Feb. 24, 2012
SEATTLE - The MPSF Championships are underway from for the Pacific Northwest with the Cardinal women currently sitting in third place with 36 points just three points off first-place Arizona State. Meanwhile, the Stanford men are fifth with 19 points, although Arizona State has taken a commanding lead with 67.5.
The Cardinal women were led by Arantxa King who claimed the conference title in the long jump. The Stanford men got solid performances in the distances, particularly the DMR where Chris Derrick closed with an outstanding 1,600-meter leg.
King claimed the MPSF title with a leap of 20-10 ½ in the long jump. She now has a MPSF long jump and triple jump title to her name. The mark was not a season best, but was still plenty far enough for the conference championship. In addition to King, Karynn Dunn leaped a career-best of 20-5 ¾ to finish third and give Stanford 16 points in the event.
The other big points for the Cardinal women came in the 5,000 meters as Emilie Amaro placed third. Amaro scored six points for Stanford after running a time of 16:31.96.
The final Cardinal points came in the distance medley relay as Stanford finished fifth. The team of Justine Fedronic, Kellie Schueler, Joy O'Hare and Kathy Kroeger ran a time of 11:04.31. The time was the fourth best in Stanford history and will likely get the Cardinal to nationals, despite it being less than a second off the auto standard.
In the sprints, Kori Carter led way, advancing to tomorrow's final in the 200 meters. She placed third in 24.34, while Carissa Levingston was fifth in 24.51 to also qualify.
Carter was not done, however as she and fellow sophomore Katie Nelms looked good in the hurdles. Carter and Nelms placed second and third, respectively, with times of 8.42 and 8.43 to advance to tomorrow's finals.
Finally, Shataya Hendricks ran 7.49 in the 60 meters to place third and also advance to a final on Saturday.
The Cardinal men scored its most points in the distance medley relay. Michael Atchoo led off with the 1,200-meter leg, keeping Stanford at the front of the pack. Spencer Chase and Luke Lefebure followed with the 400- and 800-meter legs, before handing the baton to Chris Derrick. Derrick closed hard, taking the lead in the final 400 meters, but could not hold off the collegiate record holder in the mile, Myles Batty. Batty led BYU to the conference title, while Stanford settled for second in 9:31.24 as Derrick closed with a 1,600-meter split of 3:57. The time was just off the NCAA auto standard for the Cardinal, but still should be plenty good enough to earn a trip to nationals.
Also running well in the distances was Miles Unterreiner. The senior could not repeat his MPSF title in the 5,000 meters, but did finish fourth with a season-best time of 13:52.60. He scored five points for the Cardinal who also got three points from Brendan Gregg who was sixth with a time of 13:55.15.
Leading the Cardinal in the field events was Patton Jones who scored two team points in the long jump with a mark of 23-6 ¾ to place seventh. Freshman Dalton Duvio scored Stanford's final point as he placed eighth in the pole vault with a mark of 16-8. Corey Dysick also competed in the pole vault and was 10th in 16-2.
Stanford's top athlete in the sprints was Amaechi Morton in the 60-meter hurdles. Morton placed second overall with a season-best time of 7.99 to advance to tomorrow's finals. Morton also competed in the 200 meters, but was disqualified.
The Cardinal will be back at it on Saturday for the conclusion of the MPSF Championships.