LAWRENCE, Kan. – Stanford's track and field teams begin competition at the three-day NCAA West Preliminary Round on Thursday at University of Kansas.
Of the 48 qualifiers in each individual event, the top 12 placers in each of the nation's two regionals -- the other is in Jacksonville, Fla. -- advance to the NCAA Championships June 8-11 in Eugene, Oregon.
Stanford is sending 42 individuals, plus two relay teams. It's likely that 45 will compete overall. The 42 – 21 men and 21 women – represent Stanford's largest representation since 2011.
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Meet Schedule
Thursday: Field events, 10 a.m. PT; Running events 2:30 p.m. PT
Friday: Field events, 10 a.m. PT; Running events, 3 p.m. PT
Saturday: Field events, 1 p.m. PT; Running events, 4 p.m. PT
Full Schedule: Click here.
Follow the Meet
Meet Central Page: Click here
Live Results: Click here.
Webcast Link: Click here.
Schedule:
Thursday: 2:25-8:20 p.m. PT
Friday: 2:55-8:10 p.m. PT
Saturday: 3:55-7:05 p.m. PT
Heat Sheets:
Men: Click here.
Women: Click here.
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Men's notes: Sean McGorty and Grant Fisher, two of the biggest names on the Stanford men's squad, will be running the 5,000 rather than the 1,500. McGorty, who ran a Stanford record 3:53.95 mile indoors, is the collegiate leader in the 5,000. At Stanford's Payton Jordan Invitational on May 1, McGorty earned the Olympic qualifying standard of 13:25.00, by running 13:24.25. In the second section of that event, the freshman Fisher ran 13:39.42 in his debut at that distance. Fisher gained widespread fame as a high school sub-4 miler, but also has great versatility. The 5,000, in which he has the 12th-fastest time in the country, gives Fisher a race in which he has more control than in the 1,500, which can often be unpredictable. A case in point was at the Pac-12 Championships when Fisher and Oregon star Blake Haney failed to qualify for the final out of their heat. Teammates Jack Keelan and Collin Leibold also are in the 5,000. All four are in the first of the two sections, with the top five in each plus the next two fastest, qualifying to NCAA's.
The men's 4x400-meter relay team set a school record of 3:05.59 at the Michael Johnson Invitational at Baylor earlier this year and went on to win its first conference title in a 4x400 or mile relay since 1954. Now, it has another opportunity to reach the NCAA's in that event for the first time since 2011, with a team of Harrison Williams, Frank Kurtz, Isiah Brandt-Sims, and Jackson Shumway.
Justin Brinkley, a senior who carries a 3.83 GPA as a communication major and religious studies minor, was named Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete for men's track and field. Earlier, he earned the Pac-12 Leadership Award and was granted an NCAA postgraduate scholarship. At the Pac-12 Championships, Brinkley, the 2013 U.S. junior national 1,500 champ, dropped three seconds off his lifetime best to finish fourth in 3:40.31. That got him a No. 4 seed for the Prelims and a chance to advance to the NCAA's as an individual for the first time.
Stanford sophomore Harrison Williams has qualified for the decathlon at the NCAA Championships (he was fourth last year). But he also will compete at the Prelims in the 110 high hurdles. He is the No. 18 seed at 13.88. Though he is a longshot to finish among the top 12 and advance, it is intriguing to consider what he might do at NCAA's. Most likely, he would drop the hurdles. But if he chooses to do both, the high hurdles semifinals begin at 5:32 p.m. on June 8 at the NCAA Championships – in between the high jump and 400 (events 4 and 5) on Day One of the decathlon. He also is competing as the opening leg of Stanford's 4x400 relay.
Women's notes: Freshman Mackenzie Little can extend a Stanford NCAA qualifying streak in the javelin to six years, following Eda Karesin (2011), Brianna Bain (2012-14), and Victoria Smith (2015). Little, the Pac-12 champion, has won four of her five competitions this season. The only exception was a second-place finish to Texas Tech's Hannah Carson at Baylor's Michael Johnson Invitational. Little and Carson are in the third flight together in Lawrence.
Aisling Cuffe is a two-time NCAA 5,000 runner-up, but has racing the clock this season as she seeks to rebound from injuries that have plagued her for the past two years – though she did get enough respite to win her second Pac-12 cross country title. She has raced only twice this outdoor season and only once in the 5,000. Her 16:16.02 on April 22 at the Stanford Twilight meet was enough to get her to Lawrence as the No. 23 seed (she is No. 62 in Division I this year). But Cuffe has a 15:11.13 from 2014 and has Olympic trials aspirations. She appears to be rounding into form, at least enough to get her through to Eugene.
Fifth-year senior Molly McNamara is considered a mentor and inspiration to her teammates, as the founder of Cardinal RHED, a mental-health advocacy group for Stanford student-athletes. Last year, she won Stanford's Donald Kennedy Award for her work on and off the track. This year, McNamara has shattered every lifetime best and enters the Prelims as the No. 4 seed in the 1,500 (4:15.22) and is seeking her first NCAA qualification.
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Stanford Schedule
All times Pacific
Thursday
10 a.m.: Women's javelin -- Flight 3, Mackenzie Little.
2 p.m.: Women's hammer – Flight 2, Valarie Allman.
2:30 p.m.: Men's pole vault – Flight 2, Dylan Duvio, Garrett Starkey.
3 p.m.: Men's 400 hurdles first round – Heat 5, Jackson Shumway.
3:30 p.m.: Women's 1,500 first round – Heat 1, Maddy Berkson, Molly McNamara; Heat 2, Elise Cranny, Rebecca Mehra; Heat 4, Malika Waschmann.
4 p.m.: Men's 1,500 first round – Heat 1, Patrick Perrier; Heat 2, Justin Brinkley, Tom Coyle.
4:45 p.m.: Women's long jump – Flight 3, Daryth Gayles.
5:20 p.m.: Women's 400 first round – Heat 2, Kristyn Williams; Heat 4, Gaby Gayles.
6:10 p.m.: Women's 800 first round – Heat 1, Claudia Saunders; Heat 3, Olivia Baker; Heat 4, Anna Laman.
6:35 p.m.: Men's 800 first round – Heat 1, Tai Dinger.
7:40 p.m.: Men's 10,000 – Garrett Sweatt, Sam Wharton.
Friday
10 a.m.: Women's discus – Flight 3, Valarie Allman.
10 a.m.: Men's javelin – Flight 1, Charles Kerr; Flight 2, Andrew Rondema.
3:30 p.m.: Men's 110 high hurdles first round – Heat 1, Harrison Williams.
4 p.m.: Women's 400 second round.
5 p.m.: Women's 800 second round.
5:15 p.m.: Men's 800 second round.
5:45 p.m.: Men's 400 hurdles second round.
6:50 p.m.: Women's 3,000 steeplechase – Heat 1, Danielle Katz.
7:30 p.m.: Men's 3,000 steeplechase – Heat 3, Steven Fahy.
Saturday
1 p.m.: Men's triple jump – Flight 3, Jaak Uudmae; Flight 4, Darian Brooks.
1:30 p.m.: Women's shot put – Flight 3, Lena Giger.
3:30 p.m.: Men's high jump – Flight 1, Dartis Willis II.
4 p.m.: Men's shot put – Flight 2, Tristen Newman.
4:30 p.m.: Women's triple jump – Flight 2, Marisa Kwiatowski; Flight 3, Carla Forbes.
4:30 p.m.: Women's 1,500 second round.
4:45 p.m.: Men's 1,500 second round.
6:05 p.m.: Women's 5,000 – Heat 1, Aisling Cuffe, Emma Fisher, Vanessa Fraser, Julia Maxwell.
6:45 p.m.: Men's 5,000 – Heat 1, Grant Fisher, Jack Keelan,Collin Liebold, Sean McGorty.
7:25 p.m.: Women's 4,x400 relay – Heat 3, Stanford (TBA).
7:45 p.m.: Men's 4x400 relay – Heat 3, Stanford (TBA).
