FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Stanford shifts into qualification mode for the NCAA Championships by taking part in the Razorback Invitational this weekend on the same track that will be used at nationals.
The Cardinal will pay special attention to its signature indoor event – the distance medley relay. The Stanford men are the defending NCAA champions and the Cardinal women were second last season. In all, they have combined for five NCAA DMR titles (four for the men, one for the women) and 18 top-five finishes.
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Meet Information:
What: Razorback Invitational
Where: Fayetteville, Ark.
When: Friday, 9 a.m. PT (11 a.m. CT); Saturday, 9 a.m. PT (11 a.m. CT)
Site: Randal Tyson Track Center
Surface: 200-meter banked Mondo track
Stanford in USTFCCCA rankings:
Men: No. 7
Women: No. 10
Follow the action:
Live results: Click here
TV (SEC Network Plus):
Friday, 3 p.m. PT: Click here
Saturday, 10 a.m. PT: Click here
Stanford's Twitter: @stanXCTF
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Stanford Schedule (all times Pacific)
Friday
3:20 p.m.: Women’s 60 hurdles prelims (Amber Lewis)
3:40 p.m.: Women’s 60 prelims (Marisa Kwiatkowski)
5 p.m.: Women’s 200 (Michaela Crunkleton Wilson)
5 p.m.: Men’s pole vault (Dalton Duvio, Dan Emery, Garrett Starkey)
5 p.m.: Women’s long jump (Carla Forbes)
5 p.m.: Men’s long jump (Jaak Uudmae, Dartis Willis II)
5:30 p.m.: Men’s high jump (Dartis Willis II)
6 p.m.: Women’s distance medley relay (pool: Olivia Baker, Maddy Berkson, Elise Cranny, Michaela Crunkleton Wilson, Anna Laman, Amber Lewis, Molly McNamara, Claudia Saunders, Jessica Tonn, Malika Waschmann, Kristyn Williams)
6:15 p.m.: Men’s distance medley relay (pool: Marco Bertolotti, Scott Buttinger, Tom Coyle, Tai Dinger, Colin Dolese, Luke Lefebure, Sean McGorty, Jackson Shumway)
Saturday
10:40 a.m.: Women’s 400 (Gaby Gayles)
11 a.m.: Women’s shot put (Rebecca Hammar)
11:10 a.m.: Men’s 400 (Colin Dolese)
11:40 a.m.: Women’s 60 hurdles semifinals (Amber Lewis)
Noon: Women’s 60 semifinals (Marisa Kwiatkowski)
Noon: Women’s triple jump (Carla Forbes, Marisa Kwiatkowski)
Noon: Men’s triple jump (Darian Brooks)
12:10 p.m.: Women’s 800 (Malika Waschmann)
12:30 p.m.: Women's mile (Molly McNamara)
12:40 p.m.: Men’s mile (Tai Dinger, Will Drinkwater)
12:50 p.m.: Women’s 60 hurdles final (Amber Lewis)
12:56 p.m.: Women’s 60 final (Marisa Kwiatkowski)
1:05 p.m.: Women’s 3,000 invitational (Vanessa Fraser, Claire Howlett, Abbie McNulty, Jessica Tonn)
1:20 p.m.: Men’s 3,000 invitational (Jack Keelan, Sean McGorty, Erik Olson, Garrett Sweatt, Sam Wharton)
1:35 p.m.: Women’s 800 invitational (Anna Laman, Claudia Saunders)
1:40 p.m.: Men’s 800 invitational (Luke Lefebure)
1:50 p.m.: Women’s mile invitational (Maddy Berkson)
2 p.m.: Men’s mile invitational (Marco Bertolotti, Tom Coyle)
2:15 p.m.: Women’s 4x400 relay (pool: Olivia Baker, Michaela Crunkleton Wilson, Gaby Gayles, Amber Lewis, Claudia Saunders, Kristyn Williams)
2:30 p.m.: Men’s 4x400 relay (pool: Marco Bertolotti, Scott Buttinger, Colin Dolese, Will Drinkwater, Luke Lefebure, Jackson Shumway)
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Men’s Notes: Stanford’s season-opening performance (Jan. 17, UW Indoor Preview in Seattle) was spectacular in many ways. Sean McGorty, a freshman in eligibility, ran a sub-four mile in his first collegiate track race (3:59.34), and Garrett Starkey set a personal record in the pole vault of 17-2 ¾ in his first meet in two years. Both athletes will be competing this weekend, Starkey on Friday and McGorty in the invitational 3,000 on Saturday. The Cardinal will send four members of its NCAA runner-up cross country team into the 3,000 (McGorty, Jack Keelan, Garrett Sweatt, and Sam Wharton), plus 2014 first-team indoor 3K All-America Erik Olson.
This will be the first opportunity for Stanford to run the indoor DMR since its NCAA victory. The Cardinal should run two of those members, leadoff Marco Bertolotti, and 2014 NCAA outdoor 800 finalist Luke Lefebure. McGorty could anchor and Jackson Shumway, a junior intermediate hurdler, is likely to run the 400 leg. This will be the first opportunity for Stanford to make an attempt at an NCAA qualifier.
Also, look for Darian Brooks, Stanford's outdoor record holder and the defending Pac-12 triple jump champion, to have a big day against strong competition Saturday.
Women’s Notes: NCAA outdoor 800 runner-up Claudia Saunders will make her season debut. She is scheduled to run the DMR on Friday, and the invitational 800 and 4x400 on Saturday. Stanford has an intriguing DMR lineup that could include Saunders and quartermiler Kristyn Williams off its 2014 NCAA runner-up team, as well as the possibility of a combination among these freshmen: Olivia Baker, Elise Cranny and Anna Laman. Baker had a memorable collegiate debut with her wire-to-wire victory in the 600 at the UW Preview, holding off middle-distance star Mary Cain in the process. Cranny and Laman were finalist at the IAAF World Junior Championships in the 1,500 last summer, with Cranny going on to finish as the Pac-12 cross country runner-up and was the highest freshman finisher at the NCAA cross country championships.
The 4x400 will be worth watching as well, again with Baker – a member of the gold medal-winning U.S. 4x400 team at world juniors – as well as Williams and Saunders. Williams is Stanford’s 400 indoor record holder.
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Stanford athletes ranked in NCAA Division I top 25:
Men
Mile: 2, Sean McGorty, 3:59.34; 11, Erik Olson, 4:02.83.
Pole vault: 22, Garrett Starkey, 17-2 ¾.
Women
Mile: 3, Jessica Tonn, 4:38.80.
3,000: 8, Vanessa Fraser, 9:24.87.
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How to qualify for nationals: There are no specific qualifying standards for the NCAA Indoor Championships, which will be held on the same track March 13-14. Rather, the individuals who register the top 16 marks in each event during a window from Dec. 1-March 2, will advance. Because not all tracks are the same size, all marks will be converted to a formula that is based on making it equal to the Randal Tyson Center’s 200-meter banked track. After those conversions are determined, the final 16 will advance.
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Upcoming schedule: Stanford will split its squad for two meets on Feb. 13-14: the Husky Invitational in Seattle and the Don Kirby Elite Invitational in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Those will be the final meets before the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championships in Seattle on Feb. 27-28, in what will be Stanford’s final chance to earn NCAA qualifying marks.