SEATTLE – Alex Ostberg became the 18th in Stanford history to run a mile under four minutes, on Saturday at the UW Invitational.
The redshirt junior and two-time cross country All-American accomplished the feat when he clocked 3:59.31 on the 307-meter Dempsey Indoor track. Ostberg ran his lifetime best by six seconds and was among six in the race to run sub-4, placing fourth.
His performance was among the Stanford highlights that included a school record in the 60 meters by Isaiah Brandt-Sims and a victory in the men's 4x400 relay.
And for the women, Aria Small captured the triple jump in 41-4 1/2 (12.61m) and Lena Giger won the invitational shot put in 55-5 ½ (16.90m). Abbie McNulty sliced 20 seconds off her personal record to finish as the top collegian in the 3,000 while running 9:05.66 to place fourth overall.
Kaitlyn Merritt continued her strong pole vaulting, jumping 13-5 3/4 (4.11m) to place her alone at No. 2 on Stanford's all-time indoor performers' list. Only reigning Olympic champion Katerina Stefanidi is higher. Merritt tied for the top collegian in the competition and was second overall.
Ostberg became the sixth sub-4 miler at Stanford under Chris Miltenberg, the Franklin P. Johnson Director of Track and Field, joining Michael Atchoo (2013), Tyler Stutzman (2013, 2014), Thomas Coyle (2015), Sean McGorty (2015, 2016), and Jack Keelan (2017).
Brandt-Sims, a fifth-year senior from Wenatchee, Washington, ran 6.79 in the 60 final to break the mark of 6.80 held by the late Tyrone McGraw since 2010. McGraw died of cancer at age 29 in 2017.
Brandt-Sims alredy holds school records in the 4x400 relay indoors and outdoors and in the distance medley relay. He is one of the greatest relay racers in Stanford history having been part of five school-record relay performances overall. This is his first individual school record.
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UW Invitational
At Dempsey Indoor
(307-meter track)
Winners and all Stanford competitors
Saturday results
Men
60 – Final: 1, Javelin Guidry (unattached) 6.59; 4, Dorien Simon (unattached) 6.78; 5, Isaiah Brandt-Sims (Stanford) 6.79. Prelims: Dorien Simon (unattached) 6.70; Isaiah Brandt-Sims (Stanford) 6.81; 11, Gabriel Navarro (Stanford) 6.89. Qualifying: 33, Andrew Franco 7.16.
400 – 1, Paramveer Chohan (Cal) 47.13; 5, Louis Stenmark (Stanford) 48.21; 6, Julian Body (Stanford) 48.47; 11, Isaac Westlund (Stanford) 49.29.
800 – 1, Connor Morello (Washington) 1:49.69; 9, Hari Sathyamurthy (Stanford) 1:51.38; 22, Nathaniel Kucera (Stanford) 1:55.57; 28, Brian Smith (Stanford) 1:56.63.
Mile – 1, Neil Gourley (Nike-OTC) 3:58.12; 4, Alex Ostberg (Stanford) 3:59.31 (PB); 15, Steven Fahy (Stanford) 4:03.74; 17, Tai Dinger (Stanford) 4:04.17; 19, DJ Principe (Stanford) 4:04.71; 20, Alek Parsons (Stanford) 4:04.80 (PB).
3,000 – 1, Amos Bartelsmeyer (unattached) 7:49.47; 29, Michael Vernau (Stanford) 8:07.46 (PB); 30, Connor Lane (Stanford) 8:08.20 (PB); 39, Clayton Mendez (Stanford) 8:12.78 (PB); 54, Liam Conway (Stanford) 8:28.61 (PB).
4x400 relay – 1, Stanford (Gabriel Navarro, Isaac Westlund, Andrew Franco, Julian Body) 3:16.70.
Triple jump – 1, Tuomas Kaukolahti (Cal) 52-3 ¾ (15.94m); 12, Fisayo Omilana (Stanford) 44-5 ½ (13.55m).
Shot put – Main field: 19, Harrison Williams (Stanford) 43-10 ¾ (13.38m).
Weight throw – 1, Connor Jost (Washington) 59-10 ¼ (18.24m); 6, Jake Koffman (Stanford) 54-8 ¾ (16.68m) (PB); 7, Landon Ellingson (Stanford) 54-6 (16.61m) (PB).
Women
60 – Final: Aliya Wilson (Tahoma TC) 7.52; 7, Kennedy Gamble (Stanford) 7.63; 8, Ashlan Best (Stanford) 7.65. Prelims: Kennedy Gamble (Stanford) 7.64; Ashlan Best (Stanford) 7.64.
400 – 1, Maja Pogorevc (Fresno State) 54.92; 4, Missy Mongiovi (Stanford) 55.88. 22, Sarah Walker (Stanford) 58.25.
800 – 1, Hannah Fields (unattached) 2:04.70; 5, Rebecca Mehra (OIS2) 2:06.63; 6, Justine Fedronic (Roka) 2:06.77; 15, Carolyn Wilson (Stanford) 2:09.49; 17, Caitlin Collier (Stanford) 2:10.00; 48, Kaitlin Ryan (Stanford) 2:19.71.
Mile – 1, Hanna Green (Nike-OTC) 4:35.20; 12, Elise Cranny (unattached) 4:39.43; 14, Fiona O'Keeffe (Stanford) 4:39.71 (PB, No. 10 Stanford AT); 22, Julia Heymach (Stanford) 4:45.19; 24, Jessica Lawson (Stanford) 4:46.04 (PB); 30, Ella Donaghu (Stanford) 4:48.44; 31, Jordan Oakes (Stanford) 4:49.04; 40, Catherine Pagano (Stanford) 4:54.10.
3,000 – 1, Shuangshuang Xu (China) 9:01.91; 4, Abbie McNulty (Stanford) 9:05.66 (PB).
Pole vault – 1, Olivia Gruver (unattached) 14-10 (4.52m); 2, Kaitlyn Merritt (Stanford) 13-5 ¾ (4.11m) (No. 2 Stanford AT); 4, Erika Malaspina (Stanford) 13-1 ¾ (4.01m); 6, Jackie McNulty (Stanford) 12-8 (3.86m); 10, Nicole Summersett (Stanford) 12-2 (3.71m).
Triple jump – 1, Aria Small (Stanford) 41-4 ½ (12.61m) (No. 5 Stanford AT).
Shot put – Invite: 1, Lena Giger (Stanford) 55-5 ½ (16.90m). Main field: 25, Allie Jones (Stanford) 36-3 ½ (11.06m) (PB); 26, Giana Gayles (Stanford) 33-7 ¼ (10.24m) (PB); Jaimi Salone (Stanford) foul.
