Alex Wilson Invitational | UW Final Qualifier
March 1, 2013
SEATTLE -- Stanford freshman Amy Weissenbach ran the 800 meters in 2:05.56 to give Stanford track and field its second school indoor record of the night.
Weissenbach, who broke Justine Fedronic’s year-old mark of 2:05.68, won at the UW Final Qualifier, one of a series of last-chance meets around the country meant to secure spots at the NCAA Indoor Championships on March 8-9 in Fayetteville, Ark.
At Notre Dame's Loftus Sports Center, Stanford’s men’s distance medley relay team ran a season-best time by six seconds in setting another Cardinal mark. The team of Tyler Stutzman, Spencer Chase, Luke Lefebure, and Michael Atchoo ran 9:28.25 at the Alex Wilson Invitational while finishing third overall behind Penn State and Princeton.
The time broke the Stanford record of 9:28.83 set by the team of Gabe Jennings, Even Kelty, Michael Stember, and Jonathon Riley in 2000. Jennings and Stember both made the U.S. Olympic team that year.
For Atchoo, it was his second school record in as many weeks, following his 3:57.14 mile at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation indoor championships in Seattle on Saturday.
The DMR splits were impressive: Stutzman opened with a 2:55.0 for 1,200, Chase followed with a 400 in 47.1, Lefebure clocked an 800 in 1:49.1, and Atchoo anchored with a 3:56.8 for 1,600, which converts to about a 3:58.2 mile.
Stanford came into the weekend with the No. 3 DMR time in the nation this season, a 9:34.20 run at the Armory Invitational in New York City on Feb. 1.
Only the top 16 in each event advance to the NCAA Championships. While Stanford’s DMR appeared to be in good position, results from this weekend’s meets could have displaced it.
The final qualifying list will be released Sunday, but it appears the Stanford DMR is in good shape, having run three seconds faster than the nation’s No. 1 mark going into the weekend, a 9:31.82 by Texas.
Though Weissenbach, racing on the 307-meter flat track at University of Washington's Dempsey Indoor facility, improved on her best of 2:05.83, she still has no assurance of qualification. She was No. 13 going in, and will have to wait until the end of Saturday's meets to know for sure.
Weissenbach had to run virtually alone in earning her first collegiate 800 victory. A rabbit had gone out a bit too fast, preventing Weissenbach or the other runners from being able to take advantage of the pacer.
Still, Weissenbach came through the opening 400 in 60 seconds, held off a Washington runner with 250 to go and essentially won in a wire-to-wire effort.
In the men’s high jump in Seattle, Jules Sharpe was on the qualifying bubble and did not improve upon his season-best. However, he did place second by clearing 7-3 for the third consecutive meet. Sharpe missed on three tries at a Stanford record 7-4¼. He came into the meet at No. 15 nationally with a best of 7-3¼.
Alyssa Wisdom won the women’s shot put, but her winning mark of 52-0½ was not an improvement. She came in with the No. 10 mark in the nation of 55-8¼.
Stanford’s Jordan Merback was second in the triple jump at 41-1, but it won’t be enough to advance her through.
Geoffrey Tabor was second in the men's shot put at 57-9 3/4, but will not qualify for nationals.