April 13, 2009
Westwood, Calif. - Stanford track and field completed a weekend of mostly field events at the Rafer Johnson/Jackie Joyner-Kersee Invitational hosted by UCLA. The throwers were particularly strong for the Cardinal posting several event wins and NCAA regional qualifying standards.
Michaela Wallerstedt led the Stanford women, winning both the invitational shot put and discus. In the shot put her mark of 50-8 ¾ was a season best and a regional standard. In the discus, Wallerstedt recorded a career best with a toss of 164-2, which was also a regional standard.
Also recording a season best and a regional standard was Katerina Stefanidi in the invitational pole vault. Stefandidi recorded a vault of 13-1 ¾ to finish fifth. Caitlin Hewitt competed in the open pole vault where she finished second with a mark of 12-1 ½.
Recording a career best in the invitational 400 meters was Ashley Menzies with a time of 56.18.
Also competing on the track was Claire Cormier Thielke who fell just short of her season best with a time of 2:09.84 in the 800 meters.
Leading the way for the men was Daniel Schaerer in the invitational discus. Schaerer finished with a toss of 194-7 to win the competition and establish a regional standard.
Also with an event win was Kyle Davis-Hammerquist in the open hammer throw. His mark of 198-0 was a regional standard. Davis-Hammerquist also competed in the open discus where he finished 11th with a toss of 151-02.
Finishing just short of the regional standard, but establishing a season best in the open shot put was Geoffrey Tabor. His mark of 54-2 ½ was also good enough for the event win.
Matching his season best and regional standard in the pole vault was Casey Roche with a mark of 16-6 ¾. Roche finished fifth in the open pole vault.
On the track, J.J. Jackson competed in both hurdles events, finishing third in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 14.68 and 24th in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 57.70.
The Cardinal will return home for the Big Meet on April 18, versus California. The annual scored dual meet provides for exciting action that will be hosted by Stanford at Cobb Track at Angell Field. Field Events begin at 11:50 am, while the running events begin at 2:00 pm.