STANFORD DECATHLETE REPEATS AS U.S. CHAMP

June 26, 2015

 

STANFORD DECATHLETE REPEATS AS U.S. CHAMP

 

Williams repeats as national junior champion

 

EUGENE, Ore. – Stanford’s Harrison Williams repeated as the U.S. junior decathlon champion, but came up short in his effort to break the junior national record.

 

Williams needed to run 4:30.16 – within one second of his personal best in the 1,500 meters, the final event -- to break the record in the 10-event two-day competition. And he needed to do so in 96-degree heat at Hayward Field.

 

However, the 19-and-under record remained out of reach. Williams ran 4:32.85 to finish with 8,001 points, just 17 short of Gunnar Nixon’s 8,018 from 2012. The meet record of 8,016 by Nixon’s Arkansas teammate, Kevin Lazas, also remains. However, Williams strengthened his hold as the No. 3 performer on the all-time U.S. junior list and moved up from No. 7 to No. 3 on the all-time U.S. performance list, from the 7,760 he scored at this meet last year to set a national high school record.

 

Williams, who was fourth at the NCAA Championships and second in the Pac-12 as a freshman this season, led wire to wire. He placed among the top three in every event and won by 561 points. Williams won five events – the 100, 400, 110 high hurdles, pole vault, and 1,500 – and set a personal record in the long jump.

 

The second day included Williams’ top two scores – 967 for running 14.06 in the 110 high hurdles (39 inches) and 926 for clearing 16-6 ¾ in the pole vault. His javelin distance of 168-1 was his lowest score, at 607, but was a season best by four feet. Williams’ total exceeds his school record of 7,806 points, but some events used junior rather than collegiate standards.

 

The top two finishers qualify for the Pan Am Junior Championships in Edmonton, July 31-Aug. 2, giving Williams one more chance to break Nixon’s record.

 

In the junior women’s hammer, Stanford freshman Lena Giger went 185-6 on her final throw, but fell just two inches short of winner Haley Showalter of Southern Illinois.

 

Giger trailed by nearly eight feet after four rounds, but moved into third on her fifth throw (182-6) and made a strong bid for the title on her sixth.

 

Giger followed with a ninth-place finish in the shot put, with a toss of 47-6 ¼.

 

In the junior men’s shot put, Stanford freshman Tristen Newman was eighth at 62-6 ½ on the 12-pound shot.

 

* * *

 

U.S. Junior Championships

Results of events with Stanford competitors

 

Men

Decathlon
Final score: 1, Harrison Williams (Stanford) 8,001.

First day – 100: 10.78 (910 points); Long jump: 23-1 ¾ (PR; 7.05m; 826); Shot put: 44-8 (13.61m; 704); High jump: 6-5 ½ (1.97m; 776); 400: 48.56 (882). First-day total: 4,098.
Second day – 110HH: 14.06 (967); Discus: 133-3 (40.61m; 133-3); Pole vault: 16-6 ¾ (5.05m; 926); Javelin – 168-1 (51.23m; 607); 1,500 – 4:32.85 (726). Second-day total: 3,903.

 

Shot put – 1, John Maurins (Wake Forest) 71-10 ¼ (21.90m; American junior record; meet record); 8, Tristen Newman (Stanford) 62-6 ½ (19.06m).

 

Women
Shot put – 1, Raven Saunders (Southern Illinois) 55-9 ¾ (17.01m); 9, Lena Giger (Stanford) 47-6 ¼ (14.48m).
Hammer – 1, Haley Showalter (unattached) 185-8 (56.61m); 2, Lena Giger (Stanford) 185-6 (56.55m).

Stanford’s Remaining Schedule:

Saturday
11:50 a.m.: Men’s pole vault final (Dylan Duvio)
12:45 p.m.: Women’s discus final (Valarie Allman, Summer Pierson ‘00)
1:37 p.m.: Women’s 400 hurdles semifinals (Kori Carter ‘13)
4:10 p.m.: Junior women’s pole vault final (Kaitlyn Merritt*, Nicole Summersett*)
4:30 p.m.: Junior women’s 400 final (Olivia Baker)
4:40 p.m.: Junior women’s triple jump final (Marisa Kwiatkowski)
5:08 p.m.: Junior men’s 1,500 final (Grant Fisher*, Blair Hurlock, Patrick Perrier)
5:17 p.m.: Junior men’s 3,000 steeplechase final (Steven Fahy)
* incoming freshman

Sunday
12:39 p.m.: Women’s 5,000 final (Jessica Tonn)
1:03 p.m.: Women’s 400 hurdles final (Kori Carter ‘13)
1:27 p.m.: Men’s 5,000 final (Chris Derrick ‘12, Garrett Heath ‘09, Erik Olson)

 

 

For more information, contact:

 

David Kiefer
Assistant Athletic Communications Director

Stanford University
dkiefer@stanford.edu

(650) 759-0258, cell