STANFORD, Calif. – Stanford strengthened its cross country and track and field programs with a fall signing class that includes a national cross country champion. J.J. Clark, Stanford's Franklin P. Johnson Director of Track and Field, announced the signing of eight to National Letters of Intent.
Women's signees are Zofia Dudek (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer HS), Lucy Jenks (Newton, Mass./Newton South HS), Kelly Kern (Clayton, Calif./Carondelet HS), Tori Starcher (Ripley, W.Va./Ripley HS), and Hannah Wilson (Thousand Oaks, Calif./Oaks Christian School).
Men's signees are Thomas Boyden (Salt Lake City, Utah/Skyline HS), Cole Sprout (Littleton, Colo./Valor Christian HS), and Kevin Yang (Roswell, Ga./Chattahoochee HS).
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Thomas Boyden (Salt Lake City, Utah/Skyline HS)
Personal bests: 1,600 -- 4:11.13; 3,200 -- 8:57.79.
Thomas Boyden is a two-time qualifier for the Foot Locker national cross country championships, finishing 13th in 2018 and 12th on Saturday. He was third in the 2019 Foot Locker West Regionals. Boyden was second in the Utah 5A state cross country championships in 2018 and the 5A state runner-up last spring in the 1,600 and 3,200. His times in the 1,600 (4:11.13) and 3,200 (8:57.79) were the fastest in Utah last season.
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Zofia Dudek (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer HS)
Personal bests: 1,500 – 4:24.23; Mile – 4:41.34; 3,000 – 9:29.82; 3,200 – 10:14.41.
Zofia Dudek won the Foot Locker national cross country championship on Saturday in San Diego. It culminated an impressive six-week stretch in which she: won the Michigan Division I title in the third-fastest time in meet history, won the Nike Cross Nationals Midwest Regional, was second in the Foot Locker Midwest Regional, was fifth at the European Under-20 championships in Lisbon, and won the Foot Locker nationals. Dudek was the 2019 Brooks PR Invitational winner in the mile, running a personal best 4:41.34 to make her the No. 6 high school miler in the country for the year, and the third-fastest in the history of the prestigious meet. Dudek, a native of Poland whose father is a visiting economics professor at University of Michigan, won the 3,000 meters at the European U20 track and field championships last spring.
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Lucy Jenks (Newton, Mass./Newton South HS)
Personal bests: Mile – 4:45.93.
Lucy Jenks already is an accomplished runner, with indoor and outdoor Massachusetts All-State mile championships. However, she seems to have an even higher ceiling. Jenks played Elite Clubs National League soccer with a goal of playing at the Division I level in college, but slowly switched full-time to running as she discovered her talent. This fall marked her first cross country season and though she was limited by injury for much of it, Jenks won the state title in only her third race and took fifth in the NXN Northeast Regional. In her only outdoor track season so far, Jenks was the Massachusetts Division I and All-State mile champion. Her personal best of 4:45.93 in the mile placed her fifth at the New Balance Indoor Nationals last year.
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Kelly Kern (Clayton, Calif./Carondelet HS)
Personal bests: Pole vault – 13-4 (4.06m).
Kelly Kern is a two-time defending North Coast Section Meet of Champions winner in the pole vault and holds the meet record. She also is a three-time California state meet qualifier, placing fourth at state last season. Kern was the No. 1-ranked sophomore in the nation in 2018 and the No. 2 junior in 2019. Kern was the USATF Junior Olympics national champ in the 13-14 age group and has been vaulting since eighth grade.
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Cole Sprout (Littleton, Colo./Valor Christian HS)
Personal bests: 800 – 1:53.87; Mile – 4:04.19; 3,000 – 8:13.85; 3,200 – 8:40.73; Two mile – 8:46.41.
Cole Sprout earned his third consecutive Colorado state cross country title this fall, breaking his own meet record (15:12.7) and inspiring discussion as perhaps the greatest high school distance runner in state history. Sprout was second in 3A as a freshman, first in 4A as a sophomore, and won the 5A title his final two seasons. He was seventh at the 2019 Nike Cross Nationals after placing third last year. Sprout has won four Gatorade state athlete of the year honors for his sports – two each in track and cross country. Sprout has won seven state championships – doubling in the 1,600 and 3,200 the past two years, in addition to his cross country titles. He holds the sophomore two-mile record at the New Balance Outdoor Nationals of 8:49.46, and broke the national sophomore record in the 3,000 (8:13.85). As a junior, he ran 4:06.68 to place second in the mile at the 2019 New Balance Indoor Nationals. His best of 8:40.73 for 3,200 was a state record set at the Arcadia Invitational. He also is the first Colorado high school runner to break 9 minutes for 3,200 in a race run in Colorado.
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Tori Starcher (Ripley, W.Va./Ripley HS)
Personal bests: 800 – 2:07.42; 1,500 -- 4:20.17; Mile, 4:38.19; 3,200 -- 10:20.54; Two mile – 10:24.46.
Tori Starcher ran the fastest high school mile in the nation last season (4:38.19), winning the Penn Relays in a West Virginia state-record time. She also was the nation's No. 2 in the 1,500 (4:20.17) last season. Starcher is a two-time West Virginia Girls Track and Field Athlete of the Year and has won all 12 state track meet events in which she competed – nine individual and three relays. Last spring, Starcher won state Class AAA titles in the 800, 1,600, 3,200, and 4x400 relay – setting meet records in the 800, 1,600, and in anchoring the relay, as she led Ripley to the state title. Starcher owns the state record in the outdoor 800, clocking 2:07.42 for sixth at the 2018 New Balance Outdoor Nationals. Starcher was West Virginia's 2017 Gatorade Girls Cross Country Runner of the Year.
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Hannah Wilson (Thousand Oaks, Calif./Oaks Christian School)
Personal bests: 400 -- 57.00; 800-- 2:10.87.
Hannah Wilson is the sister of Stanford junior Carolyn Wilson, who was third in the Pac-12 800 last season. Hannah placed fifth at the 2019 California state championships in the 800, in a personal best 2:10.87. Like her sister, Hannah also runs the 400, with a best of 57.00. Hannah took third in the CIF-Southern Section Masters Meet last season, advancing to State in the 800. She holds the Oaks Christian record in that event and was the school's Athlete of the Year in 2018-19.
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Kevin Yang (Roswell, Ga./Chattahoochee HS)
Personal bests – Long jump -- 21-10 ¼ (6.66m); Triple jump -- 49-0 ¼ (14.94m).
Kevin Yang was the Georgia state 6A runner-up in the triple jump last season and went on to place 12th at the New Balance Outdoor Nationals with a personal best 49-0 ¼ (14.94m). The distance was a school record and the longest by a Georgia jumper last season. It also was the third-longest by a jumper in his class from throughout the country. Yang is a three-time state finalist. At the club level, he is a two-time All-American and a seven-time qualifier for national meets. In addition to his talents in track and field, Yang is the Physics Club president at Chattahoochee High.