Feb. 9, 2013
SEATTLE - Amy Weissenbach has been everything Stanford had hoped when the fastest half-miler in high school history first stepped foot on campus.
The latest example came at the Husky Classic on Saturday. In only her second collegiate 800-meter race, the freshman from Los Angeles came within 0.15 of the school indoor record. As it was, Weissenbach ran the second-fastest indoor 800 ever at Stanford and became the 10th-fastest ever at Stanford - indoor or outdoor.
Weissenbach's 2:05.83 was good enough for fifth place in the invitational section, with three post-collegiates ahead of her, led by Shannon Leinert in 2:04.53.
As she showed in her debut 800 a week earlier at the Armory Collegiate Invitational in New York City when she was boxed in, but clocked 2:06.72 for the third-fastest at Stanford indoors, Weissenbach should threaten school record. The fastest-ever 800 by a Stanford woman is a 2:03.54 outdoors by Justine Fedronic last year. Fedronic's year-old Stanford indoor mark is 2:05.68. Fedronic, a senior, is redshirting the indoor season.
Weissenbach, and All-Americans Fedronic and Joy O'Hare form one of the nation's most formidable 800 teams.
While at Harvard-Westlake School, Weissenbach set the National Federation high school record (high school-only competition) of 2:02.04, won three state 800 titles, and ran in the Olympic trials.
Weissenbach's 800 was Stanford's most notable performance of the second day of the Husky Invitational on the Dempsey Indoor 307-meter flat track, but there were several strong runs.
Michael Atchoo followed his winning mile performance in New York with an 8:00.73 in the invitational 3,000. Atchoo placed 12th in the fastest section, but his time bettered his season best by 12 seconds. Similarly, sophomore Joe Rosa ran his fastest at the same distance, with his 8:08.14 a six-second improvement over his previous fastest.
Other than a last chance meet to try to reach nationals, Stanford's indoor season has reached its postseason. The MPSF Championships are next, on Feb. 22-23, on the same Dempsey track.