Sunday, March 02, 2014

STANFORD WINS THREE TITLES AT MPSF TRACK

March 1, 2014



STANFORD WINS THREE TITLES AT MPSF TRACK







SEATTLE – Three Stanford athletes won titles at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation indoor track and field championships on Saturday at University of Washington’s Dempsey Indoor track.



Sophomore Steven Solomon (46.24) won the men’s 400 meters, sophomores Amy Weissenbach (2:04.99) and Claudia Saunders (2:05.19) finished 1-2 in the women’s 800, and junior Aisling Cuffe (9:04.57) and fifth-year senior Kathy Kroeger (9:07.23) went 1-2 in the women’s 3,000.



Also, sophomore Kristyn Williams (53.36) set a school record in the women’s 400, breaking her own mark from earlier this season by 0.03, while finishing fourth.



Stanford’s women placed fifth among 17 teams with 63 ½ points and the Cardinal men were sixth of 12 with 59.



In all, 25 Stanford athletes competed Saturday on the meet’s second and final day. They combined for 10 additions to Stanford’s all-time indoor top-10 lists, nine personal records, three conference championships, and one school record.



Saturday also marked the last chance to make the national top 16 in each event and earn passage to the NCAA Championships on March 14-15 in Albuquerque, N.M. The list of NCAA qualifiers will be released Sunday.



Weissenbach ran a personal indoor best and leapfrogged Saunders for No. 2 on Stanford’s all-time indoor list. She became the first from Stanford, among men and women, to win an MPSF 800 title. Stanford began competing in the conference indoor championships in 2002.



Solomon, an Australian who made the 400 final at the 2012 London Olympics, ran a personal indoor record and improved upon his No. 2 school indoor mark. Solomon is Stanford’s second MPSF 400 champion, following Amaechi Morton who won in 2011 and 2012.



Cuffe improved upon her previous best of 9:09.79, which broke the American junior indoor record in 2012, and moved to No. 4 all-time indoors. Kroeger also earned a personal record and moving to No. 6 on Stanford’s all-time list. They are the past two Pac-12 Conference cross country champions, with Cuffe earning the title last fall. Cuffe is Stanford’s first MPSF 3,000 champ since Laurynne Chetelat in 2009.



Among other notable Stanford performances, Darian Brooks moved into a tie with NFL star Richard Sherman for third on the school indoor triple jump list. Brooks, a junior, uncorked his first career 50-footer, reaching 50-4 ¾ to finish third.



“Darian did a great job of competing after a tough few weeks,” said Michael Eskind, Stanford’s jumps, pole vault, and multis coach. “He’s been battling a minor foot issue so he’s missed a few weeks of training. His performance today is a testament to his toughness and to our medical staff’s terrific efforts to help him be ready to compete today. I’m incredibly excited for his outdoor season.”



In the men’s 3,000, Erik Olson knocked seven seconds off his personal record to finish third in 7:50.81, making him Stanford’s fourth-fastest Stanford indoor performer ever. Michael Atchoo also PR’d, running 7:54.98 for seventh place and No. 10 on the list.



Both 4x400 relay teams ran season bests and climbed the top-10 lists. The men’s quartet of Jackson Shumway, Solomon, Scott Buttinger, and Luke Lefebure was fourth in 3:12.20. It was Stanford’s fastest indoors since 2005 and No. 3 all-time.



The women’s 4x400 of Kristyn Williams, Weissenbach, Saunders, and Justine Fedronic was fourth in 3:37.58, for No. 4 all-time and the fastest since a 2012 team anchored by Fedronic.



Though Fedronic did not run her specialty of the 800 – she was a 2013 first-team outdoor All-America in the event, as was Weissenbach – she was third in the mile in a personal record of 4:39.81, good for sixth on the all-time list and Stanford’s fastest since 2009.



* * *



Winners and Stanford results in events involving Stanford athletes:



Saturday’s results

MEN

Team scores – 1, California 96; 2, Arizona State 93; 3, Oregon 88 ½; 4, UCLA 75 ½; 5, Arizona 66; 6, Stanford 59; 7, Washington 50; 8, Washington State 49 ½; 9, BYU 37; 10, Colorado 32; 11, Long Beach State 8 ½; 12, Cal State Northridge 4.

400 – 1, Steven Solomon (Stanford) 46.24 (Stanford No. 2 all-time indoors).

800 – 1, Jesse Jorgensen (Washington State) 1:48.84. Stanford: 3, Luke Lefebure 1:49.08; 7, Scott Buttinger 1:50.54.

Mile – 1, Jordan Locklear (California) 4:04.03. Stanford: 7, Marco Bertolotti 4:06.11; 17, Thomas Coyle 4:10.45; 23, Will Drinkwater 4:14.89.

3,000 – 1, Edward Cheserek (Oregon) 7:47.20. Stanford: 3, Erik Olson 7:50.81 (personal record; Stanford No. 4 all-time indoors); 7, Michael Atchoo 7:54.98 (personal record; Stanford No. 10 all-time indoors); 28, Patrick Gibson 8:19.38 (personal record).

4x400 relay – 1, Oregon 3:06.99. 4, Stanford (Jackson Shumway, Steven Solomon, Scott Buttinger, Luke Lefebure) 3:12.20 (Stanford No. 4 all-time indoors).

Triple jump – 1, Kasen Covington (Washington) 51-6 ½. Stanford: 4, Darian Brooks 50-4 ¾ (personal record; tied Stanford No. 3 all-time indoors).



WOMEN

Team scores – 1, USC 106; 2, Arizona State 81; 3, Arizona 75; 4, Oregon 66 ½; 5, Stanford 63 ½; 6, UCLA 43; 7 (tie), California, BYU, 38; 9, Colorado 29; 10, Washington State 28 ½; 11, Washington 28; 12, Utah 26; 13, Cal State Northridge 14 ½; 14, UC Irvine 8; 15, Cal State Fullerton 7; 16, Hawai’i 5; 17, Long Beach State 3.

400 – 1, CoCo Ndipagbor (USC) 52.63. Stanford: 4, Kristyn Williams 53.36 (school indoor record); 30, Kaitlyn Williams 56.87.

800 – 1, Amy Weissenbach (Stanford) 2:04.99 (Stanford No. 2 all-time indoors); 2, Claudia Saunders (Stanford) 2:05.19. Stanford: 16, Jaye Buchbinder 2:15.98.

Mile – 1, Shelby Houlihan (Arizona State) 4:38.45. Stanford: 3, Justine Fedronic 4:39.81 (personal record; Stanford No. 6 all-time indoors); 7, Rebecca Mehra 4:44.04 (personal record); 13, Tate Murray 4:54.32; 15, Molly McNamara 4:54.76; 20, Cami Chapus 4:56.68.

3,000 – 1, Aisling Cuffe (Stanford) 9:04.57 (personal record; Stanford No. 4 all-time indoors); 2, Kathy Kroeger (Stanford) 9:07.23 (personal record; Stanford No. 6 all-time indoors). Stanford: 12, Emma Fisher 9:37.31 (personal record).

4x400 – 1, Arizona State 3:35.78. 4, Stanford (Kristyn Williams, Amy Weissenbach, Claudia Saunders, Justine Fedronic) 3:37.58 (Stanford No. 4 all-time indoors).

Shot put – 1, Alyssa Hasslen (Arizona) 56-4. Stanford: 8, Alyssa Wisdom 48-1 ¾.



For more information, contact:



David Kiefer

Assistant Athletic Communications Director

Stanford University

dkiefer@stanford.edu

(650) 759-0258, cell



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