik ’12 and Kawika Shoji ’10; women’s volleyball’s Kerri Walsh Jennings ’00; and women’s golf’s Michelle Wie ’11.

“The impact of the cuts is being felt not only by the 4,000 alumni of the 11 teams but also by more than 40,000 alumni of the greater Stanford athletic community,” the letter said.

The letter does not specifically address University President Marc Tessier-Lavigne, nor Athletics Director Bernard Muir, although they are the implied addressees.

Stanford Athletics did not respond for comment, nor did it provide further information on the conversations that have taken place between alums and the University.

“It’s such a special and strong coalition, really highlighting what our traditional athletic department has meant to all of us — no matter the sport,” Kawika Shoji said about 36 Sports Strong. “It’s an impressive list, leaders in the world of sport, that have come together to support one another. We get it, we understand what the 36 teams mean to our beloved Stanford and its values, and our hope is that the university now starts to understand that, too.” 

Kawika Shoji is a 2016 Olympic bronze medalist and 2010 NCAA national champion setter. He now plays volleyball professionally in Italy for Pallavolo Padova.

Kawika and many alums have already spoken out against the University’s intended cut, but the 36 Sports Strong letter is particularly impactful because of its cross-team coalition and the fame of the participating alums.

One of the most impactful signees is arguably Luck — who’s been a poster child (quite literally) for Stanford’s student-athlete ideal for the past decade. This is his first major statement since he prematurely retired from the NFL last season. The former Colts and Stanford quarterback is notoriously private, and his former Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh called him the “anti-celebrity” for his humility.

Signees, now scattered across the world, have played professionally in leagues such as the NFL, MLB, NBA, WNBA, MLS, NWSL and LPGA. Many have also appeared in the Olympics and/or are included in Stanford Athletics Hall-of-Fame, and most have not questioned their affiliation with Stanford until now.

“We were stunned by this decision because we love Stanford and this changes how we view Stanford,” 36 Sports Strong wrote in the response. “We are asking the university to reconsider.”

“For me, joining the coalition meant adding my voice to a growing outcry over Stanford’s unfortunate decision to eliminate 11 of our programs,” wrote one signee, Cameron Miller ’16, to The Daily. 

Miller competed for the track and cross country teams, both non-revenue sports, while on The Farm. Leaders of 36 Sports Strong reached out to him about joining the coalition after reading his columns that he had written for The Daily on the future of the NCAA and NCAA policy.

“The Stanford Athletics family is a large but close one, and I have friends whose former teams are now gone — perhaps forever,” Miller wrote. “So even though I’m incredibly thankful that the track and field program still exists, I am crushed that many athletes and alumni no longer have a home here at Stanford. And it’s been really encouraging to see how the athlete community has rallied around each other in this challenging time.”

36 Sports Strong’s letter also argues that Stanford’s decision goes against the University’s fundamental values.

“We all recognize the importance of athletics to our Stanford education and disagree with this decision based on how it was made and communicated,” the letter continues. “This precipitous action was not based on values Stanford Athletics has demonstrated over decades, including our commitment to Title IX and our 25 consecutive Director’s Cup wins — an honor that recognizes the breadth of our athletics programs.”

“One of the reasons that makes Stanford unique is the fact that it had a broad-based athletic program that provided competition opportunities for so many students,” Miller wrote. “And we’ve lost some of that with the University’s decision. And with that, we’ve lost a bit of what makes Stanford unique. It was a point of pride — and inspiration — to see so many athletes and teams competing at a high level. And I think that ethos has been irreparably damaged by the decision the University made.”

Alums were also shocked by the lack of notice from the University preceding the cut. Stanford did not alert alums or solicit additional donations to endow programs in jeopardy before the short Zoom webinar that announced the cancellations to current student athletes.

“Stanford botched this in almost every conceivable way,” Miller wrote, “from the financial mismanagement that led to the supposedly precarious budget situation to the way they informed the athletes their teams would no longer exist.”

“We wish the university had reached out to us in advance of the announcement to discuss its financial challenges and to explore possible solutions,” the coalition’s letter said. “We could have helped. We still can.”

Contact Cybele Zhang at cybelez ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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An American record: Valarie Allman https://stanforddaily.com/2020/08/25/an-american-record-valarie-allman/ https://stanforddaily.com/2020/08/25/an-american-record-valarie-allman/#respond Wed, 26 Aug 2020 00:34:44 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1171267 On the first of August, Valarie Allman ’17 threw the discus 230-2 (70.15 meters) on her first throw at the Iron Wood Throws Center Invite to break the almost six-year women’s discus American record held by Gia Lewis-Smallwoods.

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On the first of August, Valarie Allman ’17 threw the discus 230-2 (70.15 meters) on her first throw at the Iron Wood Throws Center Invite to break the almost six-year women’s discus American record held by Gia Lewis-Smallwoods.  

With COVID-19, meet after meet was postponed or canceled, and soon the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 was postponed until next summer. Allman, and no doubt thousands of athletes all around the world, started “feeling a bit lost” with all the uncertainty. In the midst of everything, Allman and her coach, Zebulon Sion, caught word of a meet in Rathdrum, Idaho.

Stationed in Austin, Texas, Allman and Sion quickly prepared to travel the 2,000 miles. After practicing at the local middle school and high schools, the meet would allow Allman to put official numbers to all of her hard work. Throughout every moment, from stepping into the ring to the multiple pirouettes after a throw, Allman’s precision, strength and dexterity puts her throws among the top in the world. 

Prior to Stanford, Allman, as a high school senior, was the nation’s top-ranked high schooler in women’s discus with a throw of 184-2 (56.13m). Throughout her five years competing with the Cardinal, she navigated both the rigorous academics and athletics with practiced agility. 

Her first year at the Farm, Allman broke the Stanford freshman record for women’s discus with 188-6 (57.45m). She went on to win the Pac-12 discus title with a throw of 187-3 (57.07m) in her sophomore year. Allman has consistently improved her technique and strength over the years. Ending her collegiate career, Allman had a personal best of 212-3 (64.69m). 

Although she is mainly focused on her discus career now, Allman ranked nationally in the hammer and the 20-pound weight throw while at Stanford as well. 

Working up to breaking the women’s discus American record, Allman started as a 16-year-old enticed to try discus only after hearing about the annual spaghetti dinner that the throwers planned every year. Now, she has an American record to her name for the same sport she happened to stumble into almost 10 years ago. 

Contact Lydia Chen at lydiac123554 ‘at’ gmail.com.

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‘A new world of recruiting:’ Coaches reflect on the pandemic’s impact https://stanforddaily.com/2020/07/18/a-new-world-of-recruiting-coaches-reflect-on-the-pandemics-impact/ https://stanforddaily.com/2020/07/18/a-new-world-of-recruiting-coaches-reflect-on-the-pandemics-impact/#respond Sat, 18 Jul 2020 23:45:24 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1170241 The cancellation of sporting events at all levels since March, combined with the implementation of social distancing nationwide, has prohibited coaches from fully evaluating prospects’ abilities.

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The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has been felt globally in the athletics world, upending professional sports, collegiate sports and even the recruiting process for high school athletes. Stanford Athletics coaches and prospects are adapting to the major changes in the recruiting process, namely the lack of live sporting events, NCAA restrictions that will continue through at least Aug. 31 and interactions through Zoom and other virtual platforms. 

The cancellation of sporting events at all levels since March, combined with the implementation of social distancing nationwide, has prohibited coaches from fully evaluating prospects’ abilities. With face-to-face interaction on hold for the time being, college coaches have turned to virtual communication as a way to reach student athletes. 

However, the changes in how recruits can be evaluated puts some athletes at risk. Players who are dependent upon in-season development and breakout seasons are now at a disadvantage. Baseball coach David Esquer ’87 said the complexities and challenges of virtual interactions have introduced extra roadblocks into the recruiting process.

“Even players that were in our view and we had information about, the borderline guys that needed to … give us a chance to see if they were someone we wanted — we missed out on those opportunities,” Esquer said. 

“A lot of players are impacted [by the lack of current statistics and scores] and do not display what they are capable of, and it is hard for the coaches to know what they are capable of when they don’t coach them,” said cross country head coach J.J. Clark when asked about the challenges that many athletes are facing after not playing their sport since March. Clark does not have updated times for most of his recruits due to the nationwide cancellation of the high school spring track and field season.

Clark and other coaches are also concerned that some student athletes will have to make a decision whether to attend Stanford without getting the chance to visit campus and interact with the coaches and players. The pandemic is currently limiting in-person recruiting visits, while athletes and parents in the future will undoubtedly feel hesitation to interact with other athletes and coaches in the future. However, the University has not yet changed the early deadline for admittance, which will inevitably put prospective athletes in a difficult position as they choose where to attend college. 

With the pandemic limiting displays of athletic skills, in-person recruiting visits and other in-person interactions, coaches have emphasized the importance of academics as well as improving upon skills that can be refined without competition.

“Take AP classes and do well. Work hard to take the toughest schedule you can and do the best you can. In basketball, being in great shape, controlling things you can control, work on your offensive skills, passing, dribbling and shooting,” said women’s basketball coach Tara VanDerveer.

Esquer also offered advice to prospects, saying they should “continue to take care of business in the classroom… take advantage of this time to keep moving the needle positively as far as their skill and their game is considered.” 

Some teams are contemplating whether to limit their roster size in the future to offset the certain financial impacts of the pandemic, particularly in light of Stanford’s recent decision to discontinue 11 varsity sports. However, the Cardinal’s baseball and women’s basketball coaches have indicated that they will not move forward with those cost-cutting plans. The majority of the 2020 spring collegiate baseball season was cancelled because of COVID-19, so the class of 2020 seniors were granted an extra year of eligibility. Many have indicated that they plan to return for their final year on the Farm. Despite that, there will still be sufficient roster spots for recruits, as the baseball team works to reach the NCAA maximum of 35 players.

VanDerveer also explained that her team does not plan to limit roster size or number of recruits, instead opting to minimize expenses by traveling with fewer staff members to games and taking other cost-reducing measures.

Changes to the recruiting process are inevitable, and it remains to be seen whether virtual recruiting will become the new norm. Esquer, however, continues to maintain a positive outlook for the future of the sports world while giving one final piece of advice to athletes and fans alike.

“Be patient, just ride out the storm a little,” Esquer said. “We will get back to normal, we will get back to having on campus events and there will be games played…just have a little faith.” 

Contact Mary Lee at marylee1099 ‘at’ gmail.com.

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Stanford track athletes engage in ‘non-sanctioned’ training amid pandemic https://stanforddaily.com/2020/04/04/stanford-track-athletes-engage-in-non-sanctioned-training-amid-pandemic/ https://stanforddaily.com/2020/04/04/stanford-track-athletes-engage-in-non-sanctioned-training-amid-pandemic/#respond Sun, 05 Apr 2020 04:43:15 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1165998 Several Stanford track and field athletes engaged in a “non-sanctioned, off-site training activity” amid COVID-19-related restrictions, Stanford Athletics spokesperson Brian Risso confirmed in an email to The Daily on Friday.

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A group of Stanford track and field athletes engaged in a “non-sanctioned, off-site training activity” amid COVID-19-related restrictions, Stanford Athletics spokesperson Brian Risso confirmed in an email to The Daily on Friday. 

According to a source familiar with the matter, one of the athletes was driving from New Jersey to Flagstaff, Arizona, a popular destination for altitude training, and was in Missouri with a teammate as of Monday. A family member of the athlete said a coach had given the athlete permission to travel to train, according to the source.

Risso declined to confirm or deny the source’s account. He declined to clarify what he meant by “non-sanctioned” and declined to say whether anyone in Stanford Athletics had known of the travel plans in advance. He also declined The Daily’s request to interview the team’s head coach and the athlete named by the source.

“We are continuing to gather additional details and the matter will be addressed internally,” Risso wrote.

Stanford Athletics announced on March 12 that all competitions and practices are “suspended until further notice.” 

The athletes’ travel not only violates Stanford Athletics’ restrictions, but also comes at a time when the majority of states, including New Jersey and Arizona, have urged residents to stay at home. New Jersey’s stay-at-home order went into effect on March 21, and Arizona’s on Tuesday. Stanford has also asked its students to avoid nonessential travel. 

Since canceling its remaining athletic seasons, Stanford has moved classes online for the spring and summer quarters in an effort to combat the spread of the virus. Most undergraduates, including many athletes, were told to return home.

In a video posted to Stanford Athletics’ Instagram page on Friday, several athletes shared their home training regimens. 

“Even though I can’t be out on the tennis court right now, I’ve enjoyed staying active by running around my neighborhood, doing body weight circuits with my teammates over zoom and setting up my own personal gym right here in my backyard,” said Tim Sah, a junior on the men’s tennis team.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B-iW5GsJkHr/

Contact Alejandro Salinas at asalinas ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Track and field shatters records at MPSF championships https://stanforddaily.com/2020/03/01/track-and-field-shatters-records-at-mpsf-championships/ https://stanforddaily.com/2020/03/01/track-and-field-shatters-records-at-mpsf-championships/#respond Mon, 02 Mar 2020 07:41:13 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1164817 In a weekend of unparalleled success this season, Stanford track and field produced several record-shattering results at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) Championships in Seattle, Wash., on Friday and Saturday.

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In a weekend of unparalleled success this season, Stanford track and field produced several record-shattering results at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) Championships in Seattle, Washington, on Friday and Saturday. 

Competing at the University of Washington’s Dempsey Indoor 307-meter flat track, the men’s team placed ninth, while the Cardinal women tied for fifth with 54 points, extending their streak of top-five finishes to 17 years. 

“This was our best overall team performance,” said head coach J.J. Clark after the meet.

For the second time this season, junior Ashlan Best broke the school record in the women’s 400 meters. Two weeks after setting the school record record of 53.02 on a 200-meter banked track, Best shattered her own record with a 52.64 to finish third on Saturday. With that performance, she is in contention for a bid to the NCAA championships in two weeks. 

In the women’s mile, Ella Donaghu led a Cardinal sweep of the top three spots. The senior crossed in 4:34.85 to win the race, followed by junior Jess Lawson in second at 4:36.06 and junior Jordan Oakes third at 4:37.69. Senior Christina Aragon finished sixth with a time of 4:41.43 to round out Stanford’s scorers in the event. Half of the 54 points for the women’s team came from this singular race. 

Donaghu became the second Stanford athlete in the last three years to win the women’s mile at the conference championships, and 11th in program history. Twelve-time All-American Elise Cranny ’18 accomplished the same feat in 2018 when she edged Oregon’s Jessica Hull for the win, recording the current school record of 4:31.29.

Oakes, who set a personal best in the mile in Saturday’s race, leapt to No. 10 on Stanford’s all-time indoor list. Donaghu and Lawson remained at No. 3 and No. 5, respectively. 

On the men’s side, four freshmen — Max McKhann, Dorien Simon, Matt Rizo and Sam Liokumovich — had notable performances over the weekend.

McKhann threw the 35-pound weight 20.07 meters on his fifth throw to finish third on Friday. For the third time in the last four meets, he set a new personal best, improving his previous high of 19.59 meters. McKhann strengthened his hold of the No. 5 distance in program history.

Simon broke his own freshman record in the 60-meters prelims on Friday by 0.01. He ran a personal-best 6.80 and tied the late Tyrone McGraw for second in program history. 

In the men’s mile, Rizo clocked a personal-best 4:02.09, recording the fastest mile by a Stanford true freshman in 22 years. Rizo moved to No. 2 on Stanford’s freshman all-time performers’ list, behind Gabe Jennings’ 3:59.32 set in 1998.

Liokumovich threw the shot put 16.80 meters to move to No. 10 in program history on Saturday.

Senior Julian Body placed third in the 400 meters with a personal-best 47.18. The time maintains his spot at No. 8 all-time in Stanford indoor history. In the 60-meter hurdles, he ran 8.04 to place fifth.

“Good marks came from so many different areas,” Clark said. 

The top 16 individuals and top 12 relays will advance to the national championships at the University of New Mexico on March 13-14. The list of qualifiers will be announced on Tuesday. 

Contact Alejandro Salinas at asalinas ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Track and field seeks NCAA bids at conference championship https://stanforddaily.com/2020/02/27/track-and-field-seeks-ncaa-bids-at-conference-championship/ https://stanforddaily.com/2020/02/27/track-and-field-seeks-ncaa-bids-at-conference-championship/#respond Fri, 28 Feb 2020 04:48:26 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1164694 Stanford will be seeking its first MPSF title since the women won in 2011 and the men in 2010. While the women’s team has finished among the top-three in each of the past three years, including runner up at last year’s championships, the men’s team will be seeking its first top-five finish since 2013.

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Stanford track and field begins its indoor postseason with the MPSF Championships on Friday and Saturday. Hosted by the University of Washington, the two-day meet doubles as the final opportunity to qualify for the NCAA Championships, which will take place on March 13-14.

Stanford will be seeking its first MPSF title since the women won in 2011 and the men in 2010. While the women’s team has finished among the top-three in each of the past three years, including runner up at last year’s championships, the men’s team will be seeking its first top-five finish since 2013.

Stanford will also be searching for bids to the NCAA Championships. Only the top 16 individuals and top 12 relay teams in the country will advance to the national championships in Albuquerque, New Mexico. 

As of Thursday, Stanford has four individuals — three women and one man — and one relay team in secure positions to qualify. The three women are juniors Julia Heymach and Jess Lawson and senior Ella Donaghu, all of whom are seeking their first appearance at the indoor national championships.

Heymach looks to be in position to qualify for two individual events. She is ninth in the 800 and fifth in the mile after running the second-fastest mile in program history at the Husky Classic on Feb. 14.

Donaghu also has a strong chance of qualifying in the mile. She holds the No. 6 time in the country and will have another opportunity to compete in that event this weekend. Additionally, the senior is No. 4 in the 3,000 meters, with a time of 8:54.72.

Lawson will likely join her teammate in the 3,000, as she holds the eighth-best time in the country. In the mile, Lawson has the No. 14 spot. She’ll compete in mile this weekend, looking to improve her time of 4:35.56.

The trio of women all combined efforts, along with junior Ashlan Best, to run the second-best distance medley relay (DMR) time in the country. Their 10:55.89 at the Razorback Invitational on Jan. 31 will earn them a berth to the national dance.

On the men’s side, Stanford has one athlete, senior Alex Ostberg, in a secure position to qualify for the championships. He ran 7:49.01 in the 3,000 meters on Feb. 14 and holds the No. 9 time. 

Just under the cutoff for relays, the men’s DMR team has the No. 11 time in the country after clocking 9:32.42 at the Alex Wilson Invitational last Saturday. 

The MPSF Championships will begin Friday at noon and continue through Saturday in Seattle. Live results can be found online. The final list of NCAA qualifiers will be officially determined following the various conference championships across the country.  

Contact Alejandro Salinas at asalinas ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Ashlan Best breaks school record, track and field produces ‘best team effort’ https://stanforddaily.com/2020/02/18/ashlan-best-breaks-school-record-track-and-field-produces-best-team-effort/ https://stanforddaily.com/2020/02/18/ashlan-best-breaks-school-record-track-and-field-produces-best-team-effort/#respond Tue, 18 Feb 2020 09:00:49 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1164168 In the final weekend of regular season competition, Stanford track and field set one school record and one freshman record to go along with 11 additions to the top 10 all-time indoor performers’ list.

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In the final weekend of regular season competition, Stanford track and field set one school record and one freshman record to go along with 11 additions to the top 10 all-time indoor performers’ list. The Cardinal split their team between two meets over the long Presidents’ Day weekend, sending athletes to both the Don Kirby Invitational in New Mexico and the Husky Classic in Seattle. 

“Strong performances all across the board,” said first-year head coach J.J. Clark. “By far, my best team effort as director of track and field here.”

Despite competing at an altitude of 5,300 feet at the Don Kirby invite, junior Ashlan Best set a new school record in the 400 meters on Friday. She crossed in a scorching time of 53.02 on the 200-meter banked track to place second behind UCLA’s Shae Anderson, who won the event in 52.07. 

Best broke the previous school record of 53.35 shared by Kristyn Williams ’16 and Olivia Baker ’18. Williams ran her time on an oversized track at the 2015 Husky Classic before Baker tied it in 2018 at the Don Kirby invite. 

Best, who was on the cusp of breaking the record after running a then-career-best 53.69 at the UW Preview last month, now holds the No. 16 time in the country and is in position to qualify for the indoor NCAA championships next month. 

The top 16 individuals and top 12 relay teams are granted admission to the national championships, which will be held March 13-14 at the Albuquerque Convention Center, the same site as the Don Kirby invite.

Friday also saw freshman Dorien Simon break his own freshman record in the 60 meters. The Lakewood, Washington, product ran 6.81, improving his previous best of 6.85 set at the UW Preview.

Competing over 1,000 miles away at the Husky Classic in Seattle, the Stanford women’s distance program had another record-shattering weekend. Two weeks after senior Ella Donaghu made headlines for setting the school indoor mile record on a 200-meter track, junior Julia Heymach registered a faster mile time on the oversized 307-meter track at the University of Washington’s Dempsey Indoor Center.

Heymach ran a blistering time of 4:33.37 on Saturday to move up to No. 5 in the nation and No. 2 on Stanford’s all-time performers’ list. She’s surpassed only by Elise Cranny ’18, who set the program record with a 4:31.29 mile on the same track at the 2018 MPSF Championships. 

Senior Christina Aragon, who has battled injuries over the last two years, ran a season-best 4:37.30 in the mile, recording a nine-second improvement from just two weeks ago. Her time sits about a second away from the No. 16 time in the nation. Junior Jordan Oakes ran 4:38.99 in the mile, obliterating her previous personal best of 4:47.96 from 2016.

Donaghu continued to build on her stellar senior season with a third-place finish in the fastest section of the 3,000 meters. Her time of 8:54.72 is the fastest time since PattiSue Plumer ’85 J.D. ’89 ran 8:53.1 in 1983. Junior Jess Lawson, who is also in the midst of a breakout season, crossed in 8:59.38 to finish seventh, becoming the sixth woman in program history to break nine minutes.

On the men’s side, junior Alex Ostberg ran a career-best 7:49.01 in the 3,000 meters to place eighth in a competitive field at the Husky Classic and fifth on Stanford’s all-time indoor performers’ list. He now holds the No. 9 time in the nation, with one weekend of competition left before the national championships.

For the first time in his career, junior Michael Vernau broke 14 minutes in the 5,000 meters, becoming the sixth Cardinal on the current roster to accomplish the feat. He ran 13:59.89 on Friday in the same heat as freshman Devin Hart, who crossed in 14:00.39. Senior Alek Parsons finished as the fastest Cardinal of the day, running a season-best 13:59.16.

On Thursday, football All-American cornerback senior Paulson Adebo made his career debut for Stanford track and field, clocking 51.44 in the 400 meters.

With the regular season complete, the MPSF Championships on Feb. 28-29 remains as the final opportunity to qualify for the NCAA Championships on March 13-14 in Albuquerque. 

“I’m excited about the next two meets,” Clark said.

Contact Alejandro Salinas at asalinas ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Ella Donaghu, Jess Lawson rewrite Stanford history in women’s mile https://stanforddaily.com/2020/02/03/ella-donaghu-jess-lawson-rewrite-stanford-history-in-womens-mile/ https://stanforddaily.com/2020/02/03/ella-donaghu-jess-lawson-rewrite-stanford-history-in-womens-mile/#respond Tue, 04 Feb 2020 05:43:27 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1163412 After her historic opening to the indoor track and field season two weeks ago, senior Ella Donaghu continued her momentum on Saturday, breaking the Stanford record for the mile on a regulation indoor track.

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After her historic opening to the indoor track and field season two weeks ago, senior Ella Donaghu continued her momentum on Saturday, breaking the official Stanford record for the mile on a regulation indoor track. 

With a scorching time of 4:33.71, Donaghu won the mile at the Razorback Invitational in Arkansas, edging the previous record of 4:34.48 set by Elise Cranny ’18 in 2018. Junior Jess Lawson crushed her personal best by over two seconds, clocking 4:35.56 for second in Saturday’s race. 

Together Donaghu and Lawson now hold the No. 2 and No. 3 fastest mile times, respectively, on Stanford’s unofficial all-time indoor list. The top spot goes to Cranny, who ran 4:31.29 at the University of Washington’s oversized 307-meter banked track. While Cranny’s feat marks the fastest unofficial mile in Stanford’s all-time record book, official school records must be run on 200-meter tracks, the regulation standard in the indoor sport. 

“Ella and Jess ran great,” said head coach J.J. Clark. “They both are on their way to great seasons.”

On the men’s side, sophomore Max McKhann had an impressive showing on Friday. McKhann, who was one of Stanford’s two meet winners two weeks ago, placed second in the weight throw with his second-straight personal best. He threw the 35-pound weight 19.59 meters on his fifth attempt, improving his best mark by over two feet.

After not competing in the indoor season last year, Mckhann has recorded personal bests in both indoor meets this season. Friday’s performance moves him up from No. 9 to No. 5 on Stanford’s all-time performers’ list.

Less than 24 hours before running record-breaking times in the mile, Donaghu and Lawson teamed up with juniors Ashlan Best and Julia Heymach to produce the fastest distance medley relay (DMR) time in the nation. The Stanford women crossed in 10:55.89, besting Arkansas’ 10:57.08 on Friday night. 

Donaghu led off the Cardinal with a 3:20.48 split in the 1,200. Best followed with a 53.16 for the 400, before Heymach ran 2:05.57 in the 800. Lawson anchored the relay team with a 4:36.69 in the 1,600.

While the Friday night spectacle marks the fifth-fastest time in program history, the team’s performance proves to be a dramatic shift from a blemish last year, when the women’s DMR team failed to reach the national championships and broke a five-year streak of top-three NCAA finishes in the event from 2014-18.

To qualify for the NCAA Championships on March 13-14 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the Cardinal must have one of the top 12 times in the country. With Friday’s performance, Stanford has made a strong bid for the championships and may see its first appearance at the meet since 2018. 

Under Clark, the distance women have been particularly dominant this academic year. In the fall, Stanford claimed the Pac-12 and West Regional titles before finishing third at the NCAA Championships, the team’s best showing on the national stage since 2012.

On an individual basis, Donaghu has excelled this year. After concluding her junior outdoor track season with her first appearance at the NCAA Championships, she continued to build off her momentum this fall. At the NCAA cross country regionals, she became the first Stanford woman to win the race in 12 years, before crossing as Stanford’s top-finisher and eighth overall at the national championships a week later.

She opened her indoor season with a historic showing in Seattle on Jan. 18. In the 3,000, she ran the fastest time by a Stanford runner in 37 years. Her nation-leading time of 8:58.31 stands alone in the country as the only performance under nine minutes this year.

The track and field season continues in two weeks, with the Don Kirby Invitational and Husky Classic scheduled for Feb. 13-15.  

Contact Alejandro Salinas at asalinas ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Track and field set to face competitive field at Razorback Invite https://stanforddaily.com/2020/01/30/track-and-field-set-to-face-competitive-field-at-razorback-invite/ https://stanforddaily.com/2020/01/30/track-and-field-set-to-face-competitive-field-at-razorback-invite/#respond Fri, 31 Jan 2020 06:50:55 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1163184 The Cardinal will be represented by 49 athletes as the team heads to its second meet of the indoor season.

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For the first time since 2015, Stanford track and field will compete at the two-day Razorback Invitational in Fayetteville, Arkansas, on Friday and Saturday. The Cardinal will be represented by 49 athletes as the team heads to its second meet of the indoor season. 

After a nearly two-week break from competition since the season-opening UW Preview at the University of Washington on Jan. 18, the Cardinal head to Arkansas with their focus on setting personal bests, according to first-year head coach J.J. Clark.

“Everyone can be on board with getting a personal best,” said Clark, who doesn’t rely on national rankings as a metric of success.  

“I focus more on execution,” said Clark. “Obviously we want to qualify for nationals, but the way you do it is by executing your plan.”

For Aria Small, her execution at the opener led to a meet-winning leap of 12.19 meters in the women’s triple jump, becoming one of two Stanford athletes to win their event. The junior is slated to compete in her same two signature events this weekend, the triple jump and long jump.

Junior Ashlan Best clocked the fourth-fastest 400-meter dash in program history in her season debut. Her time of 53.69 was the fourth-fastest in the nation at the time she ran it, but since then it has moved down to 13th. The sprinter is scheduled to compete in the invitational heat of the 400 meters against several of the competitors ranked ahead of her.  

Seniors Ella Donaghu and Christina Aragon, along with junior Jess Lawson, will represent the Stanford women in the invitational mile. Donaghu and Lawson had particularly strong season debuts, running the No. 1 times in the country in the 3,000 meters and mile. Since the opener, Lawson’s mile time of 4:37.64 has moved to No. 4 in the country, while Donaghu’s time of 8:58.305 in the 3,000 meters still stands as the only collegiate time under nine minutes.

On the men’s side, sophomore Max McKhann, who won the men’s weight throw at the UW Preview with the ninth-longest hurl in program history, is slated to compete in the same event this weekend. His meet-winning toss of 18.19 meters ranks 64th in the nation heading into the weekend.

In his collegiate debut, freshman Devin Hart clocked a stunning 3,000-meter time of 8:02.47, the seventh fastest in the country. The New Jersey native will compete in his first collegiate mile this weekend. His personal best at 1,600 meters is 4:09.49. 

Meanwhile, in the invitational mile, junior D.J. Principe and senior Alex Ostberg will face a competitive field capable of running under four minutes. While Principe’s best mile time is 4:00.73, Ostberg dipped under the famed barrier for the first time in his career with a 3:59.31 at the UW Invitational last year.

Junior Brandon McGorty is listed to compete in the 800 meters. Brandon, brother to 5,000-meter NCAA champion Sean McGorty ’17 M.S. ’18, opened his indoor season with a 2:26.24 in the 1,000 meters at the UW Preview. While his 800-meter personal best of 1:48.58 in the event stretches back to his high school career, Brandon will be representing Stanford in the 800 for the first time in two years.

The Razorback Invitational kicks off Friday morning at 9:30 a.m. PST, and Saturday’s events begin at 8:40 a.m PST.

Contact Alejandro Salinas at asalinas ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Track and field produces nationally-ranked performances at indoor season opener https://stanforddaily.com/2020/01/21/track-and-field-produces-nationally-ranked-performances-at-indoor-season-opener/ https://stanforddaily.com/2020/01/21/track-and-field-produces-nationally-ranked-performances-at-indoor-season-opener/#respond Wed, 22 Jan 2020 06:35:08 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1162684 Stanford opened the indoor track and field season with nationally-ranked performances at the UW Preview on Saturday. The meet marked the debut of first-year head coach J.J. Clark and his staff.

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Stanford opened the indoor track and field season with nationally-ranked performances at the UW Preview on Saturday. The meet marked the debut of first-year head coach J.J. Clark and his staff.

“We had good performances on both sides,” Clark said. “The team’s energy was high and they had good focus. It’s still early but a good start.”

Stanford produced two overall winners against the competitive field. Junior Aria Small claimed the women’s triple jump with a leap of 12.19 meters, while sophomore Max McKhann threw for 18.94 meters to win the men’s weight throw in his indoor debut. His mark is the ninth-longest in program history.

Freshman Max Manson, a Colorado state champion and 2019 New Balance Nationals Champion, made his debut in a Cardinal uniform, clearing 5.21 meters for an impressive third-place finish in the pole vault.

In the men’s mile, senior Thomas Ratcliffe and fifth-year Alex Ostberg nearly eclipsed the four-minute barrier. Ratcliffe crossed in 4:00.04 for fifth, while Ostberg, who broke four minutes for the first time last year, placed seventh in 4:00.59.

“Max winning his weight and Max jumping 17-1 in his first meet were highlights for the men’s,” said Clark. “Ratcliffe and Ostberg were right on the edge of breaking the majestical 4:00 mile barrier. All were nationally ranked marks.”

Competing in his Stanford debut, freshman Devin Hart placed third in the 3,000 meters with a time of 8:02.47, good for the No. 3 time in the country, while sophomore Clay Mendez finished ninth overall in 8:06.90.

The women’s distance program, composed of many of the same runners who led Stanford to a third-place finish at the NCAA Championships last November, had a particularly impressive day at Washington’s Dempsey Indoor.

In the women’s 1,000 meters, junior Julia Heymach crossed in 2:54.36 for second place, as Oregon’s Susan Ejore edged her out for the win in 2:54.34. Junior Kaitlyn Ryan finished eighth with a time of 2:54.67.

In the mile, junior Jessica Lawson finished as the top U.S. collegian and fourth-overall with a time of 4:37.64. With that performance, Lawson now holds the No. 1 time in the country.

Senior Ella Donaghu, Stanford’s top finisher from the cross country national championships, opened her indoor season with an electrifying finish in the 3,000 meters. She finished as the top-collegian and second overall by just six hundredths of a second with a time of 8:58.31. She also holds the top time in the country.

“Jessica and Ella ran top national marks that should advance them to the NCAA Championships,” Clark said. 

Junior Ashlan Best clocked 53.69 for second in the 400 meters, marking the fourth-fastest time in program history and sixth-best in the country. Junior Carolyn Wilson followed in third with a time of 55.15. 

In the women’s pole vault, graduate student Kaitlyn Merritt and senior Erika Malaspina placed second and third, respectively. Merritt is the reigning MPSF champion in the event, with Malaspina taking second last year after a personal-best performance. 

“Ashlan opened up with a quality 400 and 200, showing her national class abilities,” Clark said. “Our vaulters and jumpers are in position to make a big impact as well.”  

Stanford has two weeks before its next competition at the Razorback Invitational from Jan. 31 to Feb. 1 in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

Contact Alejandro Salinas at asalinas ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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‘The energy is here’: track and field opens indoor season at UW Preview https://stanforddaily.com/2020/01/16/the-energy-is-here-track-and-field-opens-indoor-season-at-uw-preview/ https://stanforddaily.com/2020/01/16/the-energy-is-here-track-and-field-opens-indoor-season-at-uw-preview/#respond Fri, 17 Jan 2020 06:53:52 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1162546 Fired up and ready to go, Stanford opens the indoor track and field season with the annual UW Preview on Saturday. Under the leadership of first-year head coach J.J. Clark, the team will face a variety of west-coast opponents in its season debut at Washington’s Dempsey Indoor.

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Fired up and ready to go, Stanford opens the indoor track and field season with the annual UW Preview on Saturday. Under the leadership of first-year head coach J.J. Clark, the team will face a variety of west-coast opponents in its season debut at Washington’s Dempsey Indoor. 

Saturday’s meet will be more of a “measuring stick” for the Cardinal, according to Clark, who recognizes most athletes haven’t formally competed since the outdoor track and field season last spring. 

“We’re, of course, taking it seriously, but to a degree, because it’s the first opportunity to perform,” he said of the upcoming meet.

Stanford’s strongest opponent is perhaps Oregon, a school with both men’s and women’s programs ranked in the top 10 of the preseason national ratings. The No. 9 Oregon women’s team placed third at the 2019 Indoor NCAA Championships, and the No. 10 men’s team returns a strong roster, including veteran sprinter Cravon Gillespie and distance specialist Cooper Teare, both top finishers at the national level. 

Despite being unranked in the preseason ratings, the Cardinal men had an impressive season last year. Accompanying a pair of fourth-place finishes at both the indoor and outdoor NCAA championships, last year’s indoor championships marked the highest finish for the Stanford men’s team in over a decade.

The Cardinal, however, will be tasked with relying on a younger generation of talent, with the loss of NCAA champions Harrison Williams ’19, the school recorder holder in the decathlon and heptathlon, and Grant Fisher ’19, a 12-time All-American who broke the indoor 3,000-meter collegiate record last year.

“If every Stanford member performs at their best, we’re going to dominate the meet,” said Clark, whose primary focus in this early part of the season has been on making sure every athlete is “prepared” to be successful.

“The energy is here,” said Clark after Tuesday’s practice, which marked the first day the entire track team gathered together.

On the women’s side, Stanford is ranked 19th in the preseason ratings, following a 10th-place finish at the outdoor championships and 12th-place finish in the indoor season last year. The Cardinal distance women are coming off a fall cross country season that saw them place third at the NCAA championships in November and win the Pac-12 crown for the first time since 2010 — both are remarkable accomplishments for Clark, who was tapped only in late July to serve at the helm of the cross country and track and field programs.

Since his appointment, Clark has hired several assistant coaches. Along with Ricardo Santos, who assisted with the men’s cross country team and now focuses on the distance crew, the new track and field coaches include sprints and hurdles coach Jarius Cooper; jumps, pole vault and multi-events coach Arthur Ignaczak; and throws coach Jennifer Svoboda.

For Clark, the transition to Stanford has not come without sacrifices. The former Tennessee head coach moved to Stanford in August ahead of the fall cross country season, preventing him from seeing his family until November. He would wake up at 4 a.m. PST every day to say “good morning” to his son, he said. 

Over the most recent break, though, his family moved to the Bay Area to accompany him. While unpacking 200 boxes was not an easy feat, Clark said he’s “excited” to be surrounded by both his nuclear family and track family.

The UW Preview kicks off with the women’s 3,000 meters on Saturday at 8:45 a.m. Live results will be available online.

Contact Alejandro Salinas at asalinas ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Stanford appoints new Director of Track and Field https://stanforddaily.com/2019/07/25/stanford-appoints-new-director-of-track-and-field/ https://stanforddaily.com/2019/07/25/stanford-appoints-new-director-of-track-and-field/#respond Fri, 26 Jul 2019 06:08:04 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1156451 After 13 years at the University of Tennessee and five at the University of Connecticut (UConn), J.J. Clark has been tapped as Stanford’s next Franklin P. Johnson Director of Track and Field, Athletics Director Bernard Muir announced on Thursday.

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After 13 years at the University of Tennessee and five at the University of Connecticut (UConn), J.J. Clark has been tapped as Stanford’s next Franklin P. Johnson Director of Track and Field, Athletics Director Bernard Muir announced on Thursday. 

The decision comes nearly a month after former head coach Chris Miltenberg announced his decision to leave Stanford to take on the same coaching position at the University of North Carolina (UNC). Four of his five assistant coaches have followed him to UNC. 

Clark served as head coach of the UConn women’s cross country and track and field programs since fall 2014. Before then, he coached at Tennessee from 2001 to 2014, leading the Lady Vols to indoor national team titles in 2005 and 2009. 

“J.J. is well-respected among his coaching peers and throughout the track and field community, and has an established history of bringing out the very best in all those associated with his program,” Muir said. “He has an undeniable passion for the student-athlete experience in the classroom as well as on the field, and is a perfect fit to lead the Stanford track and field program.”

Clark has not announced any assistant coaches to replace the four that have left. Assistant coach Dylan Sorensen, associate head coach and recruiting coordinator Michael Eskind, throws coach Amin Nikfar and Assistant Athletics Director Jessica Riden all announced their departure shortly after Miltenberg. The only coach remaining from the Miltenberg-era is sprints and hurdles coach Gabe Sanders.

“It is with great pride and excitement that I am embarking on my next chapter as Stanford’s Franklin P. Johnson Director of Track and field,” Clark said. “My commitment will be continuing the program’s rich tradition and legacy while reinforcing life lessons to the student-athletes that transcend sports.” 

During his time at UConn, Clark led the women’s indoor track and field team to back-to-back American Athletic Conference (AAC) titles in 2015-16, followed by the school’s first women’s cross country AAC title in 2017.

At Tennessee, Clark managed the women’s track and field team until 2011, when he was promoted to serve as the Director of Cross Country and Track and Field, overseeing both the men’s and women’s programs. Under his tenure, Tennessee accumulated three SEC indoor championships and five cross country conference titles. In 2009, Clark was named the National Coach of the Year by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association and the United States Track Coaches Association in 2005.

Clark graduated from Villanova in 1986 with a degree in communications. As a Wildcat, he was a sub-four miler and competed at the 1988 U.S. Olympic Trials. A Maplewood, New Jersey, native, he graduated from Columbia High School and was a New Jersey high school state title winner in the mile and two-mile as a senior in 1982.

Clark steps into the role after a particularly successful year for the Cardinal. For the first time in school history, Stanford was deemed the No. 1 men’s cross country and track and field program of the year. The award is given to the program with the highest cumulative finish at the NCAA Championships in the cross country and indoor and outdoor track and field seasons. 

While Stanford has placed in the top-three on the list on four different occasions, the 2018-19 athletic year was one of the most dominant for the Cardinal men. In the fall, Grant Fisher ’19 tied the program’s best individual finish at the cross country national championships with a runner up performance, leading the team to a fifth-place finish. In the indoor track season, a pair of runner-up finishes in the distance medley relay (DMR) and 3,000 meters (also ran by Fisher), as well as Harrison William’s title-winning performance in the heptathlon propelled the Cardinal men to a two-way tie for fourth.

In the outdoor season, Fisher again delivered with a hard-fought runner-up finish in the 5,000 meters, while Williams claimed the decathlon silver and fifth-year Steven Fahy won his first NCAA title in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, despite falling over the final barrier. While Fisher signed with the Nike Oregon Project, joining former teammate Sean McGorty, Fahy and five of the seven runners that represented Stanford in last year’s cross country championships will return to the roster this fall. 

On the women’s side, the Cardinal placed fifth in the Program of the Year standings, making Stanford one of just two schools to place both programs in the top five. They will be led by a pair of returning veterans in seniors Fiona O’Keeffe and Christina Aragon. After a fifth-place finish at the cross country championships last year, six of the top seven runners will be returning to the team this fall. At the indoor championships, the women placed 12th, making it their sixth consecutive appearance in the top 20.

The outdoor season saw the women place 10th, highlighted by senior Mackenzie Little’s second straight javelin title. For the second year in a row, the men’s and women’s programs placed in the top 10 at the outdoor track and field championships, the first time since 2001-03.

Clark will also be tasked with welcoming a superbly talented group of freshmen. FloTrack ranked Stanford’s recruiting class as the No. 1 in the nation for both the men’s and women’s teams. The new faces include 2018 Nike Cross Nationals Champion and course record-holder Liam Anderson as well as Grace Connolly, a two-time Massachusetts Gatorade Girls Cross Country Runner of the Year. 

The cross country season kicks off with the John McNichols Invitational in Terre Haute, Indiana, on Sept. 21.

Contact Alejandro Salinas at asalinas ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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World-leading times highlight Prefontaine Classic at Stanford https://stanforddaily.com/2019/06/30/world-leading-times-highlight-prefontaine-classic-at-stanford/ https://stanforddaily.com/2019/06/30/world-leading-times-highlight-prefontaine-classic-at-stanford/#respond Mon, 01 Jul 2019 06:20:15 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1156267 Several of the world’s brightest track and field stars convened at Stanford for the 43rd annual Prefontaine Classic (PreClassic) on Sunday. As the only Diamond League meet in North America, the PreClassic was moved out of its traditional home at the 99-year-old Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, due to Hayward’s reconstruction ahead of the 2020 Olympic Trials.

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Several of the world’s brightest track and field stars convened at Stanford for the 43rd annual Prefontaine Classic (PreClassic) on Sunday. As the only Diamond League meet in North America, the PreClassic was moved out of its traditional home at the 99-year-old Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, due to Hayward’s reconstruction ahead of the 2020 Olympic Trials.

The nearly 8,000 fans in attendance saw multiple world-leading performances, including a number of facility records at Cobb Track and Angell Field. However, not a single current nor former Stanford athlete competed in the meet.

The afternoon action began with the women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase. World record-holder Beatrice Chepkoech dominated the race, finishing nearly 10 seconds ahead of the field in a meet-record and world-leading time of 8:55.58. The Kenyan ran the fifth-fastest time in history, and the fastest time at Stanford.

Reigning world champion Emma Colburn of Team New Balance crossed in 9:04.90 for second place after recovering from a fall on the backstretch in the middle of the race. Despite the fall, Colburn recorded the second-fastest time of her career. 

“I definitely died the last kilometer,” said Colburn in a post-race interview. “I fell, which sucks, but my last two water jumps were really good. That’s when I think in this event you can really sneak and get a few extra places, even if you fall or are slowing down.”

19-year-old Swedish pole vaulter Armand Duplantis, who recently turned pro after one year at LSU, claimed the men’s pole vault after clearing a facility record height of 5.93 meters (19-5.5 feet). He faced a familiar foe in Chris Nilsen, who lifted himself over a lifetime best of 5.95 meters to beat Duplantis at the outdoor NCAA Championships earlier this month. Nilsen finished fourth on Sunday, unable to advance past the 5.71-meter height.

In the men’s two mile, Stanford’s 57-year-old stadium record set by Jeff Fishback — who ran 9:06.8 in 1962 en route to making the 1964 Olympic team — was absolutely shattered. All 15 competitors on Sunday finished well under Fishback’s mark. The reigning International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) world cross country champion Joshua Cheptegei of Uganda/Nike outlasted the field of middle distance elites, finishing in a world-leading time of 8:07.54. 

Selemon Barega of Ethiopia/Nike entered the bell lap as the leader, but was soon passed by a kicking Chaptegei. Nike’s Paul Chelimo, the 5,000-meter silver medalist at the 2016 Olympics for Team USA, challenged Cheptegei down the final 200 meters, but was out-edged at the line. Chelimo’s time of 8:07.59 was a personal best and 52 100ths off of the American record held by two-time Olympian Matt Tegenkamp. Barega collected the bronze with a personal best 8:08.69.

Michael Norman claimed his ninth-straight victory in the 400 meters on Sunday with a time of 44.62. He was the only athlete to have broken 45 seconds, despite holding the world-leading time of 43.45. Kahmari Montgomery, the recent NCAA Champion from Houston, placed second in 45.12. Only 21 years old, Norman is tied for No. 4 in the world all-time in the event, one spot ahead of his coach, Quincy Watts.

In the women’s 800 meters, two-time Olympic gold medalist Caster Semenya of South Africa/Nike ran away with the victory, as well as a new meet and facility record. Her time of 1:55.70 marks the fastest time ever on U.S. soil, topping her own meet record of 1:55.92 set last year. She was followed by a trio of American runners in Ajee Wilson (second, 1:58.36), Raevyn Rogers (third, 1:58.65) and Hannan Green (fourth, 1:58.75). Wilson and Rogers both set season bests, while Green ran a personal best.

While a total of six athletes dipped under the two-minute barrier for the two-lap event, the headlining feature of the race was Semenya’s return to competition after a Swiss court overturned a decision by the Court of Arbitration for Sport that mandated Semenya and “other intersex athletes with hyperandrogenism” refrain from competing until they lower their natural testosterone levels with medication.

Semenya has won the past two Olympic titles in the event and holds the world-leading time of 1:54.98.

“Being able to win, being able to run the fastest time on American soil, I think it was fantastic,” she said after her victory. “I think other people’s perceptions of me are their own problem, not mine.”

https://twitter.com/nuffinlong/status/1145460401955594249

Less than half an hour later, another record on U.S. soil was set. This time it belonged to 26-year-old Sifan Hassan from the Netherlands. A member of the Nike Oregon Project, she clocked a ridiculous 8:18.49 in the women’s 3,000 meters, claiming the world-leading time, national record and Diamond League Record. She also broke her lifetime best by 10 seconds and set the facility and meet record.

“I always do my best here [at Stanford],” said Hassan after the race.

In her most recent trip to The Farm for the Payton Jordan Invitational last month, Hassan won the 10,000 meters. Her success continued on Sunday as she closed in 63.4 seconds over the final lap, outkicking runner-up Konstanze Klosterhalfen, who set a German record and personal best with 8:20.07. Despite being edged out by Klosterhlafen at the line, third-place finisher Letsenbet Gidey of Ethiopia set a new record for her country with a lifetime best 8:20.27. Seven women broke 8:28, and a total of eight women ran the fastest times of their careers.

In the women’s 1,500 meters, Great Britain’s Laura Muir entered the competition with the No. 3 time behind Genzebe Dibaba of Ethiopia and Hassan, who were both slotted to run the 3,000 meters. Faith Kipyegon, the reigning Olympic and world champion at the distance, sat patiently behind Muir as they entered the final 200 meters. Over the final stretch, Kipyegon, who stepped away from competitions last year due to maternity leave, stormed to the finish, winning in 3:59.04.

“It’s really amazing because I was not thinking that I was going to win today,” said Kipyegon. “But, I really thank God for this gift and [am] happy to be back again.”

Muir defended a challenging Shelby Houlihan from the Nike Bowerman Track Club for second place (3:59.47). Houlihan, who unleashed a respectable kick, clocked 3:59.64 for third. Jessica Hull, an Austrilian native and recent graduate of Oregon, crossed in 4:02.62 for seventh.

In the 100 meters, Christian Coleman defeated veteran Justin Gatlin to break his own world-leading time. Coleman, a 23-year-old sensation, crossed in 9.81 to claim his second Diamond League victory. He improved on his time of 9.85 set in Oslo, Norway. Gatlin, who is a world champion and has multiple Olympic medals to his name, clocked a season-best 9.87 in his first appearance at a Diamond League meet in over a year. It was the first time Coleman had defeated Gatlin.

The meet closed with the highly-anticipated Bowerman Mile, which saw 14 sub-four minute performances. The first three laps opened in strategic fashion, setting up a thrilling final lap. Kenya’s Timothy Cheruiyot of Nike separated himself from the field over the final 200 meters to defend his title with a world-leading time of 3:50.49. He was the favorite coming into the race, and held the fastest 1,500-meter time last year (3:28.41).

“I was coming to win the race today,” said Cheruiyot, who arrived in the Bay Area on Saturday night due to a “visa problem,” according to RunnerSpace.

Cheruiyot was followed by Djibouti’s Ayanleh Souleiman of Nike who crossed in 3:51.22. The Norwegian brothers Filip and Jakob Ingebrigsten finished with lifetime bests in third (3:51.28) and fourth (3:51.30), respectively. Craig Engels finished as the top American in fifth (3:51.60), followed by reigning gold medalist Matthew Centrowitz in sixth (3:52.26). Centrowitz entered the race with only five weeks of hard training under his legs. However, he broke the 2019 IAAF World Championships qualifying standard of 3:53.10 in only his first race of the year.

“The time wasn’t special, but it was the standard,” said Centrowitz. “I didn’t have the standard coming in to this, so that was pretty big for me to get.”

Contact Alejandro Salinas at asalinas ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Cross country, track and field coach Chris Miltenberg leaves Stanford for UNC https://stanforddaily.com/2019/06/28/cross-country-track-and-field-coach-chris-miltenberg-leaves-stanford-for-unc/ https://stanforddaily.com/2019/06/28/cross-country-track-and-field-coach-chris-miltenberg-leaves-stanford-for-unc/#respond Fri, 28 Jun 2019 18:16:42 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1156245 In 2017 and 2018, coach Chris Miltenberg led the men’s cross country team to repeat Pac-12 titles, earning him the conference coach of the year award during both seasons.

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After seven years as the director of Stanford’s cross country and track and field programs, former head coach Chris Miltenberg is leaving the Farm to take up the same coaching jobs at the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill. 

“I am extremely excited to lead Carolina Track and Field/Cross Country into the next era of its great history,” Miltenberg said in a statement released Thursday on UNC’s website. “Carolina is a truly special place unlike any other in the country and the potential for this program is enormous.” 

Since joining Stanford in summer 2012, Miltenberg has coached nine teams to top-five finishes in cross country. In the 2018-19 season, both the men’s and women’s teams placed fifth at the NCAA Cross Country Championships. His tenure at Stanford also includes 12 NCAA top-10 performances in track and field.

“Chris has a proven record of building track and field and cross country programs into national contenders, and his dedication to student-athlete success goes well beyond competition,” said UNC Director of Athletics Bubba Cunningham. “He knows how to inspire, motivate, teach and lead, and he will be an outstanding addition to our family of champion coaches, our department and our University.”

Most recently, the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association named Stanford men’s track and field and cross country the John McDonnell Division I Program of the Year in 2019. The women received the Terry Crawford Division I Program of the Year award in 2018. The two honors are bestowed upon the most successful country and track and field programs in a given year and are calculated based on the school’s finish at the three NCAA Championships.

In 2017 and 2018, Miltenberg led the men’s cross country team to repeat Pac-12 titles, earning him the conference coach of the year award during both seasons. Additionally, he was named the NCAA West Region Coach of the Year in cross country in 2013 and in indoor track and field in 2016 and 2019.

“I knew it would take somewhere very special for me to leave Stanford and in all my conversations with Bubba leading up to this decision, it became clear that Carolina was the place that we could build one of the very best programs in the country with outstanding student-athletes, great support and a clear vision of the road to excellence,” Miltenberg said.

Miltenberg will be stepping into his third head coaching role in the NCAA. Before coming to Stanford, he coached his alma mater, Georgetown, from 2007-2012. In his time there, he led the Hoyas to an NCAA women’s cross country championship in 2011 and was named the 2011 National Coach of the Year. He served as an assistant coach at Columbia from 2004-2007.

The decision comes two weeks after it was announced former UNC head coach Harlis Meaders would not have his contract renewed. Stanford has yet to announce Miltenberg’s replacement.

Contact Alejandro Salinas at asalinas ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Sixteen years in the making, track and field teams place top 10 at NCAAs https://stanforddaily.com/2019/06/08/sixteen-years-in-the-making-track-and-field-teams-place-top-10-at-ncaas/ https://stanforddaily.com/2019/06/08/sixteen-years-in-the-making-track-and-field-teams-place-top-10-at-ncaas/#respond Sun, 09 Jun 2019 05:39:38 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1156084 On the final day of the NCAA Track and Field Championships, the Stanford women’s team finished 10th overall behind behind top-eight finishes from a pair of juniors. Ella Donaghu finished sixth in the 1,500 meters, while Fiona O’Keeffe placed seventh in the 5,000 meters to earn Stanford its only points of the day.

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On the final day of the NCAA Track and Field Championships, the Stanford women’s team finished 10th overall behind behind top-eight finishes from a pair of juniors. Ella Donaghu finished sixth in the 1,500 meters, while Fiona O’Keeffe placed seventh in the 5,000 meters to earn Stanford its only points of the day.

For the first time in 16 years, Stanford placed both teams in the top 10 at the outdoor NCAA Championships. While the No. 19 men’s team finished fourth behind four top-three performances, the No. 11 women’s team split a four-way tie for 10th with No. 17 Texas, No. 18 South Carolina and No. 20 Florida State.

Donaghu led the charge for the women on Saturday, finishing as the highest scorer of the day for the Cardinal. In the face of 97-degree heat at the Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin, Texas, she toed the line with sophomore Jess Lawson for the 1,500 meters. As the race opened, the duo tucked into the back half of the pack. When a lead group of four runners made a move to separate from the field, Donaghu and Lawson were too far behind to respond immediately. However, the duo powered through the final segments of the race. Donaghu finished in 4:13.62 for sixth place, just a step away from fifth, while Lawson crossed in 4:16.04 for 10th.

“When I crossed the finish line, I was a bit disappointed for not going with that group,” Donaghu said. “But I feel, from 500 [meters] out, I did a really great job of staying composed. I refocused and thought, ‘Go pick off people and have fun with it.’ Overall, I’m extremely proud how we both fought in this race.”

The pair of up-and-coming team leaders progressed to the 1,500 meter final in just their first appearance at the NCAA Championships. Donaghu was named to the All-America first team, while Lawson earned second team All-America honors.

“This year was definitely a building year,” Lawson said. “It was exciting to see those results all the way through the year. I attribute a lot of that to the way our team is growing and maturing. We’ve experienced a lot of growth, and a lot of people stepping up into leadership positions. I feel like my season is reflective of the growth we’ve been experiencing as a team. And I can only see that continuing as we go into next year.”

Donaghu scored three points with her sixth-place finish to bring the running total to 18 points for the Stanford women. O’Keeffe, the only other scorer for the Cardinal on Saturday, added an additional two points with a seventh-place performance in the 5,000 meters.

Midway through the 12.5-lap race, O’Keeffe fell, suffering abrasions to her right hip. She was in the lead pack at the time of the fall, but by the time she got up, the lead pack was well ahead. Over the remaining laps, she rallied back to bridge the gap between her and the leaders, ultimately finishing ahead of two runners in that lead pack. She placed seventh in 16:07.84.

“With Fiona taking a hard fall like that, to see her get up and battle back and get those two points for us, that speaks to them doing something for each other,” said head coach Chris Miltenberg.

Sixteen years in the making, track and field teams place top 10 at NCAAs
A total of 10 athletes represented the Stanford women’s team at the NCAA Championships. They accumulated 20 points to split a four-way tie for 10th. (SPENCER ALLEN/SportsImageWire.com)

Earlier in the evening, junior Jaimi Salone made their outdoor NCAA debut in the women’s discuss. Despite fouling on their first two attempts, Salone released a throw of 153 feet, five inches to place 23rd.

In the high jump, fifth-year senior Rachel Reichenbach also made her first appearance at the outdoor national championships. Competing in a Stanford uniform for the final time, Reichenbach cleared the first three bars before clearing 5-10 on her third and final attempt. The senior gave three tries at her personal best, 5-11¼, but she was unable to lift herself over, ending her season.

“I didn’t quite have it today, but I put it all out there,” Reichenbach said. “It’s exciting to be here, and I’m excited to end on this note. I really couldn’t ask for much more. The road to get here has been incredible. Ending here today with my teammates watching, and all I’ve been through … it speaks so much for tenacity and how far mental strength can get you. That’s something I’ve learned and something my teammates have taught me too. That’s my takeaway today. This doesn’t necessarily end today. It might for track, but not for life, and not for my teammates.”

Sixteen years in the making, track and field teams place top 10 at NCAAs
Fifth-year senior Rachel Reichenbach (above) competes in the women’s javelin at the NCAA Championships on Saturday. (SPENCER ALLEN/SportsImageWire.com)

With senior Mackenzie Little’s title-defending performance in the javelin and fifth-year senior Steven Fahy’s dramatic victory in the 3,000 meter steeplechase on Friday, the Cardinal conclude its trip to Austin with two individual NCAA titles, four first-team All-America honors, three second-team All-America honors and a pair of top-10 team finishes.

“It’s a great end to our season and to be back in the top 10 with this young group and the great synergy they have is a really exciting sign for the future ahead,” said Miltenberg.

Contact Alejandro Salinas at asalinas ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Track and Field collects two individual titles on third day of NCAAs https://stanforddaily.com/2019/06/08/track-and-field-collects-two-individual-titles-on-third-day-of-ncaas/ https://stanforddaily.com/2019/06/08/track-and-field-collects-two-individual-titles-on-third-day-of-ncaas/#respond Sat, 08 Jun 2019 08:30:44 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1156067 To ‘little’ surprise, senior Mackenzie Little claimed her second consecutive javelin title in the third day of the outdoor NCAA Track and Field Championships. A few hours later, fifth-year senior Steven Fahy concluded his college career with a national title of his own, winning the men’s 3,000-meter steeplechase in dramatic fashion after falling over the final barrier.

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To ‘little’ surprise, senior Mackenzie Little claimed her second consecutive javelin title in the third day of the outdoor NCAA Track and Field Championships. A few hours later, fifth-year senior Steven Fahy concluded his college career with a national title of his own, winning the men’s 3,000-meter steeplechase in dramatic fashion after falling over the final barrier.

Friday night also saw senior Grant Fisher and junior Thomas Ratcliffe place second and third, respectively, in the 5,000 meters as the men’s team finished fifth overall. With fifth-year senior Harrison Williams finishing runner up in the decathlon on Thursday, all four athletes representing the No. 19 Stanford men’s team placed in the top three, accumulating a total of 32 points.

While No. 1 Texas Tech claimed the men’s team title, Stanford defeated several track and field powerhouses, including No. 5 Texas A&M (sixth, 29 points), No. 3 LSU (seventh, 28 points) and No. 6 Oregon (12th, 23 points). The Cardinal recorded its highest finish at the outdoor championships since the team placed fourth in 2001.

Track and Field collects two individual titles on third day of NCAAs
Fifth-year senior Harrison Williams, senior Grant Fisher, junior Thomas Ratcliffe and fifth-year Steven Fahy (left to right) all placed in the top three in their respective events to accumulate 32 points for the Stanford men’s team. As the only representatives for the Cardinal men, the four athletes helped the team finish fifth overall. (SPENCER ALLEN/SportsImageWire.com)

On the women’s side, No. 11 Stanford is tied for first with No. 1 Arkansas through the first six events of the meet. Both teams have accumulated 15 points heading into the final day of competition on Saturday.

All 15 of those points for Stanford came in the women’s javelin event on Friday. With Little’s title-defending performance and junior Jena Gray’s fourth-place finish, the Cardinal women became the first program to ever score 15 points or more in back-to-back years in the event. Gray, a volleyball All-American, finished runner up last year to Little, earning Stanford 18 points in the event.

This year, Little entered the competition as a clear favorite. The senior from Australia held the top distance (195 feet, one inch) for the nearly the entirety of the season. She was the only collegian to have broken 190 feet this year, and she displayed her talent and experience on Friday when her 195-foot first attempt was untouched for the remainder of the competition.

No one else was able to get with 10 feet of her remarkable throw, solidifying her as Stanford’s first woman to win two NCAA titles in a field event. She became just the sixth person in NCAA history to repeat in the javelin and first since Oklahoma’s Brittany Borman in 2011 and 2012.

“I’m really thrilled,” Little said. “I’m so excited, I couldn’t be happier for my last meet competing in a Stanford uniform.”

Track and Field collects two individual titles on third day of NCAAs
Senior Mackenzie Little (above) defended her NCAA javelin title on Friday in stellar fashion. She threw for 195 feet on her first attempt, which would be untouched the rest of the competition and earn her a second consecutive NCAA title in the event. (SPENCER ALLEN/SportsImageWire.com)

Fifth-year senior Steven Fahy claimed his first NCAA title with a dramatic finish in the men’s 3,000-meter steeplechase. With less than half a lap remaining, Fahy ran side-by-side Indiana’s Daniel Michalski, a former Division II All-American at Cedarville. The two seniors were chasing their first NCAA Division I title in the event as they approached the final water jump.

For Michalski, his aspirations were cut short as he clipped the barrier and fell to the ground as Fahy stormed away. Well clear of the field, the Stanford veteran, who was competing in a Cardinal uniform for the final time, had only one final barrier standing between him and the glorious NCAA title.

As Fahy leapt over the final barrier, he, too, clipped the bar and fell in an unusual sequence of events. Without a moment’s waste, the All-American and 2018 third-place finisher in the event quickly got up and sprinted for the finish as the rest of the field chased him down the final meters. Despite falling, Fahy crossed in 8:38.46, outlasting second-place finisher Ryan Smeeton from Oklahoma State by 0.6 seconds.

“Falling over that last barrier is a perfect way to sum up my collegiate career,” Fahy said. “Nothing’s going to come easy, and it’s not always going to happen the way you think it’s going to or the way that you envision it. But if you keep your nose in it and you really believe that you’re going to get there, and if you put in that work over those years, that’s why all this happens.”

Fahy adds to a resumé that includes two consecutive Pac-12 steeplechase titles and multiple All-America honors. With his victory on Friday, Fahy became Stanford’s first NCAA Champion in the event and the first from the Pac-12 since Kyle Alcorn of Arizona State in 2008.

In one of the most anticipated matchups of the championships, Fisher toed the line with Wisconsin’s Morgan McDonald, who outkicked Fisher to win the NCAA cross country championships in the fall and the NCAA indoor 3,000 meters in March.

In 87-degree weather in Austin, Texas, the duo led the strung out field heading into the final mile of the race. UCLA’s Robert Brandt followed in third, with Stanford junior Thomas Ratcliffe hugging the rail in sixth.

Entering the final lap, Fisher and McDonald ran shoulder to shoulder. Fisher surged to gain the inside lane advantage and quickly accelerated into the lap. McDonald responded, chasing the Stanford All-American into the back straight. Having separated from the field, the duo kicked around the oval one last time in their respective collegiate careers.

As they entered the home straightaway, McDonald opened a widening lead on Fisher, ultimately crossing in 14:06.01 for his fourth NCAA title. Fisher finished in 14:06.63 and Ratcliffe, who passed two runners over the final 200 meters, placed third (14:07.92) in his first appearance at the outdoor national championships.

While Fisher’s strategy was to outkick the familiar foe, McDonald closed in a respectable 52.90 seconds over the final lap to pull away with the victory.

Fisher concludes his collegiate career with two Pac-12 titles and the 2017 NCAA title in the 5,000 meters. He has been named an All-American nearly a dozen times in his four years on the Farm. He will graduate with the American collegiate record in the 3,000 meters.

The four-day NCAA Championships will conclude on Saturday at Mike A. Myers Stadium. Sophomore Jess Lawson and junior Ella Donaghu will represent Stanford in the 1,500 meters final, while junior Fiona O’Keeffe returns as a top contender in the 5,000 meters. On the field, junior shot putter Jaimi Salone and fifth-year senior Rachel Reichenbach, a high jumper, will both be making their first NCAA appearance.

Live results and an updated event schedule can be found online.

Contact Alejandro Salinas at asalinas ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Stanford’s most successful decathlete places second at NCAA Championships https://stanforddaily.com/2019/06/07/stanfords-most-successful-decathlete-places-second-at-ncaa-track-and-field-championships/ https://stanforddaily.com/2019/06/07/stanfords-most-successful-decathlete-places-second-at-ncaa-track-and-field-championships/#respond Fri, 07 Jun 2019 07:42:03 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1156053 On the second day of the four-day NCAA Track and Field Championships, fifth-year senior Harrison Williams, Stanford’s most decorated multi-events male athlete, became the program’s highest outdoor NCAA decathlon finisher after recording a second-place finish with 8,010 points on Thursday night.

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On the second day of the four-day NCAA Track and Field Championships, fifth-year senior Harrison Williams, Stanford’s most decorated multi-events male athlete, became the program’s highest outdoor NCAA decathlon finisher after recording a second-place finish with 8,010 points on Thursday night. The meet was delayed four hours due to the weather and the women’s javelin was rescheduled to Friday.

Despite the conditions, fifth-year senior Abbie McNulty, making her outdoor NCAA debut, placed 10th in the women’s 10,000 meters. Toeing the line with temperatures nearing 80 degrees and 70 percent humidity, she remained in the lead pack as the field quickly spread after the first mile. With six laps remaining of the 25 that make up the event, McNulty picked off runners in the final stages of the race to finish 10th and cap off her collegiate career with second-team honors.

Stanford’s most successful decathlete places second at NCAA Championships
Fifth-year senior Abbie McNulty (above) competes in the 10,000 meters at the outdoor NCAA Championships. (SPENCER ALLEN/SportsImageWire.com)

“I tried to keep racing my own race,” she said. “Just look for them to come back and try to catch the next person, which worked out well. When I saw runners coming back towards me, it was like another target to try to reach.”

Having already graduated, McNulty closed her collegiate career with two NCAA debuts. She reached her first indoor NCAA meet in March and earned her first trip to the outdoor championships after placing seventh at regionals.

“I want to keep running, for sure,” McNulty said. “I really feel like I found my groove, not only physically, but mentally, learning how to race and be in control of myself.

Fifth-year senior Steven Fahy qualified for the men’s 3,000-meter steeplechase final after winning his prelims heat on Wednesday. He had the fastest qualifying time of the day with 8:41.60. The two-time Pac-12 champion and the reigning bronze medalist in the event returns as one of the top contenders for the NCAA title. His season and collegiate career will come to a close with the steeplechase final on Friday evening.

In the women’s 1,500 meters, junior Ella Donaghu (4:12.65) and sophomore Jess Lawson (4:12.69) placed fifth and sixth, respectively, in the same preliminary heat to advance to Saturday’s final. The two rising stars are making their first appearance at the outdoor NCAA Championships after setting remarkable personal bests at regionals to advance to the championships.

Competing for the final time in a Stanford uniform, Williams added to a career resumé that includes multiple All-America honors, the 2018 Pac-12 decathlon title and the 2019 indoor NCAA heptathlon title. He entered the outdoor championships ranked second in the nation with a personal best 8,112 points after finishing runner up at the Bryan Clay Invitational on April 19.

Williams, who was first introduced to multi-events in high school, capped off his collegiate career with his seventh appearance at the NCAA Championships across the indoor and outdoor track and field seasons.

The decorated fifth-year sat in second after the first day of competition. With 4,266 points, he trailed Georgia sophomore Johannes Erm by 79 points heading into Thursday’s competition.

He concluded the first day with a strong performance in the 400 meters, crossing with the second-fastest time of 47.19 seconds, good for 949 points. With one of the best Day One showings of his career, Williams set himself up in good position heading into the final day of competition.

While he considers himself a stronger Day Two performer, Williams opened the second day with a sixth-place showing in the 110-meter hurdles, followed by a tenth place performance in the discus throw, widening the gap between him and Erms, who led in first place, to 213 points.

Over his five years on the farm, Williams has developed his strengths in the pole vault, which was on display in Austin. He cleared a field-leading 5.11 meters to place first in the event and add 944 points to his running second-place total. Erm, who continued to lead in first, cleared 5.01 meters to place second in the event. With only two events remaining, the Georgia sophomore led by 182 points.

Javelin, the penultimate event of the meet, proved to be William’s kryptonite. It’s an event he has worked on all season to improve, but one that he considers to be his weakest. With the title on the line, Williams threw for 157 feet and two inches, just 10 feet short of his personal best. But his performance placed him 13th in the event, while Erm increased his lead after finishing eighth.

In the 1,500 meters, the final event of the competition, Erm effectively ran away with his first NCAA title. The sophomore ran a lifetime best of 4:33.38 to win the event and cap the competition with a personal best 8,352 points. Williams crossed in 4:39.01 for seventh in the event and second overall (8,010 points). Williams and Erm were the only two athletes to have broken 8,010 points.

“I’m a little disappointed,” Williams said. “I wanted to come out with a win.”

Erm’s performance not only earned him the NCAA title, but it also set the collegiate record this season, besting the USC’s Ayden Owens, who previously held the record with 8,130 points.

William closes his collegiate career as Stanford’s best multi-events male athlete. He has the school record in both the heptathlon (6,042) and decathlon (8,112), and became Stanford’s first male multi-events NCAA Champion when he won the heptathlon title in April.

“The main thing I’ve learned is just to stay consistent and put together a mark in every event, which is what I did and I was fortunate to come out in second place,” Williams said.

While his season is complete, the fifth-year has hopes of qualifying for the 2020 Olympics and will continue training on the Farm.

For now, he will root for the Cardinal from the stands in Austin, Texas, as the final two days of the NCAA Championships continue Friday.

Contact Alejandro Salinas at asalinas ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Senior Spotlight: Lena Giger https://stanforddaily.com/2019/06/06/senior-spotlight-lena-giger/ https://stanforddaily.com/2019/06/06/senior-spotlight-lena-giger/#respond Thu, 06 Jun 2019 07:03:18 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1155912 Hailing from the small town of Highland, Illinois, fifth-year senior Lena Giger recently concluded her collegiate career with a runner-up finish in the shot put at the indoor NCAA Track and Field Championships. Her throw of 58 feet, 8 and 1/2 inches earned her the indoor school record in shot put, moving her ahead of Jillian Camarena, a two-time Olympian and current school record holder in the outdoor equivalent.

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This article is part of a running series The Daily sports staff will be publishing on graduating athletes.

Hailing from the small town of Highland, Illinois, fifth-year senior Lena Giger recently concluded her collegiate career with a runner-up finish in the shot put at the indoor NCAA Track and Field Championships. Her throw of 58 feet, 8 and 1/2 inches earned her the indoor school record in shot put, moving her ahead of Jillian Camarena, a two-time Olympian and current school record holder in the outdoor equivalent. Giger made four consecutive appearances at the NCAA Championships and earned multiple All-America honors in her time on The Farm. The history major — also referred to as the “mom” of the team — still hangs around Stanford and can often be seen giving advice to the next wave of Cardinal throwers. The Daily’s Alejandro Salinas sat down with Giger to talk about her time both in and out of the shot put ring.

The Stanford Daily (TSD): Do you remember your first day of practice?

Lena Giger (LG): Actually, I do. Our first came the same day as our sports physicals. We were told to go to sports physicals at 8:30 a.m. I had no idea what we were doing. And as soon as we were done with that, we were supposed to go to practice. I was there with two other freshmen and we got lost because we were told to meet at the basketball courts and we were at the wrong place for like 20 minutes. Finally we got to practice and it was a basic warmup. We got to meet everybody, which was really sweet.

TSD: What will be some of the highlights you’ll walk away with from your time at Stanford?

LG: The best thing and the thing that I am most proud of being a part of is the [track and field] team. Track is obviously a very big sport. There are 80 or 90 of us on the team. So there is that whole big squad, but then we also have the squads that we are part of for our events, including some cute little throw squad. It’s been amazing. We still see the older teams that have graduated. We had regionals two weeks ago at Sacramento and Rebecca, a senior in my freshman year, came out and we saw her, which was cool. Being part of the whole family is my favorite part for sure. Traveling with everybody has also been great. Going to as many places as we have been — we’re really fortunate to travel as much as we do. To be up in Eugene with the huge track town, especially last year with the last meet ever in the old stadium, that was really cool to be a part of.

TSD: You have a number of records in Stanford’s all-time top 10 list. What does it mean to be up there among some of the greats?

LG: In indoors, I took Jill [Camarena’s] record, and then in outdoors, Jill still holds it. Jill was here in the 2000s. Her throwing career was going on, while I had just started. My dad was a huge track fan, but she’s the one that got me into it. At that time I was looking up to her, and she was leading the U.S. I had no idea [Stanford] was her alma mater. Looking at the record books, it was her records that I started to chase. It was really cool to see that and to now meet her, an incredible person. She still comes out, and she was here for Stanford Invite. Knowing that the names that I’m up there with are huge names, especially on the national stage after college, it’s really cool to be among those and hopefully chase that part, too.   

TSD: With your collegiate career over, what’s the next phase of your life look like?

LG: I’m going to be at Stanford for another year. We got a new coach last year, coach Amin [Nikfar] — a wonderful coach. He’s agreed to train me for the next year. I’ll be sticking around the team, helping out wherever I can. I think ideally I would like to train after next year but it’s just a year-by-year basis now.

TSD: From day one to now, does it feel like a blur?

LG: Yes. It feels really long and really short at the same time. I have been through three different coaches while I have been here, which is a significant amount. Usually you only go through one change if you go through one. For me, things break up in eras. You go through eras really long and it’s a full time there. But then thinking back, it’s crazy that five years have already passed. I would not have guessed that.

TSD: How valuable were your coaches throughout your five years?

LG: They were huge. I didn’t really have a coach in high school. I had my dad who was great, but not super and he didn’t know a lot of stuff. So having someone who knew the technical stuff was huge. I think as you keep going through, everything becomes sort of a mental game, and having somebody that can help know that mental game and help you balance that mental game is where the support comes from. There are so many days where we feel like you’re brand new and have no idea what you’re doing, but they keep you grounded and help you develop that confidence that you’re doing what you’re supposed to be doing. I’ve learned a great deal from all three coaches in all kinds of different aspects.

TSD: Could you see yourself as a potential coach?

LG: I don’t really know. I was a history major. I’d like to go into high school teaching. I think at that level I’d love to coach, but much beyond that, I’m not sure. I’m not sure I’m really down for the lifestyle of changing schools every few years.

TSD: Could you share a little bit about your hometown and life before Stanford?

LG: Highland is a pretty small farm town, kind of outside of St. Louis. But it’s its own little world. It’s pretty small, pretty simple town. My graduating class in high school was 200 people. All of them had been there since kindergarten. It’s a very different world from here. I learned a lot growing up there on how to be grounded, what you’re focusing on and stuff like that.

TSD: Did you face any challenges in coming from a small town to Stanford?

LG: A little bit. I think a lot of it was that everything was just so different with the change. Back home, everyone has to drive everywhere because nobody lives that close to each other in school. And at Stanford, everything is all compact, which is really nice. But sometimes you just want to get away. Sometimes I literally drive into the hills and am like “Ah, space!” It was a really good transition and I think the people here really help with that because you wanted to be around other people. It’s just a little bit more busy that I would have expected.

TSD: Outside of track and field, is there anything that you became invested in at Stanford?

LG: In my sophomore year, I found Google education classes that work with pre-K and kindergarteners in the area. And I loved it. I knew I liked history when I came in. I thought I wanted to do something in law or on the legal side, and then I took a couple education classes and realized that’s more of what I wanted to do. My dad’s a teacher so I’ve been around education for a while, but it’s really cool and rewarding to see kindergarteners and pre-K kids learn and interact. I think it helped balance all the stress that happens at Stanford.

TSD: How would you describe your role on the team?

LG: I’m called “mom” pretty often, which I do love. I think we have such an awesome group of people. Being the oldest, I think the “mom” part just comes with that. I like that people ask me a lot of different questions for advice. It’s nice to have a sounding board when you’re figuring things out.

TSD: What would be your advice to incoming athletes?

LG: For me, personally, I think one of the biggest things was finding your world outside of your team. For me, that really came from my friends in my freshman dorm. The family that you make with your team is awesome, but at the same time, you just need something outside of it, whether it’s from frustration or even if you’re doing really well, you just need something else to clear your head. Having either an outside thing or an outside person, I think, is really helpful. It’s being able to find that balance between putting everything you want into track or school, but then also being able to have a relaxing thing to do.

TSD: What was it like competing for the indoor NCAA title in March?

LG: NCAAs is pretty incredible.We lost our last coach in July, and myself and Mackenzie Little chatted every day over the summer because we didn’t know who our new coach was going to be and we didn’t know what the new setup was going to be. While a coach is a huge part of everything we do, we’re also in control of what we do. Trying to make the best out of that, I think getting to indoors and having it go as well as it did really was that nice cherry on top that all the work — both mental and physical — that we put into making this year what it was was worth it. We lucked out so much by getting coach Amin. So it wasn’t this huge thing that we overcame, it was just a little scarier with some unknowns at first.

Going from being excited to making it to regionals as a freshman to being at the top of it by the end is something that I didn’t imagine coming in as a freshman. It’s just a weird mental jump to say that “wow, you could be up there.” But to see how that ended up, it was very fitting. It was a nice reward — having everything fit together.

Contact Alejandro Salinas asalinas ‘at’ stanford.edu

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Track and Field competes for outdoor NCAA title https://stanforddaily.com/2019/06/05/track-and-field-competes-for-outdoor-ncaa-title/ https://stanforddaily.com/2019/06/05/track-and-field-competes-for-outdoor-ncaa-title/#respond Wed, 05 Jun 2019 07:04:15 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1155894 Fourteen athletes will have the honor of representing Stanford track and field at the outdoor NCAA Track and Field Championships in Austin, Texas from Wednesday to Saturday. Several graduating veterans, such as Harrison Williams, Mackenzie Little and Grant Fisher, will be looking to add to their collection of NCAA titles, while sophomore Jess Lawson and fifth-year senior Abbie McNulty are among some making their outdoor NCAA debut.

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Fourteen athletes will have the honor of representing Stanford track and field at the outdoor NCAA Track and Field Championships in Austin, Texas from Wednesday to Saturday. Several graduating veterans, such as Harrison Williams, Mackenzie Little and Grant Fisher, will be looking to add to their collection of NCAA titles, while sophomore Jess Lawson and fifth-year senior Abbie McNulty are among some making their outdoor NCAA debut.

Ranked No. 11 in the nation, the Cardinal women will be represented by 10 athletes. Little, a senior from Australia, returns to the championships as perhaps one of the most likely candidates for a national crown. The reigning javelin champion holds the best throw of the year (195 feet, one inch) and is the only athlete to have broken 190 feet, a feat she has accomplished multiple times this season. She holds the school record in the event (198 feet) and recently completed a career sweep in the Pac-12 conference, improving Stanford’s consecutive winning streak to eight women’s javelin titles.

Little will be joined by two-sport All-American junior Jenna Gray, the runner-up finisher from last year’s championships. Gray, also a member of the NCAA-winning volleyball team, has a season best of 184 feet that ranks her fourth in the country. Sophomore Virginia Miller will join the two veterans in Austin in her NCAA debut. Her lifetime best (162 feet, eight inches) ranks her seventh on Stanford’s all-time performers list.

In the 1,500 meters, sophomore Jess Lawson and junior Ella Donaghu will also be making their debut at the outdoor championships. The duo ran lifetime bests at regionals to advance to the championships. Lawson finished third (4:11.06) to qualify with a five-second personal best, while Donaghu improved by two seconds (4:11.70) to advance.

The women will also be represented by distance elites Fiona O’Keeffe and McNulty. O’Keeffe, a junior, will compete in the 5,000 meters for the second year in a row. She placed second in her heat at regionals with a three-second lifetime best (15:31.45). McNulty earned her first trip to the outdoor championships after qualifying in the 10,000 meters. She ran a time of 33:41.60 to make her outdoor NCAA debut.

Junior Jaimi Salone and senior Kaitlyn Merritt will represent the Cardinal in the women’s discuss and pole vault, respectively. Salone chases their first NCAA title after shattering their lifetime best by 16 feet at the regionals. Their 185-foot one-inch throw ranks No. 23 in the nation and No. 4 on Stanford’s all-time list. Merritt also set a personal best (14-feet, two-inches) in the pole vault to advance. She holds the No. 2 best performance by a Stanford athlete as she looks to cap off a senior-year campaign with a competitive showing at the championships.

Fifth-year senior Rachel Reichenbach earned her first NCAA Championships appearance after setting a lifetime best in the high jump at regionals. Having cleared 1.80 meters for third place, Reichenbach became Stanford’s fifth-best performer in the event.

On the men’s side, the No. 19 Cardinal men will be represented by four athletes. Williams, Fisher and fifth-year senior Steven Fahy will all be competing for the final time in a Cardinal uniform.

Williams leads Stanford’s mult-events cohort and recently became the program’s first male multi-events NCAA Champion when he won the heptathlon title in April. He’s currently ranked second in the nation in the event after scoring 8,112 points at the Bryan Clay Invitational earlier this season. Williams has one of the strongest chances of claiming an NCAA title for the Cardinal. Competition for the decathlon begins Wednesday and will continue through Thursday.

Fisher and Fahy have been mighty forces within the distance ranks all season. The pair represent a distance program that placed fifth at nationals in November and recently claimed runner-up finishes in the 3,000 and DMR at the indoor championships. Having either anchored or run in both of those second-place performances, Fisher returns to the NCAA Championships seeking his first title since winning the 5,000 meters in 2017. He will be joined by junior Thomas Ratcliffe, the fourth-place finisher at regionals.

Fahy wraps up the competitors for the men’s team. The fifth-year recently claimed his second consecutive Pac-12 steeplechase title and returns to the championships after placing third last year. He currently ranks No. 16 in the nation in the event after running a season-best 8:39.60 at regionals. Despite his ranking, Fahy shouldn’t be mistaken as a trivial competitor. The decorated veteran has a personal best of 8:34.52, which would place him sixth in the nation, but with the competitive atmosphere that defines the NCAA Championships, he’s likely to finish even higher.

Contact Alejandro Salinas at asalinas ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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