EUGENE, Ore. – Stanford brings eight individuals to the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, Wednesday through Saturday at the University of Oregon's Hayward Field.
The Cardinal contingent includes three returning first-team outdoor All-Americans – Olivia Baker in the women's 800 meters, Grant Fisher in the men's 5,000, and Mackenzie Little in the women's javelin. The group also includes three freshmen, all women – Christina Aragon in the 1,500, Jenna Gray in the javelin, and Fiona O'Keeffe in the 5,000.
Therefore, this Stanford squad carries a mix of experience, with four returning outdoor All-Americans, and four first-timers. Seven of Stanford's eight will return next season, and five are underclassmen.
The team's future looks especially bright considering that four first-team track All-Americans – Valarie Allman (women's discus), Dylan Duvio (men's pole vault), Vanessa Fraser (women's 5,000), and Harrison Williams (men's decathlon) -- will be coming off redshirt seasons. Also, two 2016 NCAA outdoor runners-up – Sean McGorty (men's 5,000) and Elise Cranny (women's 1,500) – will be seniors in eligibility.
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Meet Information
NCAA Outdoor Championships
Where: Eugene, Ore.
Site: Hayward Field
When: Wednesday-Saturday
Live Results: Click here.
Women's Start Lists: Click here.
Men's Start Lists: Click here.
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Broadcast Schedule
Wednesday
12:20 p.m.: ESPN3
4:30 p.m.: ESPNU/WatchESPN
5:30 p.m.: ESPN2/WatchESPN
Thursday
10:20 a.m.: ESPN3
4:30 p.m.: ESPN2/WatchESPN
Friday
12:20 p.m.: ESPN3
5:30 p.m.: ESPN/WatchESPN
Saturday
11:20 a.m.: ESPN3
3:30 p.m.: ESPN/WatchESPN
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Stanford Competitors (with ranking among the field according to season-best mark)
Men
Grant Fisher, so.: 5,000 (No. 3, 13:37.77)
Women
Christina Aragon, fr.: 1,500 (No. 13, 4:13.33)
Olivia Baker, jr.: 800 (No. 12, 2:03.45)
Lena Giger, jr.: Shot put (No. 17, 55-9 ¼, 17.00m)
Jenna Gray, fr.: Javelin (No. 20, 160-9, 49.00m)
Mackenzie Little, so.: Javelin (No. 4, 182-5, 55.60m)
Rebecca Mehra, graduate: 1,500 (No. 24, 4:21.14)
Fiona O'Keeffe, fr.: 5,000 (No. 12, 5:56.03)
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Stanford Schedule:
Thursday
4:46 p.m.: Women's 1,500 semifinals (Heat 2: Christina Aragon, Rebecca Mehra). Top five in each of two heats, and next two, advance to final.
5:45 p.m.: Women's javelin final (Flight 1: Jenna Gray; Flight 2: Mackenzie Little)
6:14 p.m.: Women's 800 semifinals (Heat 1: Olivia Baker). Top two in each of three heats, plus next two, advance to final.
6:40 p.m.: Women's shot put final (Flight 2: Lena Giger).
Friday
7:25 p.m.: Men's 5,000 final (Grant Fisher).
Saturday
3:41 p.m.: Women's 1,500 final.
4:44 p.m.: Women's 800 final.
5:25 p.m.: Women's 5,000 final (Fiona O'Keeffe).
* * *Event Notes
Men
5,000: Grant Fisher's time is now, meaning that the era in which the sophomore can start competing for national championships is upon us. Fisher came to Stanford with rare high school credentials – two Foot Locker national cross country championships, a sub-4 mile – and has exceeded expectations. He finished sixth in the NCAA outdoor 5,000 as a freshman, placed fifth in the NCAA cross country championships, and captured a Pac-12 title in the 1,500. This spring, Fisher has shown the ability to run any kind of race, fast (13:37.77), or tactical (51-second final lap to win the Pac-12 1,500, 57-second closer at the Cardinal Classic 5,000). Either way, Fisher has yet to be fully tested, as evidenced by his comfort level upon finishing. He is undefeated at any distance this spring and won his Pac-12 and Cardinal Classic races with a wide smile on his face, despite his devastating final laps. He enters with the No. 3 season-best in the field. Syracuse junior Justyn Knight holds a significant No. 1 from his 13:17.51 at Stanford's Payton Jordan Invitational with Fisher in the stands. With Oregon's Edward Cheserek, the reigning champ, going pro, the opportunity to win is even bigger. Fisher and Knight have raced three times, with Knight holding a 2-1 edge. Both came in NCAA cross country, but Fisher has won their only meeting on the track (sixth place to Knight's 10th) in the 2016 NCAA outdoor 5,000. Stanford, which has a finalist in this event for the ninth consecutive year, will be seeking its first victory since Ryan Hall edged teammate Ian Dobson in 2005 in Sacramento.
Women
800: Stanford has had a top-three finisher the past four years, including runner-up finishes (Claudia Saunders, 2014-15; Olivia Baker, 2016) the past three. Oregon's Raevyn Rogers has dominated NCAA competition the past two years, indoors and outdoors, but Baker is one of the few who can match, and even exceed, Rogers' speed and must not be overlooked. The two know each other well, having roomed together at the NACAC Under-20 Championships in El Salvador last year. With no 4x400 team this year, this is Baker's first chance to focus fully on the 800 at this meet.
1,500: Stanford freshman Christina Aragon races against her sister, Notre Dame senior Danielle Aragon, in Heat 2. This is their first collegiate meeting on the track, and second overall, with Christina winning by nine seconds and 14 places at the NCAA cross country championships. In many ways, this race is characterized by talented freshmen – Aragon, Colorado's Dani Jones, and Oregon's Katie Rainsberger – but Stanford veteran Rebecca Mehra could be a factor as well. Mehra, a fifth-year competitor who already has earned her master's in communication (focus on political communication), is much more dangerous than her 4:21 season-best would indicate. The Pac-12 runner-up in 2016, Mehra was making a move off the final turn at this year's Pac-12 final when she was tripped, costing her a chance at the title in a race she believed she was going to win. After this meet, Mehra will begin a foreign policy job in the State Department, with a focus on counter-terrorism. Aragon has the fastest personal record in the field -- 4:08.71 in earning bronze at the World Under-20 Championships last year -- and the speed and power to contend. Though Stanford has come close, with runner-up Elise Cranny missing victory by 0.004 last year, the Cardinal is seeking its first NCAA title in this event.
5,000: With freshman Fiona O'Keeffe, Stanford has a finalist in this race for the 16th time in 17 years, and the eighth consecutive year. O'Keeffe raced in one 5,000 during the regular season and won the Cardinal Classic by four seconds. The race features two of the biggest names in collegiate running, reigning NCAA cross country champion Karissa Schweizer and Boise State's Allie Ostrander, O'Keeffe is poised for a strong performance. She is one of two true freshmen in the field, along with Arkansas' Taylor Werner.
Shot put: Lena Giger has proven that if she hits a big throw at the right time, she's capable of big things. Giger, a junior, has powered herself into her first NCAA Championships with a series of lifetime bests this year under first-year throws coach Zeb Sion. Giger's 55-9 ¼ (17.00 meters) at the NCAA West Prelims was an improvement of 2 feet, 5 ½ inches (0.75m) over her best going into the season. If Giger can place among the top 11, it will mark Stanford's highest finish since 2004.
Javelin: Sophomore Mackenzie Little and freshman Jenna Gray give Stanford NCAA entrants for the eighth consecutive year. Little is a two-time Pac-12 champion and reached the podium last year with a seventh-place finish. Little, an Australian native with dual U.S./Aussie citizenship, is familiar with top competition. She was the 2013 World Youth champion and competed at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials. Gray is a three-sport athlete who has thrown the javelin on a limited basis this season, with her role on as part of the No. 1 tandem on Stanford's beach volleyball team taking priority. Gray was the starting setter on Stanford's NCAA champion indoor volleyball team in the fall. Little should very much be in the mix for a title. Stanford has never won this event, but has finished second five times, most recently by Brianna Bain in 2012. Little is No. 4 among competitors in season bests and among returning NCAA placers.
