ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Stanford takes a small, but talented track and field quartet to the Cherry & Silver Invitational on Friday and Saturday at the Albuquerque Convention Center – the site of this year’s NCAA indoor championship meet.
Competing for Stanford will be Alyssa Wisdom in the shot put, Rebecca Hammar in the weight throw, and pole vaulters Ellie McCardwell and Dylan Duvio.
The following is the schedule for Stanford competitors (All times Pacific):
Friday
3 p.m.: Women’s weight throw, Rebecca Hammar
4:30 p.m.: Men’s pole vault, Dylan Duvio
Saturday
9 a.m.: Women’s shot put, Alyssa Wisdom
12:30 p.m.: Women’s pole vault, Ellie McCardwell
Live Results: LiveRunningResults.com
This Week: The Cherry & Silver Invitational marks the season debut for Hammar and Wisdom. In fact, this is the first time in two years that Hammar, or any Stanford competitor, has competed in the 20-pound weight throw. Hammar, a discus and hammer thrower outdoors, has a best of 50-0½ from her freshman year, in 2012.
Wisdom, a fifth-year senior, qualified for the NCAA indoor and outdoor championships last year and has the No. 3 shot put marks both indoors and outdoors in school history. This is her first competition since winning the Jamaican national championship in June. Her best is 55-8¼.
McCardwell, a senior, is the No. 2 vaulter in Stanford history, behind only 2012 NCAA champion and Olympian Katerina Stefanidi. McCardwell, who has a best of 13-7 ¾, opened the season with an eighth place finish at the season-opening UW Indoor Preview (11-11 ¾), but returns to the site of her indoor season best last year.
Duvio had a strong collegiate debut Saturday in Seattle, jumping 16-10¾ to place third at the UW Indoor Preview. The mark placed him No. 5 on Stanford’s all-time indoor list and ties him with his brother Dalton Duvio and Josh Hustedt and the No. 8 performer in Stanford history, indoors or outdoors. Dylan Duvio is second on the all-time Stanford freshman list only to Olympian Toby Stevenson, who jumped 17-8¾ in 1997.
Team USTFCCCA Rankings: Men – 20th; Women – 9th
Individual Rankings: The following are Stanford athletes in the 2014 indoor Top 20 collegiate rankings. Division I rankings, if different, are listed in parentheses. The Top 16 on the Division I event lists on March 3 advance to NCAA championships:
Men
Mile: 1, Joe Rosa (4:01.72); 2, Erik Olson (4:02.12).
3,000: 7 (6, D1), Erik Olson (8:11.20): 8 (7, D1), Joe Rosa (8:11.38).
Triple jump: 17 (15 D1), Darian Brooks (49-11¾).
Women
400: 1, Kristyn Williams (53.39).
Mile: 4, Kathy Kroeger (4:42.46).
4x400 Relay: 10, Stanford (3:41.22).
Last Week: Stanford opened its 2014 season in spectacular fashion with sophomore Kristyn Williams setting school and meet records in the 400 meters at the UW Indoor Preview in Seattle. Williams clocked 53.39 to win by 2.6 seconds while breaking the Stanford indoor mark of 53.57 set by Amber Purnell in 2005.
In all, Stanford earned six victories and had five additions to the school indoor top-10 lists. Among the non-victories was Joe Rosa’s personal record mile of 4:01.72. His runner-up finish came against a non-collegiate performer, making Rosa and Williams the fastest collegians in the country in their events this year.
Up next: The squad is expected to compete in three simultaneous meets on Jan. 31-Feb. 1 – the Razorback Invitational at Arkansas, the Penn State National, and the UW Invitational at Washington.
Races to watch at Penn State include the women’s 3,000, where Kathy Kroeger makes an NCAA qualifying attempt, and the distance medley relays. These will be Stanford’s first DMRs. The Cardinal traditionally has been strong nationally in this event among both men and women. Sophomore quartermiler Steven Solomon, a 2012 Olympic finalist, will run a DMR leg and could make his collegiate 400 debut.