Feb. 25, 2012
Stanford Women's Indoor Records
SEATTLE - It was a big day for the Stanford track and field teams with the conclusion of the MPSF Championships. The Cardinal women came from behind to claim the conference title, while the Stanford men placed second.
The Cardinal women claimed the conference title with 125 points. Stanford got individual MSPF titles from Kori Carter in the 60-meter hurdles, Arantxa King in the triple jump and Katerina Stefanidi in the pole vault. In addition, Carter lowered her own school record in the hurdles, while Justine Fedronic set a new Stanford indoor record in the 800 meters.
The Cardinal stormed to the lead in the team competition after sweeping the top three spots in the triple jump. King claimed her second individual title of the meet, winning by over a foot. The senior leaped 42-3 ¼, which was less than an inch off her personal best. Stanford also got personal bests from Karynn Dunn and Jordan Merback to complete the sweep. Dunn leaped 41-2 ¼, which ranks sixth in Stanford history, while Merback jumped 40-10 ½ and is now eighth on the Cardinal top-10 list.
The other individual champion in the field was Stefanidi who cleared 14-2 in the pole vault. The senior earned the second MPSF title of her career after also winning in 2010.
The final points from the field events came from Alyssa Wisdom in the shot put. Wisdom tossed 50-8 ¾, which was a personal best and ranks fifth in school history.
On the track, Carter earned her first MPSF title in the 60-meter hurdles and lowered her Stanford record to 8.22 in the process. The sophomore just missed the NCAA auto standard of 8.10, but has a shot to advance to nationals. Katie Nelms also fared well, placing fifth with a time of 8.43 to get Stanford 14 points in the event.
Stanford also scored big points in the 3,000 meters as three ladies finished in the points. Kathy Kroeger led the Cardinal, earning the NCAA auto standard by running 9:09.44 to place fourth. The time ranks eighth in Stanford history as Kroeger now has the auto mark in both the 3K and the 5K.
Freshman Aisling Cuffe was right behind Kroeger to take fifth in 9:10.07. The time lowers Cuffe's American Junior Record that she set a few weeks back in Arkansas. She just missed the auto standard, but the time should be good enough to get to nationals. It was also the ninth-fastest in Stanford history.
Finally, Jessica Tonn placed seventh, running 9:14.89. It was a personal best for the sophomore as the Cardinal scored 11 points in the event.
The other Stanford scorers on the track were Shataya Hendricks placed second in the 60 meters with a time of 7.47, Kellie Schueler who placed fifth in the 400 with a time of 54.68, and Fedronic who ran 2:05.68 in the 800 to place fifth. Along with the school record from Fedronic, Schueler also improved to sixth in Stanford history in the 400.
In the final event of the meet, Stanford placed third in the 4x400 meters. Schueler, Carter, Hendricks and Fedronic ran a time of 3:36.89. The time was the third-fastest in Stanford history and clinched the team title for the Cardinal.
The Stanford men settled for second place with 81.5 points. Arizona State took the meet title with a whopping 131.5 points. Amaechi Morton led the Cardinal, winning the MPSF individual title in the 400 meters and in the process lowered his own school record in the event.
Morton claimed the MPSF title in the 400 meters for the second-straight season. Morton ran a personal-best time of 46.16 to lower his own school record. He just missed the auto standard, but the time should be good enough to get Morton to the NCAA meet. Spencer Chase also ran well, placing sixth with a time of 48.18.
Morton also competed in the 60-meter hurdles, placing third in a time of 8.04. The senior scored 16 points for the team between his two events.
Stanford also scored big points in the mile, led by Chris Derrick. Derrick became the 11th sub-4 minute miler in Stanford indoor history after running 3:59.13. The time is eighth-best all-time for Stanford as Derrick showed off his range dropping down to the middle distances. The Cardinal senior led the race for most of the way, but was just outleaned at the line to place second. Right behind Derrick were Tyler Stutzman (4:01.23) in third and Michael Atchoo (4:03.29) in fourth to give Stanford 19 points in the event.
Other scorers on the track were Jake Riley who was fifth in the 3,000 meters with a time of 7:54.51 and Luke Lefebure who was seventh in the 800 meters with a time of 1:51.60. The time by Riley moved him to fifth all-time at Stanford.
In the field, Stanford got good results in the shot put as Geoffrey Tabor placed fourth with a toss of 57-7 ½ and Jeremy Hines was sixth with a mark of 56-9 ¼. In addition, Jules Sharpe made his season debut and looked great, placing second with a time of 7-1 ½.
The Cardinal closed the meet by placing eighth in the 4x400 meters. The team of Kevin Cardey, Thomas Mallon, Colin Hepburn and Lefebure ran 3:19.72.
Next up for the Cardinal is the UW Last Chance Meet as anyone needing to improve a mark for a chance at the NCAA Indoor Championships will get their opportunity. The meet is back in Seattle of March 3. The NCAA Indoor Championships are March 9-10 in Boise.