AUSTIN, Texas -- Grant Fisher used a strong finishing kick to outrun the field in the 5,000 meters on the final day of the NCAA West Prelims on Saturday and earned the right to join seven Stanford teammates at the NCAA Championships.
Five Stanford athletes qualified for the national meet June 7-10 at University of Oregon's Hayward Field: Christina Aragon and Rebecca Mehra in the women's 1,500, Fiona O'Keeffe in the women's 5,000, Lena Giger, who had a huge lifetime best to advance in the women's shot put, and Fisher. They joined Olivia Baker (women's 800) and javelin throwers Mackenzie Little and Jenna Gray, who had qualified earlier.
Fisher won his 5,000 section in the same manner he won the 1,500 at the Pac-12 Championships, by absorbing a slow pace and then leaving the field behind with a strong finishing kick, running 14:12.79. Fisher was sixth in the NCAA 5,000 as a freshman last year. This year, he is undefeated, with victories in the 1,500 in the Big Meet dual against Cal, and in the 5,000 at the Cardinal Classic, in addition to Pac-12 and NCAA regional victories.
All of Stanford's NCAA qualifiers but Mehra, who already has earned her master's in communication, will return next season. Of the seven who will return, five are underclassmen and three -- Aragon, Gray, and O'Keeffe -- are freshmen.
Aragon and Mehra each qualified on place in the 1,500, a race that included five Cardinal in the final round, including Malika Waschmann, Maddy Berkson, and Elise Cranny. With the top five in each of two heats advancing automatically, Aragon was third in Heat 1 in 4:21.76 and Mehra fifth in 4:29.07. Waschmann had the eighth-fastest time overall (4:21.76), but she placed eighth in her heat and was the top non-qualifier, missing out by 0.09 of a second.
O'Keeffe, the No. 1 runner on Stanford's fifth-place team at the NCAA Cross Country Championships last fall, won Heat 1 of the 5,000 in 16:40.83, and is in position, as is Aragon, to earn All-America honors as freshmen in both cross country and outdoor track.
Giger, a junior, got off a throw of 55-9 ¼ (17.00) to place sixth and earn her first NCAA berth. The throw was on her first of three attempts and continued a strong season that included her previous personal best of 55-1 3/4 (16.80m) at the Big Meet. Giger also strengthened her hold on third on Stanford's all-time outdoor performers' list, trailing only Olympians Jillian Camarena and Carol Cady.
In the women's 4x400 relay, Stanford ran 3:37.29 to place 16th overall, just four spots from qualifying position. The team was comprised of Missy Mongiovi, Olivia Baker, Sarah Walker, and Michaela Crunkleton Wilson.
