Stanford Invitational Set for Saturday

Stanford Invitational Set for Saturday
The Cardinal will host the 39th annual Stanford Invitational




Kathy Kroeger looks to defend her Stanford Invitational title.



Sept. 26, 2012




Entries & Results


STANFORD, Calif. -- The 39th running of the Stanford Invitational will take place on Saturday, Sept. 29, beginning at 9 a.m. The cross-country extravaganza includes 12 high school races throughout the day, as well as the collegiate men's race at 9:50 a.m. and the collegiate women's race at 10:30 a.m.

The No. 9 Stanford men will take on a large field over the 8,000-meter course, while the No. 6 women will cover a 6,000-meter course. All high school races are 5,000 meters.

Both Cardinal teams will be the favorite at this year's meet. The men will not compete against a team ranked inside the top-25, while the women will see No. 18 San Francisco as its top competition.

Last year, Chris Derrick won the men's race to lead Stanford to the team title. He has since graduated, leaving a new group to lead the Cardinal. Miles Unterreiner and Benjamin Johnson are the most experienced of the group, while Tyler Stutzman was the top individual at the early USF Invitational.

On the women's side, Kathy Kroeger returns after winning the last two individual titles for her final Stanford Invitational. She leads a young team that does return Aisling Cuffe and Jessica Tonn who were key contributors last season. Stanford also will introduce one of the top recruiting classes in the nation.





Course records are held by Galen Rupp of Oregon and Arianna Lambie of Stanford. Rupp, the recent Silver Medalist at the 2012 Olympics in the 10,000, covered the 8,000-meter Stanford course in 23:03.1. Lambie owns the women's 6,000-meter course record with a time of 19:29.3.

Saturday's meet will also be the first Stanford meet under recently hired Franklin P. Johnson Director of Track & Field Chris Miltenberg. Miltenberg led the Georgetown women to the NCAA title a year ago and brings a new era to the Cardinal cross-country program.

courtesy Stanford