GWANGJU, South Korea – Stanford’s Valarie Allman placed fifth in the women’s discus at the World University Games on Thursday, completing a sophomore season in which she earned first-team All-America honors.
Allman threw 182-8 (55.68 meters) to finish as the top American. Russia’s Yuliya Maltseva, who has a season best of 208-3, won the competition at 194-9.
The trip was Allman’s first overseas and was a just reward for a strong season. Allman won the Pac-12 title, was fifth at the NCAA Championships, and 10th at the U.S. Championships. She was the first Stanford woman to win a Pac-10/Pac-12 championship, and finished higher at NCAA’s than any Stanford woman in that event since 1986.
She was one of only two underclass field-event athletes to place among the top five at NCAA’s and top 10 at USA’s. Only five female freshmen or sophomores overall accomplished the feat. It was her first top-10 U.S. finish in three tries, beginning as a high school senior in Longmont, Colorado.
Allman stands No. 3 on Stanford’s all-time performers’ list, with a best of 188-7, which she threw when winning the Big Meet this year.
The Universiade, as the WUG is known, marked the next-to-last competition for Stanford track and field in 2015. The season completes at the Pan Am Junior Championships in Edmonton on July 31-Aug. 2. That meet serves as the 19-and-under championship of the Americas and is held every two years.
Stanford athletes competing at Pan Ams for the United States are Olivia Baker (women’s 4x400), Steven Fahy (men’s 3,000 steeplechase), Lena Giger (women’s hammer), and Harrison Williams (decathlon). Competing for Canada are Daniel Brady (men’s 400 hurdles) and incoming freshman Claire Smith (women’s 3,000).