Feb. 27, 2015
STANFORD WINS RELAY
TITLE
Cardinal wins distance medley relay at
MPSF
SEATTLE – Stanford won the women’s distance medley
relay at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation indoor track and field
championships on Friday for its first such title since 2008.
The Cardinal team of Jessica Tonn, Olivia Baker, Claudia
Saunders, and Elise Cranny ran 11:02.98 for the No. 4 time in Stanford history.
The Cardinal also snapped Washington’s three-year hold on the conference DMR
title, beating the runner-up Huskies by more than six seconds, and secured a
spot in the NCAA Championships on March 13-14 in Fayetteville, Arkansas, by
being one of the fastest 12 teams in the country this year.
The DMR highlighted the first day of the two-day MPSF
meet, held on the 307-meter flat track at the Dempsey Indoor facility at
University of Washington.
It was the first time Stanford had used the lineup. Tonn,
a 5,000-meter specialist with great versatility, ran the opening 1,200 leg and
had moved past Oregon into second on the final turn, as the Ducks’ dropped the
baton. Oregon, expected to be a contender, soon dropped out of the race with
much ground to make up.
Meanwhile, Baker followed Tonn’s 3:23.5 (unofficial) split
by quickly making up a 10-meter deficit, running 53.7 on her 400 leg to bolt
into a two-stride lead. Saunders took over from there, running 2:07.2 for 800,
and extended the lead. Cranny, pushing hard over the final laps, completed the
victory with a 4:38.1 1,600 split.
Stanford won five DMR titles in six years (2003-08), but
returned to first with two freshmen – Baker and Cranny – among its
quartet.
Another freshman, Harrison Williams, made his collegiate
multi-events debut and stands fourth after the first day of the seven-event
heptathlon. Williams, the 2014 U.S. junior national champion and national
high-school record holder, scored 2,939 points and trails leader Mitch Modin of
Oregon by 215 points.
Williams scored the biggest on the opening event, running
7.09 in the 60, for 854 points. His two best events – the 60 hurdles and pole
vault – begin Saturday’s competition, which ends with the 1,000.
In the men’s 5,000, Stanford’s Garrett Sweatt and Jim
Rosa, closed furiously to finish third and fourth, in 13:59.30 and 13:59.33. It
was an eight-second personal record for Sweatt, who now gives Stanford seven
runners with bests under 14 minutes. It also was the first race for Rosa, who
missed the cross country season, since last spring.
* * *
MPSF Championships
At Dempsey Indoor track (307 meters,
flat)
Winners and Stanford competitors
Men
200 – Beejay Lee (USC) 21.01; 24, Colin Dolese (Stanford)
23.23.
5,000 – 1, Aaron Nelson (Washington) 13:53.80; 3, Garrett
Sweatt (Stanford) 13:59.30 (personal record); 4, Jim Rosa (Stanford) 13:59.33;
8, Sam Wharton (Stanford) 14:04.85; 24, Kevin Bishop (Stanford)
15:27.88.
Distance medley relay – 1, Oregon 9:27.02; 6, Stanford
(Marco Bertolotti, Christian White, Scott Buttinger, Will Drinkwater)
9:48.72.
Long jump – 1, Bryan McBride (Arizona State) 25-6 ¾
(7.79m); 7, Dartis Willis II (Stanford) 23-5 ½ (7.15m); 8, Jaak Uudmae
(Stanford) 23-4 ½ (7.12m)(personal record).
Pole vault – 1, Jax Thoirs (Washington) 17-11 ¾; 4, Dalton
Duvio (Stanford) 17-0; 6, Garrett Starkey (Stanford) 17-0.
Heptathlon (first day scores) – 1, Mitch Modin (Oregon)
3,154 points; 4, Harrison Williams (Stanford) 2,939. Harrison’s results – 60:
7.08; LJ: 21-8 ¼ (6.66m); SP: 38-3 ½ (11.67m); HJ: 6-5 ½ (1.97m).
Women
200 – 1, Deanna Hill (USC) 23.51; 14, Michaela Crunkleton
Wilson (Stanford) 24.76.
Distance medley relay – 1, Stanford (Jessica Tonn, Olivia
Baker, Claudia Saunders, Elise Cranny) 11:02.98.
Long jump – 1, Alexis Faulknor (USC) 20-5 ¼ (6.23m); 21,
Carla Forbes (Stanford) 17-6 ¼ (5.34m); 29, Daryth Gayles (Stanford) 17-0 ½
(5.19m).
Pole vault – 1, Victoria Rische (California) 12-6 ¼
(3.82); 6, Taylore Jaques (Stanford) 11-6 ½ (3.52).
For more information, contact:
David Kiefer
Assistant Athletic Communications Director
Stanford University
(650) 759-0258.
No comments:
Post a Comment