TUCSON, Ariz. – Mackenzie Little seeks a career sweep of Pac-12 women's javelin titles when the conference track and field championships take place Saturday and Sunday at Roy P. Drachman Stadium.
Stanford has won the women's javelin the past seven years at this meet and Little, the defending NCAA champ and three-time winner, is the favorite to succeed Brianna Bain as a four-time Cardinal winner.
Last year, the Stanford men placed second, its highest finish in 15 years. The Cardinal women were third on the way to a third-place NCAA finish that tied a program best.
The Stanford women are seeking to crown an individual conference champion for the 23rd consecutive year, the longest such streak in the Pac-12.
Stanford has two No. 1 seeds – based on 2019 outdoor performances – for each of the men and the women. Liam Christensen (javelin) and Grant Fisher (5,000) are top seeds for the men and Little and Aria Small (triple jump) are No. 1 for the Card women.
Overall, the Stanford women have eight top-three seeds (seven individuals) and the men have four, and that doesn't include Fisher in the 1,500. He is the 2017 Pac-12 champ in that event and the No. 4 seed.
Stanford is looking for strong team performances while also attempting to qualify as many as possible to the NCAA West Prelims, May 23-25 in Sacramento. From there, the top 12 advance to the NCAA Championships in Austin, Texas, from June 5-8.
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Meet information:
Pac-12 Championships
Where: Tucson, Arizona
Site: Roy P. Drachman Stadium
Events begin:
Saturday: Field, 11 a.m.; Running, 5 p.m.
Sunday: Field, 11 a.m.: Running, 6 p.m.
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Follow the action:
Live results: Click here.
Meet Central: Click here.
Schedule: Click here.
TV: Pac-12 Network
Live: Saturday, 7:30 p.m.; Sunday, 6 p.m.
Pac-12 Top-10 lists: Click here.
Stanford Men's All-Time Top-10: Click here.
Stanford Women's All-Time Top-10: Click here.
Stanford in USTFCCCA rankings:
Men - No. 11
Women - No. 22
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Event highlights:
Men
1,500: Grant Fisher will attempt to re-capture the Pac-12 title he took in 2017. Fisher is coming off a lifetime best in this event, a 3:39.60, at the Payton Jordan Invitational on May 2. Stanford has had a great run of success in this event, with seven champions since 2000.
5,000: Stanford has six of the top 10 seeds in the field, including three of the top four. All six – No. 1 Grant Fisher, No. 3 Thomas Ratcliffe, No. 4 Steven Fahy, No. 7 Connor Lane, No. 8 Alex Ostberg, and No. 10 Alek Parsons – have broken 13:50 this year. This event is the last distance event of the meet and does not have prelims, so Fisher and Fahy are expected to compete even though they will have already raced in the 1,500 and steeplechase, respectively. Fisher is the 2017 NCAA champion outdoors in this event and was third at nationals last year.
Steeplechase: Steven Fahy is the defending Pac-12 champion, having dueled Washington's Andrew Gardner to the last barrier last year at Stanford before Fahy gained an advantage that took him to victory. Arizona's Bailey Roth, the No. 1 seed in this year's race with Fahy No. 2, led last year's race until Fahy and Gardner took the lead with a lap to go. Fahy became Stanford's first men's steeplechaser to win a conference title since Olympian Ian Dobson won the Pac-10 in 2003. No Stanford runner repeated in this race and no one in the conference has won consecutive steeplechase titles since Arizona State's Aaron Aguayo in 2004-07.
Javelin: Stanford unleashes redshirt freshman Liam Christensen, who is competing in his first postseason meet. The 2017 U.S. junior national champion broke a school record by 10 feet in only his second collegiate appearance, throwing 245-4 (74.78 meters). Christensen is ranked No. 4 in Division I.
Women
Javelin: Stanford has a strong hold on this event. Before Mackenzie Little began her run of Pac-12 titles in 2016, Brianna Bain won it the previous four years. Stanford, with Little as the No. 1 seed and tops among collegians, has a strong chance to win it for the eighth consecutive year. If it isn't Little, it would likely be Jenna Gray. They finished 1-2 in both the Pac-12 and NCAA meets last year. Stanford took three of the top four places at the conference championships last year, with now-sophomore Virginia Miller taking fourth. All three are back.
Triple jump: Aria Small has emerged as a force in this, her sophomore season. Small has improved steadily since she arrived as a freshman with a ton of untapped potential. Small is the No. 1 seed and looking to become Stanford's first champ in this event since Whitney Liehr won the Pac-10 in 2011.
1,500: This is annually among Stanford's strongest events and Stanford has three sophomores whose future could come in 2020 or 2021. Jessica Lawson, Julia Heymach, and Ella Donaghu are seeds Nos. 4-6 and running very well.
5,000: Fiona O'Keeffe has two top-five NCAA finishes in the 5,000 and should be in the running for a Stanford repeat, after Elise Cranny won a year ago at Cobb Track and Angell Field.
High jump: Fifth-year senior Rachel Reichenbach is having a career season and finds herself in the mix without a dominant jumper. Reichenbach is the No. 2 seed with a qualifying mark just a centimeter behind top-seeded Alexa Harmon-Thomas of USC. Stanford never has had a conference outdoor women's high jump champion.
Pole vault: Kaitlyn Merritt and Erika Malaspina were second and third last year and are the top returners in the field. They will compete against Washington's Olivia Gruver, who set the collegiate record at the Stanford Invitational earlier this season.
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Here are Stanford athletes contending for NCAA West Prelims qualifying position (those ranked in the top 65 in the West). The top 48 advance in individual events and 24 on relays. The top 24 in the country in the decathlon advance to the NCAA final:
Men
1,500: 11, Grant Fisher 3:39.60; 52, Thomas Ratcliffe 3:44.53.
5,000: 2, Grant Fisher 13:29.52; 2, Thomas Ratcliffe 13:32.81; 9, Steven Fahy 13:34.80; 20, Connor Lane 13:42.31; 22, Alex Ostberg 13:42.44; 30, Alek Parsons 13:47.59; 65, Clayton Mendez 13:57.99.
10,000: 27, Alek Parsons 28:56.01; 38, Michael Vernau 29:06.84.
3,000 steeplechase: 15, Steven Fahy 8:45.49.
Javelin: 4, Liam Christensen 245-4 (74.78m).
Decathlon (in nation): 2, Harrison Williams 8,112.
Women
200: 63, Ashlan Best 23.44.
800: 63, Carolyn Wilson 2:06.56.
1,500: 29, Jessica Lawson 4:16.85; 34, Julia Heymach 4:17.74; 49, Ella Donaghu 4:18.71; 51, Jordan Oakes 4:18.85.
5,000: 9, Fiona O'Keeffe 15:38.88; 22, Jessica Lawson 15:50.70; 33, Abbie McNulty 15:59.96.
10,000: 22, Abbie McNulty 33:30.57.
High jump: 25, Rachel Reichenbach 5-10 ½ (1.79m).
Pole vault: 19, Kaitlyn Merritt 14-1 ¼ (4.30m).
Triple jump: 21, Aria Small 43-5 ¼ (13.24m).
Discus: 64, Jaimi Salone 168-4 (51.32m).
Javelin: 1, Mackenzie Little 195-1 (59.47m); 4, Jenna Gray 184-0 (56.09m); 51, Virginia Miller 159-0 (48.47m).
