Feb. 2, 2013
NEW YORK - Stanford junior Michael Atchoo was named Outstanding Performer of the Armory Collegiate Invitational indoor track and field meet on Saturday after completing a winning mile-distance medley relay double.
Atchoo edged teammate Tyler Stutzman to win the championship mile in 4:02.38 on the 200-meter banked Mondo track at the historic Fort Washington Avenue Armory in uptown Manhattan. On Friday night, Atchoo rallied Stanford to victory in the DMR with a 3:58.7 anchor leg over 1,600 meters.
"This is just a stepping stone," Atchoo told flotrack.org, after running his first mile/1,500 of the season. "I'm just trying to compete hard.
"I'm not trying to run too fast right now. I'm just trying to win races. That's what it's about right now."
After teammate Marco Bertolotti acted as the rabbit, Stutzman took over the lead. Stutzman, the leadoff leg on the DMR team, would finish in 4:02.52 to help highlight performances from Cardinal middle-distance runners.
Among the Cardinal women, freshman Amy Weissenbach made her collegiate debut in her main event, the 800 meters, and ran the third-fastest indoor time in school history, placing second in 2:06.72. Georgetown's Chelsea Cox won in 2:06.51.
Weissenbach came to Stanford with impressive credentials, as the National High School Federation recordholder in the 800 (2:02.04) and three-time California state champion while at Harvard-Westlake School in Studio City.
Lost in the news of the weekend was Weissenbach's 1,200 leadoff leg on Stanford's fourth-place DMR on Friday night. Her split of 3:20.3 is one of the most impressive performances in the nation this season.