Stanford Sends Eight To NCAA Indoor Championships

Stanford Sends Eight To NCAA Indoor Championships

Six men and two women will travel to Fayetteville, Ark. for the NCAA Indoor Championships

March 8, 2010

Stanford, Calif. - The selection of the participants in the 2010 NCAA Indoor Championships were announced Monday evening with eight Stanford athletes earning the trip to Fayetteville, Ark. Six men covering three individual events and a relay and two women will compete for national titles next weekend.

A strong distance contingent will represent the men with four athletes competing in individual events, plus the distance medley relay. Elliott Heath and Jake Riley will compete in the 5,000 meters, while Justin Mapole-Bird will compete in the 3,000 meters and Dylan Ferris will compete in the mile.

Heath is the fifth seed in the 5,000 with a qualifying time of 13:47.14, while Riley is the 15th seed with a time of 13:52.87. Heath has already earned an All-America honor at 5,000 meters after placing fifth at last season's NCAA Outdoor Championships. He was third last year at the indoor meet in the 3K, but will move up in distance this year. Riley was an All-American at 10,000 meters last year during the outdoor season and will look to add an indoor honor.

Marpole-Bird and Ferris will each be making their first trip to an NCAA track meet, although Marpole-Bird did compete in the NCAA Cross Country Championships last fall. Marpole-Bird is the 13th seed with a time of 7:57.15 at 3K, while Ferris is the eighth seed in the mile with a time of 3:58.90.

Both Ferris and Marpole-Bird are also scheduled to compete in the distance medley relay and will be joined by JT Sullivan and Amaechi Morton. Sullivan will open with the 1,200-meter leg, followed by Morton for 400 meters, Ferris for 800 and Marpole-Bird anchoring with a 1,600-meter leg. The Stanford team is seeded second with a time of 9:30.25 and a serious threat for the national title.


Carissa Levingston

The women will have a pair of participants, both making their first trip to an NCAA meet. Freshman Carissa Levingston will compete in the 60 meters, while Katerina Stefanidi will compete in the pole vault. Levingston is the 14th seed with a qualifying time of 7.33, while Stefanidi is the 10th seed with a mark of 14-1 ¼.

The meet will kickoff Friday, March 12, and continue Saturday, March 13. The only finals on Friday in which Stanford will compete will be Heath in the 5,000 and the men's distance medley relay. The rest of the Cardinal finals will take place on Saturday.

Courtesy Stanford