May 16, 2010
Berkeley, Calif. - The Stanford track and field teams added three more individual conference titles on Sunday at Edwards Stadium on the campus of California. Chris Derrick earned a second individual title to lead the men to a third-place finish with 92 points. The women got individual titles from Jaynie Goodbody and Katerina Stefanidi to finish fifth with 88 points.
Oregon swept the Pac-10 titles, winning the men's competition with 168.5 points to edge USC with 156. On the women's side, the Ducks finished with 215 points to dominate the competition by over 100 points.
Chris <!>Derrick |
Derrick captured his second conference title in as many days, winning the 5,000 meters with a time of 13:43.69. He won the 10,000 meters a day before as part of a 1-2-3 Stanford sweep. Finishing second on Saturday and again on Sunday was Elliott Heath with a time of 13:45.22. Heath and Jake Riley made up the 1-2-3 finish on Saturday and almost did it again as Riley finished fifth in the 5K in 13:48.68. Between the two races, the Stanford men proved who reigns supreme in the distances.
The other star of the day for the Stanford men was Amaechi Morton in the hurdles. Morton smashed his own school record in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 48.94. The time was over a second under his previous record as he became the first Stanford intermediate hurdler under 50 seconds and then went ahead and went under 49 as well. The time for Morton was the second fastest in the nation this season; however, the fastest came from Jeshua Anderson of Washington State in the same race and Morton had to settle for being Pac-10 runner-up. Anderson ran 48.63 in a battle of two of the truly elite athletes in the country. Joining Morton in the race was Durell Coleman who placed fourth in a personal best of 51.19.
Morton also doubled in the 110-meter hurdles and finished fourth with a time of 14.38. He wasn't done though as he completed the day as part of the men's 4x400-meter team that placed third. Morton anchored the squad that included Coleman, Spencer Chase and Zach Chandy. The Cardinal ran a time of 3:09:50.
Chase also ran the open 400 meters and placed eighth with a time of 48.69. Although he was off his best time of the year, it was still an impressive result to make the final as a freshman.
Also scoring on the track for Stanford were Dylan Ferris in the 1,500 meters and Mark Mueller in the 200. Ferris battled an elite field in the metric mile for a time of 3:42.73 for his first points in a Pac-10 meet. Mueller placed sixth in the 200 with a time of 21.84. The former football player seems to have found his niche in the sprints.
Finally, the Stanford sprinters achieved an impressive result in the 4x100 meters. The Cardinal finished fifth with a time of 40.41 with a team made up of Mueller, Daniel Belch, Tyrone McGraw and Ryan Fisicaro.
The women received a pair of individual titles in the field as Jaynie Goodbody won the hammer and Katerina Stefanidi captured the pole vault.
Goodbody achieved a personal best in her best event, the hammer, to earn the first Pac-10 title of her career. Goodbody tossed 200-5 to win the competition by over five feet.
Stefanidi continued her impressive season by taking the pole vault with a clearance of 14-0. It was the first Pac-10 title for Stefanidi, who also won the MPSF title during the indoor season.
Stanford scored big points in the field events as Whitney Liehr and Arantxa King came through in the triple jump. Both jumped 42-5 ¼ with Liehr placing third and King fourth.
On the track, the Cardinal got good points from their sprinters, led by veteran Griffin Matthew and freshman Carissa Levingston. Matthew placed second in the 100 meters with a time of 11.67, while Levingston doubled to an eighth-place finish in the 100 (11.89) and sixth in the 200 (24.26). The duo also combined in the 4x100-meters with Brittni Dixon-Smith and King to a fourth-place finish in 44.83. Matthew also anchored the 4x400 with Dixon-Smith, King and Kala Stepter to an eighth-place finish in 3:48.57.
In the distances, freshman Kathy Kroeger earned points in her first Pac-10 meet with a time of 16:17.61 to finish fifth in the 5,000 meters. In addition, Madeline Duhon placed seventh in the 1,500 meters with a time of 4:23.72.
Stanford will next compete in the opening round of the NCAA Championships under the new format that discontinued the regional meet. The Cardinal will compete in Austin, Texas on May 28 and 29 as athletes attempt to qualify for the final rounds of the NCAA Championships that will take place in Eugene, Ore., on June 11 and 12.