STANFORD, Calif. – Stanford will be represented by six individuals and a relay team at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships March 8-9 in Birmingham, Alabama.
Cardinal qualifiers are Grant Fisher (3,000 meters), Alex Ostberg (3,000), Harrison Williams (heptathlon), and the distance medley relay team for the men. Women's qualifiers are Lena Giger (shot put), Fiona O'Keeffe (3,000, 5,000), and Abbie McNulty (5,000).
The championships fields – 16 in each individual event and 12 in the relays -- were based on best marks. They are final except for medical scratches.
This is the 10th consecutive year that the Cardinal men's distance medley relay team has advanced.
Grant Fisher will anchor on Friday and contest the 3,000 meters on Saturday on the 200-meter track at the Birmingham CrossPlex. The rest of the foursome has not been solidified, but with three more competitors, Stanford will have nine athletes overall.
Fisher, who set the American collegiate record of 7:42.62 while winning at the Millrose Games on Feb. 9 is the top seed in the 3,000 field. Ostberg's season has included his first sub-4 mile, but he is here because of his 7:51.20 3,000 from the Husky Classic on Feb. 8. Ostberg, a two-time cross country All-America, has reached his first NCAA track and field championship meet.
Williams has four top-6 NCAA finishes in the multis. However, this could be his best chance to win. He enters the seven-event heptathlon as the No. 2 qualifier, with 5,961 points from his victory at the Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational on Feb. 1-2, and has the most NCAA experience.
Giger's collegiate career ends with this meet. The fifth-year senior was sixth at NCAA indoors and third outdoors last year. She enters as the No. 9 seed at 56-9 ¼ (17.30m).
O'Keeffe races in the 5,000 on Friday at 8:07 p.m. CT, and follows Saturday with the 3,000 at 6:10 p.m. A year ago, in College Station, Texas, a fall in the 3,000 left her battered, cut, and bruised. But O'Keeffe recovered to place 10th. On Saturday, O'Keeffe won her second consecutive Mountain Pacific Sports Federation 3,000 title and enters as the No. 8 seed in that race and No. 13 in the 5,000.
Abbie McNulty is a fifth-year senior who reaches her first NCAA track championship meet. Her 5,000 time of 15:42.13 from the Husky Classic enabled her to squeeze in with the final qualifying mark.
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Stanford's NCAA qualifiers
Men
Grant Fisher: 3,000 (No. 1, 7:42.62).
Alex Ostberg: 3,000 (No. 12, 7:51.20).
Harrison Williams: Heptathlon (No. 2, 6,961).
Distance medley relay (No. 12, 9:29.35).
Women
Lena Giger: Shot put (No. 9, 56-9 ¼ (17.30m).
Abbie McNulty: 5,000 (No. 16, 15:42.13).
Fiona O'Keeffe: 3,000 (No. 8, 8:58.58); 5,000 (No. 13, 15:35.77).
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Stanford's schedule
Friday, March 8
10 a.m. PT (noon CT): Men's heptathlon 60 (Harrison Williams).
10:40 a.m. PT (12:40 p.m. CT): Men's heptathlon long jump (Harrison Williams).
11:50 a.m. PT (1:50 p.m. CT): Men's heptathlon shot put (Harrison Williams).
1 p.m. PT (3 p.m. CT): Men's heptathlon high jump (Harrison Williams).
3:15 p.m. PT (5:15 p.m. CT): Women's shot put (Lena Giger).
6:07 p.m. PT (8:07 p.m. CT): Women's 5,000 (Abbie McNulty, Fiona O'Keeffe).
7:02 p.m. PT (9:02 p.m. CT): Men's distance medley relay (Stanford).
Saturday, March 9
9:45 a.m. PT (11:45 a.m. CT): Men's heptathlon 60 hurdles (Harrison Williams).
10:35 a.m. PT (12:35 a.m. CT): Men's heptathlon pole vault (Harrison Williams).
2 p.m. PT (4 p.m. CT): Men's heptathlon 1,000 (Harrison Williams).
4:10 p.m. PT (6:10 p.m. CT): Women's 3,000 (Fiona O'Keeffe).
4:25 p.m. PT (6:25 p.m. CT): Men's 3,000 (Grant Fisher, Alex Ostberg).
