Photo of long jumper Marisa Kwiatkowski by John Todd/ISIphotos.com
STANFORD, Calif. – Come June, it's possible that Stanford could have three women's javelin throwers in the NCAA field. Mackenzie Little and Victoria Smith have been there before. Jenna Gray had never thrown in a collegiate meet, but on Friday, showed that she could make it as well.
Little, the reigning Pac-12 champion, won the Stanford Invitational with a throw of 182-5 (55.60 meters), only 1'5" off Brianna Bain's school record. Smith, a second-team All-America in 2015, was sixth with her best throw in two years, of 149-0 (45.41m). And Gray, playing in her third sport at Stanford, was fourth at 159-10 (48.73m), a throw that likely will get her into the NCAA West Prelims.
Gray started at setter for the NCAA champion Cardinal volleyball team last fall and is on the No. 1 team for Stanford beach volleyball this spring. The 2016 Kansas 5A state high school record-holder joined the track team about three weeks ago and had only two practices before spending her spring break this past week prepping for the 42nd running of the meet, at Cobb Track and Angell Field.
"There's been a lot of coordination," Gray said. "All my coaches have been understanding."
Gray's beach tournaments will take precedence, but she said she will throw at the Big Meet next week against Cal and at the Pac-12 Championships. In the meantime, she's taking a simple approach. She used a short approach of seven steps on her first three throws and nine for her last three, though her first throws were her best.
"We're working on stretching out the approach, so I can get some momentum," said Gray, who jumped into the Stanford's all-time list at No. 6.
Little feels fresh after growing fatigued at the end of a long freshman season, which culminated with a 17th place finish at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials.
"I'm just really happy that it's building slowly and I really feel there are big throws out there," Little said. "I can definitely do it. I just need to put a couple of technical things together and it's going to be really good."
Little, and the entire throws crew, seem to be thriving under coach Zeb Sion, who has fostered a light, positive atmosphere, and the team seems closer than ever.
"He realizes that everyone isn't the same mold of thrower and he really tailors what he says to each person," Little said. "The atmosphere at training is wonderful. I'm so motivated to be here. I'm not worried about the season being too long. I really want to be at every competition and I know I can get better in every single one. I'm really optimistic."
Smith, too, is pleased with her progress.
"This season we changed a lot of things in regards to my approach and my throw," she said. "It's starting to come together. It was good to see some payoff. We just need to keep doing what we've been doing in practice, because it's clearly working."
They weren't the only Stanford throwers to excel. Lena Giger won the women's shot put with a personal outdoor best of 54-2 (16.51m). She moves up one spot to No. 4 at Stanford all-time, passing Melissa Yunghans, who threw 53-10 ¼ (16.41m) in 2008.
"She had a throw in warmups today that was even farther than her best mark today," Sion said. "It's just a matter of relaxing and executing. Her feel for the event is growing weekly. It's really about her feel and confidence."
In the men's javelin, Trevor Danielson, the junior competing for the first time in three years, had his second personal record in as many meets this season, this time with a fourth-place throw of 218-0 (66.44m), placing him at No. 5 in Stanford history. Teammate Charles Kerr was just behind with a best of 212-4 (64.72m), placing at No. 7 at Stanford all-time.
Stanford's Olivia Baker ran her first outdoor 400 since winning the Pac-12 title last spring and ran a strong 53.28 to win, with teammate Missy Mongiovi third in 54.98
The meet continues Saturday, with events beginning at 9 a.m.
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Stanford Invitational
Friday's results
Men
100 final – 1, Alex Donigian (SoCal TC) 10.56.
100 prelims -- Ht. 1: 6 (16), Jackson Shumway (unattached) 11.04. Ht. 2: 2 (13), Isaiah Brandt-Sims (Stanford) 10.98. Ht. 3: 5 (11), Terrence Alexander (Stanford) 10.95.
400 – 1, Quincy Hall (Sequoias) 45.32 (meet record) 45.32; 2, Jackson Shumway (unattached) 46.36; 12, Frank Kurtz (Stanford) 48.30; 17, Isaac Westlund (Stanford) 49.31; 20, Lucas Ege (Stanford) 49.38.
1,500 – 1, Kasey Knevelbaard (Southern Utah) 3:41.76. Sec. 2: 10, Tai Dinger (Stanford) 3:46.49. Sec. 4: 2, Patrick Perrier (Stanford) 3:50.10. Sec. 5: 2, Ryan Silva (Stanford) 3:51.68; 5, Brian Smith (Stanford) 3:54.01; 7, Garrett Sweatt (Stanford) 3:55.87.
5,000 – 1, David Elliott (unattached) 13:36.68; 4, Collin Leibold (Strava TC/Brooks) 13:39.60. Sec. 3: 11, Alek Parsons (unattached) 14:10.33; 15, Patrick Gibson (Stanford) 14:14.04.
10,000 -- 1, Abbabiya Simbassa (American Distance) 28:03.83, fastest time in the world this year. Sec. 2: 1, Edward Cheserek (Oregon) 28:46.48; 24, Blair Hurlock (Stanford) 29:50.21.
110 hurdles prelims -- Ht. 1: 3 (10), Julian Body (Stanford) 14.87.
400 hurdles – 1, Fernando Martinez (Boise State) 52.17; 11, Colin Dolese (Stanford) 54.03; 16, Julian Body (Stanford) 54.53.
3,000 steeplechase – 1, Michael Jordan (American Distance) 8:33.31.
Long jump – 1, Jacob Fincham-Dukes (Oklahoma State) 25-1 ¼ (7.65m).
High jump – 1, Justice Summerset (Arizona) 7-1 (2.16m); 7, Trevor Rex (Stanford) 6-5 (1.96m).
Javelin – 1, Matti Mortimore (North Dakota State) 254-2 (77.47m); 3, Nick Howe (unattached) 219-5 (66.87m); 4, Trevor Danielson (Stanford) 218-0 (66.44m); 5, Charles Kerr (Stanford) 212-4 (64.72m).
Women
100 final (w: 2.6) – 1, Destiny Smith-Barnett (UNLV) 11.22w; 6, Michaela Crunkleton Wilson (Stanford) 11.86w.
100 prelims -- Ht. 4: 2 (6), Michaela Crunkleton Wilson (Stanford) 12.00.
400 – 1, Olivia Baker (Stanford) 53.28; 3, Missy Mongiovi (Stanford) 54.98.
1,500 – 1, Annemarie Schwanz (Fresno State) 4:13.82. Sec. 2: 3, Malika Waschmann (Stanford) 4:17.46. Sec. 3: 4, Fiona O'Keeffe (Stanford) 4:22.61; 5, Danielle Katz (Stanford) 4:22.78; 9, Maddy Berkson (Stanford) 4:26.52. Sec. 5: 2, Sophie Chase (Stanford) 4:24.91.
5,000 – 1, Amy-Eloise Neale (Washington) 15:39.30; 2, Karissa Schweizer (Missouri) 15:39.75. Sec. 3: 19, Julia Maxwell (Stanford) 16:39.95.
10,000 – 1, Anna Rohrer (Notre Dame) 31:58.99, No. 7 time in collegiate history; 2, Stephanie Bruce (NAZ Elite) 31:59.88. Sec. 2: 18, Abbie McNulty (Stanford) 34:33.98.
100 hurdles prelims -- Ht. 1: 4 (18), Hannah Labrie-Smith (Stanford) 15.06; 5 (19), Amber Lewis (Stanford) 15.08.
400 hurdles – 1, Morgan Milbrath (North Dakota State) 1:00.90; 12, Hannah Labrie-Smith (Stanford) 1:03.03; 13, Amber Lewis (Stanford) 1:03.04.
3,000 steeplechase – 1, Allie Ostrander (Boise State) 9:55.61.
Long jump – 1, Ayana Gales (UNLV) 20-8 (6.30m); 4, Daryth Gayles (Stanford) 19-11 (6.07m). Collegiate: 3, Marisa Kwiatkowski (Stanford) 18-7 ¼ (5.67m).
High jump – 1, Elizabeth Patterson (Santa Cruz TC) 6-2 ¾ (1.90m); 8, Rachel Reichenbach (Stanford) 5-5 (1.65m).
Pole vault – 1, Lauren Martinez (Cal) 13-3 (4.04m); 5, Erika Malaspina (Stanford) 12-5 ½ (3.80m); 9, Nicole Summersett (Stanford) 11-11 ¾ (3.65m).
Shot put – 1, Lena Giger (Stanford) 54-2 (16.51m).
Javelin – 1, Mackenzie Little (Stanford) 182-5 (55.60m); 4, Jenna Gray (Stanford) 159-10 (48.73m), No. 6 AT; 6, Victoria Smith (Stanford) 149-0 (45.41m).
Hammer – 1, Valarie Allman (unattached) 199-6 (60.82m).
AT = rank on Stanford's all-time performers' list.