STANFORD, Calif. – Stanford won four events Saturday on its home track and leads the Pac-12 scoring after first day of the two-day Pac-12 Track and Field Championships at Cobb Track and Angell Field.
The Cardinal women – with victories from Mackenzie Little in the javelin and Vanessa Fraser in the 10,000 – have 71 points after nine events and hold a 27-point lead over second-place USC.
The Stanford men – with victories from Steven Fahy in the 3,000 steeplechase and Jack Keelan in the 10,000 – have 48 points after six events, with Oregon next at 43.
In the first conference championship meet at home since the Pac-10's in 2007, Stanford's combined men's and women's point total of 119 already has exceeded last year's two-day total of 96. Including Harrison Williams in the decathlon last week, Stanford already has five winners.
Little, a junior, earned her third consecutive Pac-12 javelin title and extended a Cardinal winning streak to seven years in that event.
Little threw 180-1 (54.88 meters) to lead a Stanford 1-2-4 finish, with two-sport All-America Jenna Gray next at 176-2 (53.71m) and freshman Virginia Miller, who has come in as the sixth seed, captured fourth at 162-4 (49.47m). Stanford amassed 22 points in one event.
"It's definitely special," said Little, who fired her best on her first attempt. "It's at Stanford, which is huge. It's so amazing to be able to defend it here, and compete with Virginia and Jenna.
"It's so obvious that the Stanford presence here is better than it's ever been. We've talked about this. Coach (Zeb) Sion has always talked about how the throwers have so much potential to do well and support the team if we're all on our game and competing above and beyond our capabilities."
In the 10,000, Fraser, in her fifth and final year at Stanford, earned her first Pac-12 title in her final race on her home track. And she did it by cracking the meet record by 10 seconds. Fraser ran 33:10.84 to better the mark of 33:20.02 by Washington's Katie Knight in 2016.
Fraser tucked into a pack of three Colorado runners and allowed them to pace her.
"I wasn't sure when I would make a move," Fraser said. "I just tried to stay as relaxed as possible as long as I could. We were ratcheting up the effort enough in the last mile – I felt each lap my effort was increasing, so I wanted to be careful not to go too soon."
She made a hard move with 500 to go, pulling decisively in front of Colorado's Kaitlyn Benner and never faltering.
"I knew it had to be that way," she said. "Switching gears can be hard because you're going from a pretty slow pace comparatively. It feels like a really aggressive hard push. But I had to be confident about it. I honestly had no idea how she was covering the move and I didn't want to look back."
The race showed the confidence of Fraser, that she could hold that move for more than a lap, and her fitness. Over the past month, she has excelled at 1,500, 5,000, and now 10,000. Such versatility is indeed rare.
Fraser broke her personal best by 45 seconds and tucked into the No. 3 spot on Stanford's all-time performers' list, behind only Alicia Craig and Kim Schnurpfeil.
"The time cool," Fraser said. "A meet record is cool. But the best thing to me is my first Pac-12 title is in my last home meet in a Stanford uniform is a really special combination."
Fahy took a different tact in becoming the first Stanford men's steeplechaser to win a conference title since Olympian Ian Dobson won the Pac-10 in 2003. Fahy waited as long as possible and won a duel with Washington's Andrew Gardner down the stretch.
Gardner took the lead from Arizona's Bailey Roth with a lap to go and Fahy went with him. As they ran hard down the backstretch, with Fahy on the outside, it seemed obviously that the race would come down to a breakdown on a barrier jump, and that's what happened.
"The goal was to keep applying pressure to whoever was in the lead," Fahy said. "But to try not to move past him until the last 150 or over the last barrier. It ended up working out in my favor."
Coming off the final barrier of the race, Gardner stumbled, giving Fahy just enough room to exploit on the way to the finish line. Fahy, who ran 8:50.07, gave some insight into the race's decisive moment.
"He was long-stepping some of them down the last lap because we were running pretty fast," Fahy said. "The last barrier, he had about a half-step lead on me and he stutter-stepped. I felt him and he kind of threw me off. So, I landed kind of awkward too, but I think I got a pretty big advantage there."
While Fahy's victory was not surprising, Keelan's was in the 10,000. Keelan, a fifth-year senior, ran a patient and yet courageous race in winning in 29:38.44. Like Fraser, it was his first conference championship in his last home race. And it was a fitting end to win something tangible as a reward for a solid collegiate career.
Keelan covered the final frantic 800 in 2:04.48, and the last 400 in 59.02 seconds for a dramatic comeback victory over UCLA's Robert Brandt and Oregon's Tanner Anderson.
With Fraser and Keelan, Stanford earned its first 10,000 conference sweep since 2008 when Louis Luchini won the men's race and Craig took the women's.
For some reason, more dramatics seem possible on Day Two, and perhaps something special for Stanford on Sunday. It was that kind of day.
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Saturday's results
Pac-12 Championships
At Cobb Track and Angell Field
Winners and all Stanford competitors
Men
Team leaders: 1, Stanford 71; 2, USC 44; 3, UCLA 39.
100 trials (top 9 advance): 1. Cravon Gillespie (Oregon) 10.15; 6. Gabriel Navarro (Stanford) 10.50; 10. Isaiah Brandt-Sims (Stanford) 10.52.
200 trials (top 9 advance): 1, Michael Norman (USC) 20.71; 5, Isaiah Brandt-Sims (Stanford) 21.01; 7, Gabriel Navarro (Stanford) 21.04.
400 trials (top 9 advance): 1, Michael Norman (USC) 46.27; 9. Frank Kurtz (Stanford) 47.33.
800 trials (top-9 advance): 1, Collins Kibet (Arizona) 1:49.48; 5, Hari Sathyamurthy (Stanford) 1:50.91; 8, Christian White (Stanford) 1:50.05; 10, Brian Smith (Stanford) 1:51.70.
1,500 trials (top 12 advance): 1, Sean McGorty (Stanford) 3:46.38; 4, Grant Fisher (Stanford) 3:47.22; 13, Tom Coyle (Stanford) 3:48.87; 16, DJ Principe (Stanford) 3:50.88; 20, Tai Dinger (Stanford) 3:55.79.
3,000 steeplechase final: 1, Steven Fahy (Stanford) 8:50.07.
10,000 final: 1, Jack Keelan (Stanford) 29:38.44; 6, Alek Parsons (Stanford) 29:59.46; 17, Sam Wharton (Stanford) 31:02.25.
400 hurdle trials (top 9 advance): 1, Rai Benjamin (USC) 49.80; 8, Julian Body (Stanford) 52.43; 10, Daniel Brady (Stanford) 52.80; 12, Dion Brandt-Sims (Stanford) 54.15.
Long jump final: 1, Damarcus Simpson (Oregon) 27-4w (8.33m); 8, Jaak Uudmae (Stanford) 23-10 (7.26m).
Shot put final: 1, Jordan Geist (Arizona) 65-9 ¾ (20.06m); 5, Tristen Newman (Stanford) 59-2 ¼ (18.04m).
Javelin final: 1, Simon Litzell (UCLA) 244-3 (74.46m); 2, Trevor Danielson (Stanford) 219-0 (66.75m); 8, Will Kingsfield (Stanford) 197-8 (60.24m).
Women
Team leaders: 1, Stanford 48; 2, Oregon 43; 3, Colorado 33.
100 trials (top 9 advance): 1, Twanisha Terry (USC) 11.14.
200 trials (top 9 advance): 1, Makenzie Dunmore (Oregon) 22.53; 12, Ashlan Best (Stanford) 23.81;
400 trials (top 9 advance): 1, Makenzie Dunmore (Oregon) 50.99; 8, Missy Mongiovi (Stanford) 53.57; 10, Gaby Gayles (Stanford) 53.95; 11, Ashlan Best (Stanford) 54.36; 13, Carolyn Wilson (Stanford) 54.57.
800 trials (top 9 advance): 1, Alethia Marrero (ASU) 2:05.93; 2, Olivia Baker (Stanford) 2:06.09; 8, Julia Heymach (Stanford) 2:08.65.
1,500 trials (top 12 advance): 1, Jessica Hull (Oregon) 4:24.19; 5, Christina Aragon (Stanford) 4:25.03; 8, Jessica Lawson (Stanford) 4:25.93; 11, Maddy Berkson (Stanford) 4:27.64.
3,000 steeplechase final: 1, Sage Hurta (Colorado) 9:57.28; 4, Jordan Oakes (Stanford) 10:17.14;
10,000 final: 1, Vanessa Fraser (Stanford) 33:10.84 (meet record); 6, Abbie McNulty (Stanford) 33:31.67; 7, Fiona O'Keeffe (Stanford) 33:36.25.
100 hurdle trials (top 9 advance): 1. Anna Cockrell (USC) 12.79.
400 hurdle trials (top 9 advance): 1, Anna Cockrell (USC) 58.01.
High jump final: 1, Lyndsey Lopes (USC) 5-10 ½ (1.79m); 6, Rachel Reichenbach (Stanford) 5-8 (1.73m).
Pole vault final: 1, Lauren Martinez (Cal) 14-0 (4.27m); 2, Kaitlyn Merritt (Stanford) 13-10 (4.22m); 3, Erika Malaspina (Stanford) 13-10 (4.22m); 10, Jackie McNulty (Stanford) 12-6 ¼ (3.82m); 13, Nicole Summersett (Stanford) 12-0 ½ (3.67m).
Long jump final: 1, Courtney Corrin (USC) 21-4 (6.50m); 10, Daryth Gayles (Stanford) 19-2 ¾ (5.86m); 16, Marisa Kwiatkowski (Stanford) 18-10 (5.74m).
Shot put final: 1. Maggie Ewen (ASU) 63-0 ¾ (19.22m) 3, Lena Giger (Stanford) 55-4 ¾ (16.88m).
Javelin final: 1, Mackenzie Little (Stanford) 180-1 (54.88m); 2, Jenna Gray (Stanford) 176-2 (53.71m); 4. Virginia Miller (Stanford) 162-3 (49.47m).
Hammer final: 1. Maggie Ewen (ASU) 244-0 (74.38m); 4, Valarie Allman (Stanford) 208-10 (63.65m).