Stanford Men Lead After One Day At The MPSF Championships

Stanford Men Lead After One Day At The MPSF Championships
The Cardinal women sit in fourth place with several finals yet to be contested.




Miles Unterreiner won the MPSF title in the 5,000 meters.



Feb. 25, 2011



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Seattle, Wash. - The MPSF Championships are underway and after one day, the Stanford men have the lead with 40.5 points. The Cardinal has a narrow edge over UCLA with 37.5 and Oregon with 36. Meanwhile, the Cardinal women are in fourth place with 20 points, but have many of its strongest events during day two on Saturday. Arizona State leads the women's competition with 41 points.

Highlighting the day was Miles Unterreiner earning the loan individual MPSF title for the Cardinal. He and his teammates in the distances did most of the damage in giving Stanford the day-one lead.

The Cardinal built its lead in the 5,000 meters by placing three in the top eight scoring positions. Unterreiner ran a personal best of 13:48.13 to earn the individual MPSF title. The Cardinal junior won his first major individual title in track after being a consistent contributor in cross country over the past two seasons. Although the time was just off the NCAA auto qualifier, it would currently put Unterreiner 13th on the NCAA list.

Unterreiner just out-leaned Mohamud Ige of Arizona who battled with Unterreiner and Chris Derrick over the final lap for the title. Derrick was not far back, placing third in his 2011 indoor debut. The seven-time All-American cruised to a time of 13:49.05 to score six points for the team. Also grabbing a couple points was Erik Olson who finished seventh in 13:59.87. Overall, the Cardinal scored 18 points in the event and Benjamin Johnson just missed a scoring position, placing ninth in 14:04.81. Brendan Gregg (14:13.66) and Kevin Havel (14:32.0) also ran with the leaders early, before falling out of scoring position.





The distance crew would add six more points in the DMR as the team of Elliott Heath, Spencer Chase, Dylan Ferris and JT Sullivan would finish third. The Cardinal finished with a time of 9:34.92, well off its season best, as it did not necessarily run its strongest order and team.

Missing from the DMR was the other big scorer for Stanford as Amaechi Morton competed in the 200 meters. Morton placed second with a time of 21.52 to score eight big points for the Cardinal. Morton also competed in the prelims of the 60-meter hurdles, running a time of 8.27, but will not advance.

In the final of the weight throw, Carter Wells tossed a season best of 62-6 to place fourth and earn five points for the Cardinal. Wells was unable to defend his MPSF title from a year ago, but still scored solid points for his team. Also faring well in the event was Quinn Dawson who took seventh with throw of 57-11 and earned two points for Stanford.

The other Cardinal scorer in the field was Corey Dysick in the pole vault. Dysick vaulted a season best of 16-3 ½ to place in a tie for seventh and score 1.5 points for Stanford.

Also in the field was the long jump, where Kevin Cardey placed 15th with a leap of 22-4 ½.

Leading Stanford in day one qualifying in the sprints was Tyrone McGraw in the 60 meters. McGraw ran a time of 6.93 to get through to tomorrow's final. He will be the fifth qualifier and barring a DQ will be a lock to score points for Stanford. Colin Hepburn also competed in the event, but did not advance after running 7.03. Hepburn also doubled in the 200, placing 20th in 22.40.

The women's distance runners also did some damage as the DMR placed third as well. The team of Madeline Duhon, Kellie Schueler, Justine Fedronic and Jessica Tonn ran a time of 11:18.80, which was a season best for the Cardinal.

Also earning six points for Stanford after her sixth-place finish in the 5,000 meters was Stephanie Marcy. Marcy clocked a personal-best time of 16:16.91 in the process. Emilie Amaro (16:58.63), Victoria Pennings (17:09.06) and Alex Gits (17:34.42) also competed in the event, but finished out of the points.

Leading the Stanford women in the sprints was Carissa Levingston who placed fourth in the 200 meters with a time of 24.11. The fourth-place finish earned five points for the team, while Kori Carter chipped in a sixth-place finish to earn three points, crossing the line in 24.35. Shataya Hendricks (24.72), Hannah Farley (25.03), Joy O'Hare (25.07), Taylor Dewberry (25.89) and Kala Stepter (26.28) finished out of the places.

Levingston and Hendricks also doubled in the 60 meters, making it out of the prelims and into Saturday's final. Levingston finished as the fifth qualifier in 7.52, while Hendricks was the seventh qualifier in 7.55. Both will run in Saturday's final in the event.

Stanford's freshmen hurdling duo continued their strong season by both advancing out of the prelims to Saturday's final. Carter ran a time of 8.34 to place fifth in qualifying, while Katie Nelms was seventh with a time of 8.51. The time for Carter was just off her school record of 8.33 set in New Mexico, but based on the altitude conversion is actually an improvement on the national list.

Saturday will mark the completion of the MPSF Championships, as most of the finals will be contested. The Cardinal men will be looking for its first-ever MPSF title, while the women will look for its first title since 2009.

Courtesy Stanford