EDMONTON, Alberta – Daniel Brady earned a top-two finish at the Canadian junior national track and field championships to contribute to Stanford's strong representation at the meet.
Brady was second in the men’s junior 400-meter hurdles, incoming freshman Claire Smith won the women’s junior 3,000, and Victoria Smith was fifth in the senior national women’s javelin.
Brady and Claire Smith both earned spots on Canada’s team for the Pan Am Junior Championships in Edmonton on July 31-Aug. 2. They join Stanford current and future teammates Olivia Baker (women’s 4x400), Steven Fahy (men’s 3,000 steeplechase), Lena Giger (women’s hammer), and Harrison Williams (decathlon) – all members of the United States team – as qualifiers for the 19-and-under meet.
A year ago, Brady finished third at the Canadian juniors, but this time improved his place and nearly won. He ran 52.94 to trail only Matthew Bedard (52.74). Brady’s time was a season best by more than a half second and placed him No. 2 on Stanford’s all-time freshmen list, behind only 2012 NCAA champ Amaechi Morton, who ran 50.11 in 2009.
Brady advanced by winning his Saturday heat in 53.10.
Claire Smith won the 3,000 in 9:49.87, giving the Ottawa native her first national title. She was fifth in the meet last year. The Pan Ams won’t be Smith’s first appearance for the national team. She won a bronze medal for Canada at the 2014 NACAC cross country championships in Trinidad.
On Friday, Victoria Smith threw the javelin 150-8 in her first senior national meet. Smith completed her sophomore collegiate season by finishing 16th at the NCAA Championships last month.
In Saint Denis, France, Claudia Saunders ran 2:02.55 to finish 10th in the women’s 800 at the Meeting Areva at the Stade de France. Saunders, the two-time NCAA runner-up and the Stanford record holder, completed her junior season in a race won by Kenya’s Eunice Jepkoech Sum in a world-leading 1:56.99. The race went out in a scorching 56.33 first lap.
In the same meet, Greece’s Katerina Stefanidi, Stanford’s 2012 NCAA women’s pole vault champion, was 11th at 14-4 ½, a disappointing result for her. She has a season best of 15-5 ½, which ranks No. 8 in the world this year.