STANFORD, Calif. – Not long after Stanford's Vanessa Fraser became the fastest American collegian at 5,000 meters this year, former Cardinal teammate Jessica Tonn became the year's fastest American at 10,000 with her victory at the Payton Jordan Invitational on Thursday night.
Fraser ran 15:20.10 to place ninth in a race that featured the three fastest American times of 2018, all under the previous American- and collegiate-leading time of 15:23.21. Fraser was a close second among collegians to New Mexico's Ednah Kurgat (15:20.06), a native of Kenya, and ran a lifetime best by five seconds.
It was Fraser's fifth lifetime best in the 5,000 in as many races at the Payton Jordan over her collegiate career that concludes this year as a graduate student in management science and engineering. Fraser jumped into Stanford's all-time top-10, passing Cardinal luminaries Lauren Fleshman, Alicia Craig, and Sara Bei into No. 3. In Stanford history, Tonn is No. 2 and Aisling Cuffe is No. 1 (15:11.13).
Because the pace was a bit slower than she liked and the pack a little too bunched, Fraser elected to race rather than bolt for a bid at an even faster time. She focused on Kurgat, an expected contender for the NCAA title, and chose to treat the race like an NCAA final. Though she made up ground on Kurgat on the homestretch, she was a half-step short and views the race like a learning experience. Fraser is No. 2 among collegians, No. 3 among Americans, and No. 14 in the world this year.
Tonn ran 31:54.83 in her first post-collegiate track 10,000 -- faster than the national-leading 31:55.68 that Olympic triathlon gold-medalist Gwen Jorgensen ran at the Stanford Invitational on March 30. Tonn, the 2014 and 2015 Pac-12 10,000 champion, shattered her best time at that distance, from a road 33:16.
Tonn, a seven-time All-America from the Stanford class of '14, was among a five-person pack that chased down early leader Mao Ichiyama of Japan. Tonn was fifth at the bell, but moved up on the backstretch and took the lead on the final curve before powering to the finish. She is now the 10th-fastest in the world this year.
Stanford alum Jessica Tonn won the invitational 10,000. Photo by Kirby Lee/Image of Sport.
The meet featured five U.S.-leading times, three collegiate leaders, and one world leader -- Henrik Ingebrigtsen's 13:16.97 that beat runner-up Riley Masters by 0.005 in a photo finish. The Norwegian Ingebrigtsen brothers made a bid to steal the show at the 23rd annual meet at Cobb Track and Field. Besides Henrik's victory in the 5,000, 17-year-old Jakob won the 1,500 in 3:39.06, outdueling reigning Olympic gold medalist Matthew Centrowitz, who was sixth (3:40.74). Stanford's Grant Fisher, the Pac-12 1,500 champion, was seventh in a personal best 3:41.24 and teammate Sean McGorty was ninth in 3:41.49.
In the women's invitational 1,500, Stanford sophomore Christina Aragon ran her collegiate best of 4:12.28 with a strong second-place to veteran Sara Vaughn (4:11.70), a World Championships qualifier a year ago. Stanford's Elise Cranny was seventh in a season-best 4:14.73 and alum Claudia Saunders was third in a three-second personal best of 4:12.38.
Though the field events take a backseat to the distance races at this meet, Stanford women earned two big personal bests. Kaitlyn Merritt became the second pole vaulter in school history to clear 14 feet -- reigning Olympic and world champion Katerina Stefanidi is the other. Merritt won at 14-0 ½ (4.28m).
Kaitlyn Merritt (left) celebrates after clearing 14 feet. Photo by David Kiefer.
Valarie Allman is three-for-three in lifetime bests in the hammer this year. Allman threw 208-2 (63.46m) to improve to the No. 17 position in NCAA Division I this year.
For Fraser, her performance was short of her lofty time goal of 15:15, though she felt great physically and closed strong, with a final 200 of 32 seconds -- the fastest. Still, she fell just short of Kurgat, the reigning NCAA cross-country champ whose 15:20.04 was enough to hold off Fraser, set a New Mexico school record and establish the year's collegiate standard.
"I felt with a mile to go, I had five gears left," Fraser said. "If I was in a college race, I honestly probably would have taken the lead. But at this big stage, that's not good practice for championship racing.
"At the level I'm competing at, whether it's at this meet, NCAA's, or USA's, I don't think it's wise from where I am personally to take charge of the situation. It's a very vulnerable position to put yourself in.
"I was focusing on racing Ednah at that point. I just thought, OK, pretend this is the NCAA 5K. I tried really hard to accelerate the last 100 and try to catch her, but I didn't quite have it at the end. I definitely never closed a 5K that quick and I've never felt that good at the end of a 5K. Regardless of the time, I think it's a really good sign that the kick at the end of a really hard effort is there and that strength has allowed me to build up to do that."
The meet was the final tuneup for Stanford as it heads into the postseason. Stanford is playing host to the Pac-12 Championships on May 12-13, with the conference combined events competition offering a first taste on Saturday and Sunday.
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Payton Jordan Invitational
At Cobb Track and Angell Field
Winners and all Stanford competitors
Men
100 – 1, Mobolade Ajomale (Academy of Art) 10.53.
400 – 1, Raymond Kibet (Tulane) 47.70; 2, Isaac Westlund (Stanford) 48.83.
800 – Invite: 1, Ryan Martin (Asics Furman Elite) 1:47.26; 4, Brian Smith (Stanford) 1:50.28. Sec. 2: 2, Christian White (Stanford) 1:51.32; 4, Scott Buttinger (Stanford) 1:52.49; 5, Nathaniel Kucera (Stanford) 1:53.47; 6, Isaac Cortes (Stanford) 1:54.98.
1,500 – Invite: 1, Jakob Ingebrigtsen (Jrs. Sports Management) 3:39.06; 7, Grant Fisher (Stanford) 3:41.24, PB; 9, Sean McGorty (Stanford) 3:41.49. Sec. 3: 8, Collin Leibold (Strava TC) 3:50.10. Sec. 4: Tai Dinger (Stanford) 3:44.51, PB; 5, Callum Bolger (unattached) 3:44.93, PB; 6, Tom Coyle (Stanford) 3:45.22; 7, Steven Fahy (Stanford) 3:46.73, PB; 8, Jack Keelan (Stanford) 3:48.68; 9, DJ Principe (Stanford) 3:49.20.
3,000 steeplechase – Invite: 1, Ole Hesselbjerg (Aam) 8:30.82. Sec. 2: 10, Steven Grolle (Stanford) 9:04.47, PB.
5,000 – 1, Henrik Ingebrigtsen (Jr. Sports Management) 13:16.97.
10,000 – 1, Shadrack Kipchirchir (Nike) 27:39.65; 4, Garrett Heath (Brooks Beasts TC) 27:56.11; 13, Brendan Gregg (Hansons-Brooks) 28:22.28.
110 hurdles – 1, Marlon Britton (Academy of Art) 14.79.
400 hurdles – 1, Lucas Ege (Stanford) 53.58; 2, Colin Dolese (Stanford) 53.66.
High jump – 1, Jonnythan Munkholm (Menlo) 6-3 ½ (1.92m).
Discus – 1, Jake Koffman (Stanford) 171-7 (52.31m); 2, Landon Ellingson (Stanford) 155-6 (47.40m).
Hammer – 1, Tristen Newman (Stanford) 203-8 (62.08m), PB; 2, Michael Painter (Stanford) 201-6 (61.41m); 3, Landon Ellingson (Stanford) 172-10 (52.67m), PB.
Women
100 – 1, Rae'vyn Lawler (Game Fit) 12.09.
400 – 1, Michaela Crunkleton Wilson (Stanford) 56.75.
800 – Invite: 1, Lindsey Butterworth (Coastal TC) 2:03.33.
1,500 – Invite: 1, Sara Vaughn (unat./NYAC) 4:11.70; 2, Christina Aragon (Stanford) 4:12.28, No. 6 Stanford AT; 3, Claudia Saunders (District TC) 4:12.38; 7, Elise Cranny (Stanford) 4:14.73. Sec. 3: 3, Maddy Berkson (Stanford) 4:21.01, PB; 5, Julia Heymach (Stanford) 4:21.80; 6, Jordan Oakes (Stanford) 4:22.88, PB; 11, Catherine Pagano (Stanford) 4:33.00.
3,000 steeplechase – 1, Marie Bouchard (San Francisco) 9:41.32.
5,000 – Invite: 1, Meraf Bahta (Halle IF) 15:15.33; 9, Vanessa Fraser (Stanford) 15:20.10, PB, No. 3 Stanford AT.
10,000 – 1, Jessica Tonn (Brooks Beasts TC) 31:54.83.
100 hurdles – 1, Marion Presigny (Academy of Art) 13.73w; 2, Amber Lewis (Stanford) 14.47w.
400 hurdles – 1, Sophie Dodd (Simon Fraser) 1:02.14; 2, Amber Lewis (Stanford) 1:03.84.
High jump – 1, Rachel Reichenbach (Stanford) 5-5 ¼ (1.66m); 3, Valerie Przekop (Stanford) 5-1 ¼ (1.56m).
Pole vault – 1, Kaitlyn Merritt (Stanford) 14-0 ½ (4.28m), No. 2 Stanford AT; 2, Erika Malaspina (Stanford) 13-2 ½ (4.03m); 3, Jackie McNulty (Stanford) 12-8 ¾ (3.88m); 4, Nicole Summersett (Stanford) 11-9 (3.58m).
Discus – 1, Jaimi Salone (Stanford) 160-4 (48.88m).
Hammer – 1, Valarie Allman (Stanford) 208-2 (63.46m), PB, No. 2 Stanford AT.
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Stanford is set to host the Pac-12 Track and Field Championships on May 5-6 and May 12-13 on Cobb Track and Angell Field. The first weekend, with the multi-event athletes competing, is free to the public. Tickets ($10/adult; $5/student, youth, seniors) are required to watch May 12-13. Fans can save $5 per person by purchasing their tickets online, and in-advance. To secure your tickets for the Championships, visit gostanford.com/pac12track.