Darian Brooks. Photo by Spencer Allen/SportsImageWire.com.
Eight women and six men will represent the Cardinal, which brings its most competitors since 2012, when it brought 15. The Stanford women have finished among the top 10 in each of the past two years, while the men are seeking their first top-10 result since 2011. The last time both Cardinal teams finished in the top 10 was 2008.
The centerpieces of Stanford’s schedule are the distance medley relays. Stanford’s men have qualified for the seventh consecutive year, and the women are on a five-year streak.
The Cardinal women’s DMR comes in with the nation’s top time, but the team that will race Friday will have a much different look than the one that ran a national season-best 10:54.58. Two of those members – Olivia Baker and Claudia Saunders – will focus on the 800 meters and their spots will be taken by Elise Cranny and Malika Waschmann.
The Cardinal men’s DMR is the No. 4 seed and also has a chance to become the first Stanford NCAA indoor champion since its men’s DMR won in 2014. Sean McGorty, who set a Stanford absolute mile record two weeks ago, will anchor the Cardinal and also is a contender for a high finish in a loaded 3,000 on Saturday.
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MEET INFORMATION:
NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships
Where: Birmingham, Ala.
Site: Birmingham CrossPlex
Track: 200-meter banked
Surface: Mondo
Capacity: 4,000
Events begin:
Friday - 10 a.m. PT (noon CT); Field: 3 p.m. PT (5 p.m. CT); Running: 3:30 p.m. PT (5:30 p.m. CT).
Saturday – 10 a.m. PT (noon CT); Field: noon PT (2 p.m. CT); Running: 2 p.m. PT (4 p.m. CT).
Full schedule: Click here.
FOLLOW THE ACTION:
Live results: Click here.
Meet Central page: Click here.
TV/Webstream:
Friday - ESPN3.com (live, 3:25 p.m. PT)
Saturday - ESPN3.com (live, 1:55 p.m. PT)
Sunday – ESPN2 (tape-delayed, 4 p.m. PT)
Twitter: @stanfordXCTF
Instagram: Stanfordxctf
Stanford in USTFCCCA rankings:
Men - No. 24
Women - No. 25
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STANFORD COMPETITORS:
Men
Sean McGorty, 3,000 (No. 4, 7:48.79), DMR*
Tom Coyle, DMR*
Justin Brinkley, DMR*
Jackson Shumway, DMR*
Darian Brooks, TJ (No. 13, 52-9 1/4)
Harrison Williams, Hep (No. 13, 5,690)
* No. 4 seed, 9:27.27
Women
Olivia Baker, 800 (No. 11, 2:04.10)
Elise Cranny, DMR*
Aisling Cuffe, 3,000 (No. 15, 9:10.59)
Vanessa Fraser, 3,000 (No. 13, 9:09.89)
Rebecca Mehra, DMR*
Claudia Saunders, 800 (No. 13, 2:04.43)
Malika Waschmann, DMR*
Kristyn Williams, DMR*
* No. 1 seed, 10:54.58
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STANFORD'S SCHEDULE:
Friday
10 a.m. PT (noon CT): Men’s heptathlon 60 (Harrison Williams)
10:40 a.m. PT (12:40 p.m. CT): Men’s heptathlon long jump (Harrison Williams).
11:50 a.m. PT (1:50 p.m. CT): Men’s heptathlon shot put (Harrison Williams)
1 p.m. PT (3 p.m. CT): Men’s heptathlon high jump (Harrison Williams)
5:35 p.m. PT (7:35 p.m. CT): Women’s 800 semifinals (Olivia Baker, Claudia Saunders).
6:45 p.m. PT (8:45 p.m. CT): Men’s distance medley relay (Tom Coyle, Jackson Shumway, Justin Brinkley, Sean McGorty).
7 p.m. PT (9 p.m. CT): Women’s distance medley relay (Elise Cranny, Kristyn Williams, Malika Waschmann, Rebecca Mehra).
Saturday
10 a.m. PT (noon CT): Men’s heptathlon 60 hurdles (Harrison Wiliams)
10:50 a.m. PT (12:50 p.m. CT): Men’s heptathlon pole vault (Harrison Williams)
1:30 p.m. PT (3:30 p.m. CT): Men’s triple jump final (Darian Brooks)
1:45 p.m. PT (3:45 p.m. CT): Men’s heptathlon 1,000 (Harrison Williams)
3:40 p.m. PT (5:40 p.m. CT): Women’s 800 final (Olivia Baker, Claudia Saunders)
4:10 p.m. PT (6:10 p.m. CT): Men’s 3,000 final (Sean McGorty)
4:25 p.m. PT (6:25 p.m. CT): Women’s 3,000 final (Aisling Cuffe, Vanessa Fraser)
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STANFORD’S DMR TRADITION
Stanford’s men and women have combined for five NCAA titles -- four for the men and one for the women -- and 19 top-five finishes in the distance medley relays (10 for the men and nine for the women). This is the seventh consecutive year Stanford has qualified a men’s DMR team and the fifth consecutive year for the women.
In no other event has Stanford won more NCAA indoor titles or has as much overall success. The Stanford women have finished second the past two years and the men won the title in 2014. Previous Stanford winners included Garrett Heath (2007), and Olympians Gabe Jennings (2000, 2001), Jonathon Riley (2000), and Michael Stember (2000). Stanford’s 2000 women’s title team was anchored by five-time NCAA champion Lauren Fleshman.
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Here’s a closer look at each event for Stanford, in chronological order:
MEN’S HEPTATHLON (Friday and Saturday)
Harrison Williams: So., Memphis, Tenn. (Memphis University School)
Seed: No. 13 (5,690 points)
Harrison Williams is the nation’s brightest young multi athlete. He set the American junior (19 and under) decathlon record last year, scoring 8,037 points (with junior implements) to win the gold medal at the Pan Am Junior Championships in Edmonton. He also is a two-time U.S. junior champion, the national high school record holder, and was sixth at the 2014 World Junior Championships in Eugene. At Stanford, Williams made an immediate impact by breaking Stanford's oldest record -- Bob Mathias' 1952 Olympic-winning effort of 7,592 points (converted to reflect currect scoring tables) -- while placing second at the Pac-12 Championships with 7,679 points. Williams improved on that with 7,806 points to place fourth at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, as a freshman.
Williams is a better decathlete than heptathlete, because of his talent at events like the 110 high hurdles and 400. But he should make a run at the Stanford school record of 5,837 points and be in line for at least a top-eight finish. When he scored his qualifying mark of 5,690 to win the Penn State National on Jan. 30, he did not set any personal records and his pole vault of 15-11 was disappointing. He has cleared 17-0 twice this indoor season, including a best of 17-3 ½ (5.27 meters).
Major: Undeclared.
Personal record: 5,690 points (2016).
Stanford record: 5,837, Josh Hustedt (2007)
Best Stanford mark at NCAA Indoors: 5,837, Josh Hustedt (2007)
Highest Stanford place: 2nd, Josh Hustedt (2008).
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WOMEN’S 800 (Friday and Saturday)Semifinals (top three plus next two advance)
Heat 1
Olivia Baker: So., Maplewood, N.J. (Columbia HS)
Seed: No. 11 (2:04.10)
Olivia Baker is the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation champion, winning in Seattle two weeks ago in 2:04.28. She made her name in the 400 -- her best is 52.46, a New Jersey high school record -- and has transitioned to the 800 since arriving at Stanford. This is her first time qualifying in the 800, but she did run the 400 leg on Stanford’s NCAA runner-up distance medley relay team last year. Baker is seeded fifth in her heat, but her improvement in the 800 indicates that her best is yet to come.
Major: Undeclared.
Personal record: 2:04.00 (2015, outdoors); 2:04.10 (2016, indoors).
Heat 2
Claudia Saunders: Sr., Cincinnati, Ohio (Princeton HS)
Seed: No. 13 (2:04.43)
Claudia Saunders has run the distance medley relay at NCAA’s the past three years, finishing second twice. This year, Saunders will focus on the 800, though she also helped qualify the DMR to the NCAA’s once again. This is the second time Saunders has qualified in the 800, but in 2014 chose to focus on the DMR. Saunders typically runs her best late in the outdoor season. She is a two-time NCAA outdoor runner-up, including last year when she ran a school record 2:00.63 in finishing second to Oregon’s Raevyn Rogers, who shares her semifinal heat. Saunders is the seventh seed in her heat, which also includes Virginia Tech’s Hanna Green, who won the Iowa State Classic race that included Saunders.
Double major: International relations, and Iberian and Latin American cultures.
Personal record: 2:00.63 (outdoors, 2015); 2:04.43 (indoors, 2016).
Stanford record: 2:03.25, Justine Fedronic (2014)
Best Stanford mark at NCAA Indoors: 2:05.95, Lindsay Hyatt (2000)
Highest Stanford place: 7th, Lindsay Hyatt (2000).
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MEN’S DISTANCE MEDLEY RELAY (Friday)Seed: No. 4 (9:27.27)
In order:
Tom Coyle: Jr., Lansdale, Pa. (La Salle College HS).
Stanford’s DMR is intact from the team that set a school record of 9:27.27 – the fifth-fastest collegiate time ever – to finish a narrow second at the Penn State National on Jan. 29. Coyle ran a 2:54.5 split in that race. He is a sub-4 miler (3:59.32) looking for better luck than he had in last year’s NCAA DMR, when he was knocked down on the opening leg and Stanford had to run from behind, finishing 10th. Coyle ran his season best mile of 4:05.03 to finish ninth at the MPSF Championships two weeks ago.
Major: Management science and engineering.
Personal record: 3:59.32 (mile, indoors, 2015); 3:42.80 (1,500, outdoors, 2015).
Jackson Shumway: Sr., Deerfield, Mass. (Deerfield Academy).
Jackson Shumway is a 400 hurdler, who has used the indoor season to sharpen his speed. His 400 absolute personal bests have dropped in each of his three races at that distance indoors this season. Those culminated in a 47.36 at the MPSF Championships, good for sixth place. He ran a 46.9 split during the team’s school-record setting performance at Penn State. Shumway was the Pac-12 runner-up in the 400 hurdles last season, running 51.45, leapfrogging his father Garry on Stanford’s all-time list. Shumway also is a USTFCCCA All-Academic selection. This is his second consecutive NCAA DMR appearance.
Major: Economics.
Personal record: 47.36 (400, indoors, oversized track, 2016); 47.53 (400, indoors, standard track, 2016).
Justin Brinkley: Sr., Kingwood, Texas (Kingwood HS).
Justin Brinkley is a former U.S. junior national 1,500 champ (2013) competing in his first NCAA meet. Brinkley ran a 1:49.6 split to maintain second place during the school-record setting DMR at Penn State. He ran the 1,200 leg in Stanford’s third-place DMR team at the Penn Relays last year. Brinkley’s best race is the 1,500/mile, running a 4:04.49 mile at the Iowa State Classic. His 800 best of 1:50.29 came at the 2014 Big Meet dual against rival California. Brinkley is a USTFCCCA All-Academic selection and in December was received the Pac-12 Leadership Award, given to a male and female student-athlete in recognition of leadership and service on student-athlete advisory committees at Pac-12 member institutions. Brinkley, who carries a cumulative GPA of 3.80, was Stanford’s candidate for the NCAA Elite 90 Award.
Major: Communication.
Personal record: 1:50.29 (800, outdoors, 2014); 1:51.22 (800, indoors, oversized track, 2013).
Sean McGorty: Jr., Fairfax, Va. (Chantilly HS).
Sean McGorty, a junior academically but a sophomore in track eligibility, is one of the top collegiate distance runners in the country. On Feb. 27, McGorty ran a 3:53.95 mile in a duel with Washington’s Izaic Yorks (3:53.89) at the MPSF Championships on Dempsey Indoor’s 307-meter track. McGorty ran the fourth-fastest collegiate time on any-sized indoor track and the second-fastest by an American. It was a Stanford absolute mile record and he became the fourth-fastest American collegiate miler, indoors or outdoors. McGorty, a four-time All-America, ran a 3:55.8 split over 1,600 to anchor Stanford’s school-record 9:27.27 effort at Penn State. He will follow this race with the 3,000 on Saturday. McGorty, seventh at NCAA’s, was named the USTFCCCA Cross Country Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
Major: Management science and engineering.
Personal record: 3:53.95 (mile, indoors, oversized track, 2016).
Stanford record: 9:27.27 (2016; Tom Coyle, Jackson Shumway, Justin Brinkley, Sean McGorty).
Best Stanford mark at NCAA Indoors: 9:28.83 (2000; Gabe Jennings, Evan Kelty, Michael Stember, Jonathon Riley).
Highest Stanford place: 1st (2000, 2001, 2007, 2014).
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WOMEN’S DISTANCE MEDLEY RELAY (Friday)Seed: No. 1 (10:54.58).
In order:
Elise Cranny: So., Longmont, Colo. (Niwot HS).
Elise Cranny takes over this leg from Claudia Saunders, who ran the opening leg on the winning Penn State National team that ran the nation’s fastest time, of 10:54.58, the eighth-fastest in collegiate history. Cranny was the anchor at NCAA’s last year on Stanford’s runner-up team, and also was second in the same meet in the 3,000. She went on to become the first true freshman in four years to reach an NCAA 1,500 outdoor final (10th place). A back injury prevented Cranny from racing from then until the Iowa State Classic on Feb. 13, winning the mile in 4:38.44. Cranny raced twice this indoor season – once in the mile, another in the 3,000 (8th at MPSF’s) – but did not qualify individually. Cranny, who carries a cumulative GPA of 3.91, was Stanford’s candidate for the NCAA Elite 90 Award.
Major: undeclared.
Personal records: 2:04.81 (800, outdoors, 2014); 4:10.95 (1,500, outdoors, 2014).
Kristyn Williams: Sr., Grand Prairie, Texas (Mansfield Timberview HS).
Kristyn Williams is the MPSF 400 runner-up, and a relay veteran, running on the team that ran the national-leading mark at Penn State, and anchoring the Cardinal 4x400 team to a school record 3:33.78 at the Don Kirby Elite meet in Albuquerque. Williams ran on Stanford’s NCAA runner-up DMR in 2014 and Stanford’s indoor school-record holder at 53.35.
Major: Human biology.
Personal records: 52.59 (outdoors, 2009); 53.35 (indoors, 2015).
Malika Waschmann: Jr., Corvallis, Ore. (Corvallis HS).
Malika Waschmann joins Cranny as a newcomer to the team that ran that national-leading 10:54.58 this year. She replaces Olivia Baker, who will run individually, on the 800 leg. Waschmann started her Stanford career as a 400 hurdler, but switched to the 800 as a sophomore and has already taken nearly two seconds off her personal record as a junior. Waschmann ran a personal best 2:05.33 to finish fourth at the MPSF Championships and was No. 26 on the TFRRS indoor qualifying list.
Major: Human biology.
Personal records: 2:05.33 (indoors, 2016).
Rebecca Mehra: Sr., Palos Verdes Estates, Calif. (Palos Verdes HS)
Rebecca Mehra will be running the DMR anchor for second time in her collegiate career. Her first resulted in a superb 4:36.0 split in which she passed and then held off Georgetown’s Katrina Coogan to win the race at Penn State National in a national-leading time of 10:54.58, the eighth-fastest time in collegiate history. Mehra was a second-team outdoor All-America in the 1,500 in 2014 and has a 1,500 best of 4:17.67. At the MPSF, she raced the 3,000 and placed 10th in 9:25.48.
Major: International relations.
Personal records: 4:17.67 (1,500, outdoors, 2015); 4:40.46 (mile, outdoors, 2014).
Stanford record: 10:53.66 (2015; Jessica Tonn, Olivia Baker, Claudia Saunders, Elise Cranny).
Best Stanford mark at NCAA Indoors: Same as above.
Highest Stanford place: 1st (Sally Glynn, Jayna Smith, Lindsay Hyatt, Lauren Fleshman), 2000.
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MEN’S TRIPLE JUMP (Saturday)Darian Brooks: Sr., Seattle, Wash. (Kennedy Catholic HS).
Seed: No. 13 (52-9 ¼, 16.08).
Darian Brooks set Stanford’s absolute triple jump record of 52-9 ¼ while finishing second to USC’s Eric Sloan at the 2016 season-opening UW Indoor Preview. Brooks is the two-time defending Pac-12 outdoor champ and won the 2015 MPSF indoor crown before finishing fourth this year. Brooks has broken Stanford records three times, twice indoors and once outdoors. In 2014, Brooks set lifetime bests on his final four jumps at the Pac-12 Championships on the way to becoming Stanford’s first conference men’s triple jump champion since 1970. Trailing Arizona State’s Josh Dixon by ¾ of an inch with one jump left, Brooks responded with a 52-6 ¾ to win by 17 inches, breaking Allen Meredith’s 1970 Stanford outdoor mark of 52-3.
Major: Psychology.
Personal record: 52-9 ¼ (16.08 meters; indoors, 2016).
Stanford record: Same as above.
Best Stanford mark at NCAA Indoors: 51-5 ½, 15.68m, Darian Brooks (2015).
Highest Stanford place: 12th, Darian Brooks (2015).
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MEN’S 3,000 (Saturday)Sean McGorty: Jr., Fairfax, Va. (Chantilly HS).
Seed: No. 4 (7:48.79).
Sean McGorty is like many of the nation’s milers, by running the 3,000 instead. For McGorty, it was because the 3,000 would enable him to run the DMR on Friday. The mile requires a semifinal heat Friday and a final on Saturday. The 3,000 consists of only a final on Saturday. Of the top 12 national qualifying times in the mile, seven of those are running the 3,000 and only four are running the mile, including only one of the top five. McGorty joins Washington’s Izaic Yorks, whom he battled in their epic MPSF Championships mile, and 2015 NCAA indoor mile champ Edward Cheserek in the 3,000. Another contender is Syracuse’s Justyn Knight, who edged McGorty for the 3,000 victory at the Iowa State Classic in McGorty’s only race at that distance this season. The top four finishers from the 2015 NCAA Cross Country Championships are in this 3,000. McGorty was seventh in that race.
Major: Management science and engineering.
Personal record: 7:48.79 (indoors, 2016).
Stanford record: 7:46.81, Chris Derrick (2012).
Best Stanford mark at NCAA indoors: 7:46.81, Chris Derrick (2012).
Highest Stanford place: 1st, Elliott Heath (2011).
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WOMEN’S 3000 (Saturday)Vanessa Fraser: Jr., Scotts Valley, Calif. (Scotts Valley HS)
Seed: No. 13 (9:09.89).
Vanessa Fraser, a former walk-on, has been impressive in her steady improvement. She earned her first All-America honor by placing 13th in the NCAA Outdoors last year in the 5,000, and earned her second as Stanford’s No. 1 runner at the NCAA Cross Country Championships, placing 40th. Fraser made a bold attempt to qualify through her performance at the MPSF Championships, taking the lead and pushing the pace midway through the race. Though she finished fourth, she improved her time by five seconds and earned her spot in the NCAA field. She credits a local Girls on the Run program when she was young as her inspiration to become a runner.
Major: Symbolic systems with a concentration on neuroscience.
Personal record: 9:09.89 (indoors, 2016).
Aisling Cuffe: 5th Sr., Cornwall-on-Hudson, N.Y. (Cornwall Central HS).
Seed: No. 15 (9:10.59).
Aisling Cuffe is a seven-time All-America and two-time Pac-12 cross country champion. Because of injury, Cuffe hadn’t race on the track since June, 2014, when she was fourth at the U.S. Championships in the 5,000. Cuffe returned to action on Feb. 27 and ran her qualifying time of 9:10.59 while finishing sixth at the MPSF Championships. Cuffe had the 17th qualifying time – one spot out of the field – but benefitted from two pull-outs. No. 2 Wesley Frazier of North Carolina State is not competing and No. 8 Kaela Edwards of Oklahoma State will run the mile. Cuffe was seventh in this event at the 2014 NCAA Indoors, but has runner-up finishes in the 5,000 indoors and outdoors, both also in 2014. She holds the Pac-12 outdoor 5,000 record of 15:11.13, making her the second-fastest collegian ever. This week, Cuffe learned that she had received a coveted NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship.
Major: Biology.
Personal record: 9:04.57 (indoors, 2014).
Stanford record: 8:53.1, PattiSue Plumer (1983).
Best Stanford mark at NCAA indoors: 8:58.88, Elise Cranny (2015).
Highest Stanford place: 1st, Lauren Fleshman (2002); PattiSue Plumer (2-mile, 1983).
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