BRIANNA BAIN (STANFORD) WINS FOURTH PAC-12 JAVELIN CROWN

May 16, 2015

 

BAIN WINS FOURTH PAC-12 JAVELIN CROWN

 

Stanford senior completes career sweep

 

LOS ANGELES – Stanford senior Brianna Bain completed a career sweep of Pac-12 women’s javelin titles by capturing her fourth in dramatic fashion Saturday at UCLA’s Drake Stadium.

 

Competing for the first time since March because of an elbow injury, Bain rallied from third on her final throw before anxiously awaiting the mark of Utah’s Megan Glasmann to complete the event. Bain’s throw was enough by a mere 2 feet, 7 inches.

 

Bain’s final throw traveled 168-7 – an improvement of nearly 12 feet – to win the competition and enable her to become Stanford’s first career-sweep winner since Erica McLain won collected four Pac-10 women’s triple jump titles from 2005-08.

 

Bain wasn’t the only Stanford athlete to repeat – Jessica Tonn won her second consecutive 10,000-meter title, in 34:00.33 – and the Cardinal women completed the first day of the two-day meet in second place, with 40 points.

The Stanford men, led by Erik Olson’s second-place finish in the 10,000 (29:36.75), are fifth, with 32 points.

Earlier Saturday, Tonn and Stanford teammate Luke Lefebure were named Pac-12 Track and Field Scholar-Athletes for the Year.

 

For Bain, her “four-peat” was long-awaited.

 

“I’ve thought about this for so long,” Bain said. “Before I even came to Stanford, I was working out with a friend and I told him, ‘I want to win Pac-12’s next year.’ I don’t know why I would’ve thought that, I would have been middle of the pack at that point. But then I won my freshman year and I’ve had it in my head ever since.”

 

Complicating matters was the injury to her throwing elbow that cropped up after she threw 174-10 – the top mark by a Pac-12 thrower this year – while finishing fifth at the Texas Relays on March 27. Bain hadn’t thrown for seven weeks prior to Saturday and has tried to stay positive knowing the elbow will require surgery following the season.

 

“The gameplan today was take one throw, put it out of reach and shut it down,” she said. “It didn’t quite work out that way.”

 

Oregon’s Liz Brenner threw a wrench into that strategy with a first-round throw of 157-9, outdistancing Bain’s 148-0. Glasmann took the lead in the second round with what seemed like an insurmountable throw of 161-2.

 

Meanwhile, Bain struggled to gain ground and, because of the long layoff, struggled to attain any kind of comfort level.

 

“My first couple of throws with a normal approach were very awkward,” Bain said. “I cut down my approach and tried to connect with the javelin.”

 

With one throw left, “I knew I had it in me,” she said. “I went after it, I put everything into it.”

 

The dramatic result came in front of family, who traveled from Beaverton, Oregon, to witness it.

 

“I felt a lot of support,” she said. “My arm held up much better than I thought. I don’t know if it was adrenaline or not.”

 

 

Pac-12 Championships
At UCLA

Saturday’s results
Winners and Stanford competitors

Men
Team scores (after first of two days) – 1, Oregon 53; 2, UCLA 50; 3, Colorado 39; 4, Washington 35; 5, Stanford 32; 6, USC 26; 7, Arizona 23; 8, Arizona State 22; 9, California 18; 10, Washington State 14.

100 prelims – Non-qualifiers: 16, Isaiah Brandt-Sims (Stanford) 10.75.

200 prelims – Qualifiers: Isaiah Brandt-Sims (Stanford) 21.29.

800 prelims – Non-qualifiers: 10, Scott Buttinger (Stanford) 1:50.91; 12, Luke Lefebure (Stanford) 1:50.96.

1,500 prelims – Qualifiers: Sean McGorty (Stanford) 3:51.36; Thomas Coyle (Stanford) 3:42.80. Non-qualifiers: 17, Justin Brinkley (Stanford) 3:52.25; 23, Will Drinkwater (Stanford) 3:54.96.

400 hurdles prelims – Qualifiers: Jackson Shumway (Stanford) 52.13 (No. 9 Stanford all-time; PB). Non-qualifiers: 11, Daniel Brady (Stanford) 54.18.

10,000 final – 1, Ammar Moussa (Colorado) 29:34.28; 2, Erik Olson (Stanford) 29:36.75; 4, Garrett Sweatt (Stanford) 29:42.82; 6, Maksim Korolev (Stanford) 29:47.65.

High jump – 1, Zibby Boyer (UCLA) 5-11 ½ (1.82m).

Pole vault – 1, Jax Thoirs (Washington) 18-6 ½ (5.65m); 5, Dylan Duvio (Stanford) 16-8 ¾ (5.10m); 8, Garrett Starkey (Stanford) 16-2 ¾ (4.95m); 13, Dalton Duvio (Stanford) 15-9 (4.80m); Dan Emery (Stanford) NH.

Long jump – 1, Adoree Jackson (USC) 25-3 ½ (7.71m).

Shot put – 1, Nicholas Scarvelis (UCLA) 64-5 ¼ (19.64m); 11, Tristen Newman (Stanford) 56-11 ½ (17.36m) (No. 3 Stanford frosh all-time; PB).

Javelin – 1, Sam Crouser (Oregon) 252-10 (77.06m); 6, Andrew Rondema (Stanford) 211-8 (64.53m); 11, Charles Kerr (Stanford) 189-5 (57.74m).

Hammer – 1, Conor McCullough (USC) 236-10 (72.20m).

 

Women
Team scores (after first of two days) – 1, Oregon 78; 2, Stanford 40; 3, UCLA 39; 4, Washington State 27; 5, USC 22; 6, Colorado 19; 7, Arizona 15; 8, Arizona State 12; 9, Utah 8; 10, Washington 6; 11, Oregon State 5; 12, California 2.

200 prelims – Non-qualifiers: 20, Michaela Crunkleton Wilson (Stanford) 24.45.

400 prelims – Qualifiers: Kristyn Williams (Stanford) 52.76. Non-qualifiers: 14, Kaitlyn Williams (Stanford) 55.13.

800 prelims – Qualifiers: Olivia Baker (Stanford) 2:08.48; Claudia Saunders (Stanford) 2:09.06; Malika Waschmann (Stanford) 2:09.09.

1,500 prelims – Qualifiers: Elise Cranny (Stanford) 4:20.52; Rebecca Mehra (Stanford) 4:18.62; Molly McNamara (Stanford) 4:23.40; Non-qualifiers: 19, Maddy Berkson (Stanford) 4:29.60.

10,000 final – 1, Jessica Tonn (Stanford) 34:00.33; 5, Vanessa Fraser (Stanford) 34:07.00 (PB).

3,000 steeplechase final – 1, Erin Clark (Colorado) 10:02.16; 3, Danielle Katz (Stanford) 10:23.32 (No. 8 Stanford all-time; PB).

Long jump – 1, Alexis Faulknor (USC) 21-0 3/4w (6.42m); 9, Daryth Gayles (Stanford) 19-2 (5.84m); 13, Marisa Kwiatkowski (Stanford) 18-6w (5.64m).
Shot put – 1, Brittany Mann (Oregon) 56-6 ¾ (17.24m); 4, Lena Giger (Stanford) 51-11 ¼ (15.83m); 9, Rebecca Hammar (Stanford) 46-10 (14.27m).

Javelin – 1, Brianna Bain (Stanford) 168-7 (51.38m); 4, Victoria Smith (Stanford) 153-2 (46.70m).