STANFORD WINS RELAY AT NCAA INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS

March 14, 2013

STANFORD WINS RELAY AT NCAA INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS

Cardinal men capture the distance medley



ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- Stanford captured the men's distance medley relay at the NCAA Indoor Championships on Friday night and the Cardinal women were second.

They capped a strong day for Stanford runners. Earlier, Aisling Cuffe and Kathy Kroeger placed second and third in the women's 5,000 meters, and Joe Rosa was fifth in the men's 5,000.

Stanford, with a team of Marco Bertolotti, Steven Solomon, Luke Lefebure, and Michael Atchoo, won the NCAA men's DMR for the fourth time in its history and first since 2007. The distance medley relay consists of legs of 1,200, 400, 800, and 1,600 in that order.

Bertolotti (1,200; 2:58.60) moved into first on the backstretch of the final lap on the 200-meter track at the Albuquerque Convention Center to put Stanford in front and the Cardinal maintained the lead the rest of the race. Solomon extended the lead with a 45.75 400-meter leg, Lefebure ran 1:49.30 for 800, and Atchoo, running by himself, anchored the team to victory with a 1,600 leg of 4:03.98.

In the women's DMR, Amy Weissenbach (1,200; 3:25.66) put Stanford in front and Kristyn Williams (400; 53.56) extended it. Claudia Saunders (2:06.18) held the lead on her 800 leg, but Arkansas closed to within a step on the final handoff and kicked past Justine Fedronic on the final lap of the 1,600 anchor leg.

Fedronic (4:42.87) ran nearly the final leg with Arkansas' Dominique Scott at her shoulder. Scott bolted in front on the backstretch to win. Arkansas clocked 11:05.83 to Stanford’s 11:08.28. It was Stanford's highest women's DMR finish since 2007.

In the women's 5,000, the Stanford duo moved up throughout the race and tested Dartmouth winner Abbey D'Agostino (16:20.39) on the final lap. Cuffe finished in 16:22.48 and Kroeger ran 16:23.34. Cuffe's runner-up finish equaled Stanford's highest in this meet.

In the men's 5,000, Rosa made a run at Arizona's Lawi Lalang and Oregon's Edward Cheserek with three laps to go. But as Rosa closed, the leaders kicked. However, Rosa finished a strong fifth in 13:55.84. Teammate Erik Olson was 12th in 14:34.40.

Stanford concludes the meet Saturday with the women's 3,000, with Cuffe and Kroeger, and the men's 3,000, with Olson.

More details, and comments from Stanford athletes, will be posted later this evening on gostanford.com.



For more information, contact:

David Kiefer, Assistant Athletic Communications Director, Stanford University

dkiefer@stanford.edu; (650) 759-0258, cell