BERKELEY, Calif. – On numerous occasions over the past 123 years, the annual Big Meet track and field dual between Stanford and Cal comes down to the final events, and that makes this team-oriented meet so unique.
There is nothing in the sport like having both teams on the track cheering on their teammates during the final three legs of the final event, the 4c400-meter relay. Victories feel even bigger, and losses seem even drearier. This meet, after all, isn't about marks, it's about points.
Last year, the Stanford women won their third consecutive Big Meet, as Olivia Baker won the 100 and 200 and rallied Stanford to victory in the 4x400 relay by chasing down Cal's anchor.
The men's meet was clinched by Cal on the penultimate event, the discus, negating twin victories by Stanford's Isaiah Brandt-Sims in the sprints and Jaak Uudmae in the horizontal jumps. In 2016, in their previous meeting in Berkeley, Stanford swept the men's and women's competitions.
Saturday's renewal takes place at Edwards Stadium. Since 1997, Stanford holds an 11-10 lead in the series, while the Cardinal women are on an 18-3 run.
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Meet Information:
Big Meet
When: Saturday
What: 124th dual meet between Stanford and California
Where: Edwards Stadium, Berkeley
Events begin: Field, 10 a.m.; Running, 1 p.m.
Meet schedule: Click here.
Follow the action:
Live results: Click here.
Heat sheets: Click here.
All-Time Series Records:
Men: California leads 70-51-2
Women: Stanford leads 26-12
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Javelin streak: Stanford's longest winning streak in any event is in the women's javelin. Stanford throwers have won the past 15 years, beginning with Erin Merriman in 2003 and 2004. Danielle Maier won four times (2005-08) and Brianna Bain was a three-time winner (2012-14) and holds the school and meet record of 183-10. Victoria Smith extended the streak to 13 in 2015 and Mackenzie Little made it 14 and 15 on her way to winning Pac-12 championships both seasons. Little is a junior.
4x400 relays: Stanford had swept the men's and women's 4x400s each year since 2011 until Cal took the men's race last year. Still, Stanford has won 13 of the past 14 races. The Stanford women, however, have won the past seven. Missy Mongiovi, Michaela Crunkleton Wilson and Baker are back from that foursome.
In 2016, in the rain in Berkeley, the Stanford men needed to win the relay to win the meet and they did with a team that included current Cardinal Harrison Williams, Isaiah Brandt-Sims, and Daniel Brady.
Stanford notes: All-America decathlete Harrison Williams pole vaults for the first time since the 2017 Longhorn Invitational, nearly a year ago. The pole vault is among his best events … Grant Fisher, the reigning NCAA outdoor 5,000 champ, makes his season outdoor debut, in the 1,500. He is the defending Pac-12 champ in that event … Steven Fahy, who earned his first two All-America honors this academic year, in cross country and in the indoor 5,000, returns to his main event, the 3,000 steeplechase … Elise Cranny and Christina Aragon, each a first-team All-America in the 1,500, will race in that event. Also of note, freshman Jessica Lawson will run for Stanford this season after all. The coaching staff considered redshirting her. Lawson had a dominating performance in winning her 1,500 section of the Stanford Invitational while competing unattached last week … Also making a Stanford outdoor track debut is freshman Brandon McGorty, who races in the 800. There is the possibility of another McGorty-McGorty partnership this season, with brother Sean, a fifth-year senior. They ran on Stanford's fourth-place distance medley relay team at the NCAA Indoor Championships last month. Perhaps they could race together again in the Penn Relays DMR … Aragon, Baker, and Cranny will run in a star-studded 800. This is the first time that the Stanford trio of middle-distance first-team All-Americans have been in the same race … Sean McGorty, the current Pac-12 Men's Track Athlete of the Week and owner of the No. 4 time in the nation in the 1,500, is scheduled to run the 3,000 … Bethan Knights, Cal's All-America distance runner who had a memorable duel with Stanford's Vanessa Fraser in the Big Meet 3,000 two years ago, is not scheduled to compete … Discus thrower Valarie Allman and shot putter Lena Giger, each No. 2 in the nation in their events, compete in their specialties and together in the hammer throw.
