Derrick passed in the final straightaway to just miss his first NCAA title.
March 9, 2012
NAMPA, Idaho - Chris Derrick is one of the most decorated distance runners in NCAA history, but the one thing that has eluded him is an individual NCAA title. Derrick came as close as he ever has on Friday night in the 5,000 meters of the NCAA Indoor Championships, but was passed on the final straightaway by Lawi Lalang of Arizona and was forced to settle for second.
The Cardinal men scored 13 team points and sit in tie for fifth after one day of competition. Arkansas leads thus far with 22 points. Derrick scored eight by himself in the 5,000 meters, while distance medley relay accounted for the rest of the points. The women scored nine points and sit in a tie for eighth. They were led by the long jumping duo of Karynn Dunn and Arantxa King and are currently six points out of the lead held by Iowa State.
Derrick ran an incredibly gutsy race, hanging with a blistering early pace set by Lalang and Stephen Sambu of Arizona. The pace quickly weeded out the pretenders, but Derrick held strong. As the contenders narrowed to eight, then six and finally four, Derrick looked smooth and relaxed, waiting for his time to take off. Knowing that he likely couldn't outkick Lalang in a short sprint, Derrick made his move at 800 meters, attempting a long-range kick.
The move was decisive and incredibly gutsy as if Derrick couldn't hold the pace, he could likely fall way back in the field. However, Derrick ran strong and gapped the field with only Lalang remaining in striking distance. Derrick closed hard, but the collegiate record holder, Lalang, had one final gear and passed Derrick on the final straightaway.
Derrick was forced to settle for second, just as he did at the NCAA Cross Country Championships. Lalang took the title, just as he did in the fall, but this time Derrick gave him absolutely everything he could handle. Lalang finished in 13:25.11, while Derrick ran a time of 13:26.88.
Jake Riley also ran tough, but placed 12th against the loaded 5,000-meter field. Riley finished with a time of 13:57.82, while teammate Brendan Gregg was 15th with a time 14:44.80. Both Riley and Gregg will earn second-team All-America honors when they are announced next week. Derrick will earn the 12th first-team honor of his career.
The distance crew was not done, however. The Stanford men also competed in the distance medley relay, placing fourth. Michael Atchoo ran a great leadoff leg to put Stanford at the front of the race. Atchoo covered the 1,200 meters in 2:58.76, before handing the baton to Amaechi Morton. Morton ran the second-fastest 400-meter leg of 46.09 and then handed to Luke Lefebure for the 800 meters. The freshman covered the 800 in 1:50.47 and was just a few steps off the pace when handing to Elliott Heath for the anchor.
Heath, who has not raced in over a month ran with the leaders for the 1,600-meter leg as the group ran right around four-minute mile pace. Around the final turn, Heath looked to overtake the leaders, but did not quite have it in his legs. Stanford settled for fourth as Heath split 4:00.87 to give Stanford a team-time of 9:36.13. The DMR earned five team points for the Cardinal, while Heath will be back tomorrow to defend his NCAA title in the 3,000 meters.
Morton also ran the open 400 meters where he placed third in his heat with a time of 46.62. He finished just outside of the top eight overall and will not advance to Saturday's final.
Dunn led the Stanford women with her fourth-place finish in the long jump. Amazingly, Dunn only landed one jump, fouling on each of her other five. However, that one jump was a personal-best mark of 21-0 ½, which ranks fourth in school history. King was just behind her teammate in fifth with a mark of 21-0. The jump was just ¾ of an inch off her personal best. The duo will both earn first-team All-America honors and the nine team points put Stanford in good position for a high team finish.
The Cardinal women just missed adding to its point total in the DMR. Stanford placed ninth with a time of 11:14.61. Justine Fedronic led off with the 1,200-meter leg, running 3:26.17, which was right in the middle of the chase pack. She handed to Kellie Schueler who barely avoided a collision at the handoff, but settled down to run a 400-meter split of 55.32. Joy O'Hare was next up, running 2:07.96 for 800 meters, before handing the baton to freshman Aisling Cuffe. Cuffe was gapped from the lead, but chased hard to catch the front group. The race turned tactical, but Cuffe had expended energy to catch the lead pack. In the end, the leaders who had waited took off for a furious finish, while Cuffe hung onto the back of the lead pack. She finished hard in 4:45.18 as Stanford finished just out of the points.
Also competing in the distances for the women was Kathy Kroeger in the 5,000 meters. Kroeger placed 10th with a time of 16:13.11 as Betsy Saina of Iowa State took the title.
The Cardinal will be back at it for the conclusion of the NCAA Indoor Championships on Saturday. Katerina Stefanidi will compete in the pole vault while the Cardinal distance crew will be at it in the 3,000 meters. Heath and Derrick will run for the men, while Cuffe and Kroeger will run for the women.
Courtesy Stanford
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