April 10, 2010
Berkeley, Calif. - In the 116th running of the Big Meet, Stanford took the men's meet for the fourth year in a row. On the women's side, the Cardinal and California took an exciting meet all the way to the 4x400 meters, before the Golden Bears clinched the meet by winning the relay that concludes the meet.
The men did not clinch until late in the meet when Casey Roche won the pole vault. Roche cleared 16-9 ¼ to get Stanford to 85 points, one more than the 84 that it takes to secure victory.
Chris Derrick then followed with a blistering 3,000-meter run to further distance the two teams. Derrick ran a time of 8:03.59 in his first race of the season.
The men were led by Daniel Belch who won both the 100 and 200 meters. Belch ran 21.59 in the 200, which was a personal best. Belch's time of 10.59 in the 100 would have been a personal best, but was wind-aided.
Amaechi Morton captured the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 51.13. He also competed in the 110-meter hurdles and finished second with a time of 14.58.
The Cardinal again showed its strength in the middle distances with Dylan Ferris winning the 800 meters in 1:48.79. Freshman Andrew Berberick added a third with a time of 1:50.54. In addition, Elliott Heath captured the 1,500 meters in a time of 3:49.80. Justin Marpole-Bird finished third in the loaded event with a time of 3:50.61.
A pair of freshmen also came up big in their first Big Meet. It was Spencer Chase taking the 400 meters with a time of 48.12. In the javelin, Robert Hintz took the title with a throw of 194-2.
In the field events, Geoffrey Tabor led Stanford by winning the discus and finishing second in the shot put. Tabor had a toss of 174-0 in the discus, while heaving 49-7 in the shot put. Carter Wells also came through in the throws by winning the hammer throw with a toss of 194-0. He also placed third in the discus with a toss of 159-0.
Also winning an event on the field were Jules Sharpe in the high jump with a leap of 6-9.
Griffin <!>Matthew |
The women were led by Griffin Matthew who won three events and was a part of the winning 4x100-meter relay. Matthew captured both the 100 and 200 meters and the long jump. The Stanford senior has been an NCAA qualifier in the 100 and long jump as well as being an outstanding 200 runner. The senior came up huge in her last Big Meet with times of 11.51 in the 100 and 23.87 in the 200. Her leap of 21-1 ½ in the long jump was a personal best and should be good enough to qualify her to the postseason.
The Cardinal swept the sprints with Carissa Levingston and Shataya Hendricks finishing second and third in both the 100 and 200.
Stanford also got a fantastic day from Jaynie Goodbody in the throws. Goodbody cruised to a win in her specialty, the hammer throw, with a toss of 185-2. Goodbody also backed that up by winning the shot put, an event she normally does not compete in with a toss of 43-4 ¼. Rounding out her day, Goodbody took second in the javelin with a throw of 136-11. Liz Minoofar won the javelin for the Cardinal with a toss of 142-3.
The other winner in the field events was Katerina Stefanidi in the pole vault with a mark of 13-5 ¾.
Leading the Cardinal on the track was Madeleine O'Meara who captured the 3,000-meter steeplechase. O'Meara ran 10:47.70, while Emma Miller-Bedell placed third in 11:03.04.
The Cal win ended a streak of 10 consecutive years of the Stanford women winning the Big Meet.