STANFORD, Calif. – More than 3,300 athletes -- open competitors, entrants from 109 four-year colleges, plus community colleges and high schools -- will converge on Cobb Track and Angell Field on Friday and Saturday for the 40th Stanford Track and Field Invitational.
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Meet information:
When: Friday and Saturday
What: Stanford Invitational
Where: Cobb Track and Angell Field
Events begin:
Friday: Field, 9 a.m.; Running, 10:42 a.m.
Saturday: Field, 9 a.m.; Running, 9:52 a.m.
Follow the action:
Entries/Live results: Click here
Event schedule: Click here
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Stanford Twitter: @stanfordXCTF
Tickets: For adults, tickets are $15 for both days or $10 each day. For youths, seniors, and staff, tickets are $5 each day. The ticket booth outside the entrance to the track stadium opens at 8:30 a.m. on Friday and 8 a.m. on Saturday.
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Stanford's perspective:
Though the Cardinal has had participants in three meets so far, the Stanford Invitational marks the true opening of the outdoor season for the Cardinal. Stanford is resting most of its athletes who competed in the NCAA indoor championships three weeks ago (or ran in the World Cross Country Championships last week, as in the case of Maksim Korolev), but still have 12 All-Americans scheduled to compete. Three of them are first-team outdoor All-Americans – Brianna Bain in the women’s javelin, Luke Lefebure in the men’s 1,500 meters and Claudia Saunders in the women’s 1,500.
Saunders, the NCAA outdoor 800 runner-up last season, and freshman Olivia Baker ran the second and third legs of Stanford’s distance medley relay team that set a school record and finished second at the NCAA indoors on March 13. Lefebure ran the 800 leg of Stanford’s NCAA indoor champion men’s DMR team in 2014.
Baker is among several freshmen or sophomores in their first season eligibility who are making their home debut in a Stanford uniform. Baker, who runs the 400 on Friday (4:12 p.m.), is among Stanford’s most intriguing recruits. This is her first collegiate 400, indoors or outdoors in an event in which she placed third in the IAAF World Junior Championships last summer, and won gold on the 4x400 in the same meet. She also is the New Jersey high school record-holder at that distance with a best of 52.46. Baker takes on teammate Kristyn Williams, Stanford’s indoor 400 record-holder at 53.35.
Also to be unveiled for Stanford is freshman Isaiah Brandt-Sims, a two-sport athlete who redshirted as a receiver in football last fall. Brandt-Sims, who will run the 200 on Saturday, became the first in history to win the Washington state high school 100 and 200 titles all four years in the state's highest classification (4A). One other true freshman makes his first-ever Stanford appearance – Canadian intermediate hurdler Daniel Brady.
Valarie Allman, the 2014 world junior runner-up, looks to take the next step in the discus. Her freshman season also included a U.S. junior title and a Stanford frosh record of 188-6. Now a sophomore, she competes in the discus and hammer throw.
Though Lena Giger’s already the Stanford freshman record-holder in the hammer, she will attempt to climb even higher on the Stanford top-10 list as she makes her home debut. After two meets, Giger is No. 6 in the hammer (188-3) and No. 8 in the shot put (50-3 ¼).
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Stanford schedule and athletes:
Friday
10 a.m.: Men’s hammer collegiate (Tristen Newman)
11 a.m.: Women’s javelin invite (Brianna Bain*, Victoria Smith)
11 a.m.: Women’s shot put invitational (Lena Giger, Rebecca Hammar)
11:27 a.m.: Women’s 100 hurdles prelims (Amber Lewis)
11:30 a.m.: Men’s long jump collegiate (Charles Kerr, Jaak Uudmae)
11:30 a.m.: Women’s long jump collegiate (Daryth Gayles, Marisa Kwiatkowski)
12:42 p.m.: Women’s 1,500 (Sec. 5: Danielle Katz, Malika Waschmann; Sec. 6: Sophie Chase; Sec. 8: Julia Maxwell)
1:10 p.m.: Men’s 1,500, Sec. 5 (Luke Lefebure*); Sec. 6 (Will Drinkwater, Ryan Silva)
1:30 p.m.: Men’s javelin invite (Andrew Rondema)
2:30 p.m.: Men’s pole vault invite (Dalton Duvio, Dylan Duvio*, Garrett Starkey)
2:45 p.m.: Men’s long jump invite (Dartis Willis II*)
3 p.m.: Men’s 400 hurdles (Daniel Brady, Jackson Shumway*)
3 p.m.: Women’s hammer invite (Lena Giger)
4 p.m.: Men’s discus invite (Nick Budincich)
4:12 p.m.: Women’s 400 (Olivia Baker*, Kristyn Williams*)
6:31 p.m.: Women’s 1,500 invite, Sec. 3 (Maddy Berkson, Anna Laman, Molly McNamara, Rebecca Mehra*)
6:38 p.m.: Women’s 1,500 invite, Sec. 2 (Claudia Saunders*)
6:52 p.m.: Men’s 1,500, Sec. 3 (Scott Buttinger)
6:58 p.m.: Men’s 1,500, Sec. 2 (Justin Brinkley, Jack Keelan)
7:33 p.m.: Women’s 5,000, Sec. 2 (Vanessa Fraser, Molly McNamara)
7:53 p.m.: Men’s 5,000, Sec. 3 (Thomas Coyle*, Patrick Gibson; unattached: Steven Fahy, Blair Hurlock)
10:51 p.m.: Men’s 10,000, Sec. 2 (Garrett Sweatt, Sam Wharton*)
Saturday
10 a.m.: Women’s hammer collegiate (Valarie Allman*)
1:30 p.m.: Men’s pole vault collegiate (Dan Emery)
2:11 p.m.: Women’s 800, Sec. 3 (Maddy Berkson, Anna Laman)
2:38 p.m.: Men’s 800 (Sec. 4: Justin Brinkley, Scott Buttinger; Sec. 6: Will Drinkwater; Sec. 7: Ryan Silva)
3 p.m.: Women’s discus invite (Valarie Allman*, Rebecca Hammar)
3 p.m.: Men’s shot put collegiate (Tristen Newman)
3:02 p.m.: Women’s 200 (Michaela Crunkleton Wilson)
3:23 p.m.: Men’s 200 (Isaiah Brandt-Sims, Frank Kurtz)
4 p.m.: Women’s triple jump invite (Marisa Kwiatkowski)
4:30 p.m.: Women’s pole vault collegiate (Taylore Jaques)
5 p.m.: Women’s 4x400 relay (Stanford)
5:16 p.m.: Men’s 4x400 relay (Stanford)
* All-Americans
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Featured Athletes and events:
Men:
The 200 will feature a rematch of a memorable duel from 2014. The NCAA outdoor 400 final came down to a battle between Deon Lendore of Texas A&M and Oregon’s Michael Berry. Lendore won 45.02 to 45.07. They race again, this time at half the distance.
Oregon’s Edward Cheserek, the most dominant distance runner in collegiate track, races in the 10,000. Cheserek has won two NCAA cross country titles and is noted for his deadly kick. Cheserek, a sophomore, is the defending NCAA champ at this distance.
UTEP’s Anthony Rotich won the 2014 NCAA steeplechase and indoor mile championships. However, at Stanford, he found himself in a duel with Billy Nelson for the Payton Jordan Invitational steeplechase victory, only to fall just short. This time, Rotich runs the 5,000 against the likes of steeplechase veteran Ben Bruce and 10,000 U.S. ranker Sean Quigley.
The 1,500 features one of the feel-good track stories of 2014 in Eric Avila. After dropping out of college, Avila was working a manual labor job before resurfacing at Southern Oregon and running his first sub-4:00, at 3:56.89, at the Jim Ryun Festival of Miles last June. Sam Penzenstadler, the 2014 NCAA outdoor third-place finisher from Loyola-Chicago, races as well.
In the steeplechase, former Indiana walk-on Andy Bayer, now with the Bowerman TC, leads the way with a No. 7 U.S. ranking. He was fourth in the 2012 Olympic trials in the 1,500 and the 12-time All-America will be looking for Olympic passage in 2016.
In the hammer, the second- and third-place finishers at 2014 NCAA’s faceoff. Great Britain’s Nick Miller, formerly of Oklahoma State, and third-place Michael Lihrman of Wisconsin, renew their rivalry. In the men’s pole vault, Chase Wolfle of Texas A&M was fifth at NCAA outdoors last year and finished with a No. 8 U.S. ranking.
U.S. championships runner-up Riley Dolezal heads the competition in the javelin. NCAA outdoor runner-up Stephen Mozia of Cornell heads the shot put field.
Women:
Texas A&M, the 2014 NCAA outdoor women's team champion and men’s runner-up, brings both its teams. Among the Aggies stars is Shamier Little, who won the NCAA title last year in the 400 hurdles, along with capturing her second U.S. junior title, and a world junior championship. Little set her Aggie record of 55.07 while winning the NCAA outdoor crown.
Texas A&M set meet records in both women’s relays last year. The Aggies went on to win the NCAA 4x100 and were second in the 4x400. They’ll be the team to watch once again.
In the 800, Santa Cruz-area native Maggie Vessey returns after nearly breaking the meet record a year ago. Of course with Vessey, her style and racing fashion cause just as much fanfare as her ability. Vessey, coached by former Stanford All-America Greg Brock, ended 2014 ranked No. 8 in the Track & Field News’ U.S. rankings.
Former Villanova star Emily Lipari, who terrorized Stanford with a pair of come-from-behind relay victories on the anchor at the Penn Relays last year, is among the contenders in the 1,500.
Last year, Emma Bates of Boise State (10,000) and Marielle Hall of Texas (5,000) won the long races at the NCAA outdoors. On Friday, they race each other in the 10,000. Hall, now running for Nike, is looking for a Stanford Invitational repeat following her 5,000 victory last year. Morgan Uceny, one of the top U.S. middle-distance runners of recent years, and Gabriele Gruneweld, the U.S. indoor 3,000 champ in 2014, are among the favorites.
Also in the 10,000 is American-record holder and 2008 Olympic bronze medalist Shalane Flanagan (30:22.22), who has made running at Stanford a regular part of her preparation for international competition. Flanagan set the Stanford Invitational 10,000 record of 31:04.85 in 2013 and also holds the Payton Jordan meet record. She’ll race against reigning NCAA cross country champion Kate Avery of Iona and Dominique Scott, who helped Arkansas to the NCAA indoor track title three weeks ago with her victories in the 3,000 and the distance medley relay, with a come-from-behind anchor leg.
On the topic of Razorbacks, pole vaulter Sandi Morris was the U.S. outdoor runner-up and NCAA fourth-place finisher on the way to a No. 3 U.S. ranking in 2014. She joins Arkansas teammate Ariel Voskamp (fifth in 2014 NCAA outdoors) as top contenders in this meet.
Defending NCAA outdoor champion Shelbi Vaughan of Texas A&M won the Texas Relays last week with a national-leading throw of 201-8. She was third at the 2014 U.S. championships and received a No. 2 U.S. ranking.
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Meet history:
The Stanford Invitational has been held continuously since 1985, but has its roots as far back as 1975 when Stanford first began holding a large late-March meet, with the Stanford Relays.
Coach Brooks Johnson transformed it into the high-profile Martin Luther King Games from 1980-83 at Stanford Stadium. There was no meet in 1984, but it started up the following year and has taken different forms, such as the Stanford Track and Field Festival and the Diet Pepsi Track Challenge. It has been called the Stanford Invitational since 1995.
This is one of two major meets Stanford hosts each year, including the Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational, which will be held May 2 at Cobb Track and Angell Field.
The meet is in its 40th year, and 31st consecutive season. Here is how the Stanford Invitational evolved:
1975-76 Stanford Relays
1977-79 Stanford Invitational Relays
1980-83 Martin Luther King Games
1985-86 Stanford Invitational
1987-90 Holiday Inn/Stanford Track Festival
1991 Diet Pepsi Track Challenge
1992-94 Stanford Track and Field Festival
1995-2015 Stanford Invitational