April 16, 2010
Walnut, Calif. - The Stanford men's distance program put on a quite a display at the distance carnival of the Mount SAC Relays. The Cardinal men put three runners under 14 minutes in the 5,000 meters to highlight the meet that will also see Stanford pole vault coach Toby Stevenson elected into the Mt. SAC Relays Hall of Fame.
Running in the Invitational section of the 5,000 meters, Stanford's Elliott Heath and Chris Derrick ran two of the fastest times in the NCAA this season. Heath set a new personal best with a time of 13:29.75, while Derrick was just off his pr with a time of 13:31.67. Heath moves into sixth place all-time on the Stanford 5K list, just ahead of Derrick, who ran 13:29.98 as a freshman to set the American Junior Record.
A little later in the evening, JT Sullivan made it three Cardinal runners under 14 minutes, running 13:54.10 in the second section of the 5K. The time was a personal best for Sullivan whose specialty is the 3,000-meter steeplechase.
On Thursday night, Jake Riley placed third in the top section of the 10,000 meters. Riley ran a time of 28:54.69, which was just off his personal best.
Competing in the field events was Casey Roche who placed sixth in his section of the pole vault with a mark of 16-8 ¾. Katerina Stefanidi will compete in the top section of the women's pole vault on Saturday as the Cardinal vaulters compete as their coach is inducted into the meet's Hall of Fame.
Stevenson was the 2004 Olympic Silver Medalist in the pole vault and holds a personal best of 19-8 ¼ (6.00M). He is a three-time Mt. SAC Relays Champion (2004, 2005, 2006) and has been a stalwart Mt. SAC Relays supporter for well over a decade.
In addition to Stefanidi competing on Saturday a group of Stanford throwers will compete in the Woody Wilson Invitational at UC Davis. Stay tuned to gostanford.com for the complete updates.