RATHDRUM, Idaho – It took one throw on Saturday for Valarie Allman '17 to break the American record in the women's discus and become the second Stanford alumna to hold an American outdoor individual record in a standard event.
Allman threw 230-2 (70.15 meters) to smash the 2014 mark of 226-11 (69.17m) of Gia Lewis-Smallwood. Allman's previous best was 220-3 (67.15m) from last year. Allman's throw is the longest in the world over the past two years.
The record, which is pending ratification, came at the Iron Woods Throws Center Invitational near Coeur d'Alene.
During this year of the coronavirus, most throwers, including Allman, had been training on their own and were interested in a low-key meet that would enable them to gauge their fitness. Allman, who has made Austin, Texas, her base, fouled on her second and third tries. She threw 216-1 (65.86m) in the fourth round and 216-7 (66.03m) in the fifth. Her final throw was 203-8 (62.09m).
Allman joins PattiSue Plumer '84 among Cardinal alumnae to break an American outdoor individual record. Plumer, a two-time Olympian, broke the U.S. record in the 5,000 meters on July 3, 1989, running 14:59.99 in Stockholm, Sweden.
Allman earned seven All-America honors while at Stanford – four in the discus, two in the hammer, and one in the indoor weight throw -- and won two Pac-12 discus championships. Her highest NCAA discus finish was third, in 2016 and 2018, with the latter in helping the Cardinal to a third-place team finish, its highest in history.
Allman continues to hold Stanford records in the discus (208-6, 63.55m) and in the 20-pound weight throw (70-3 ½, 21.42m). A product design major, Allman was the Pac-12 Woman of the Year in 2018.
Allman, a native of Longmont, Colorado, has appeared in two World Championships and has won two U.S. discus titles.
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On Friday, three other Stanford alums earned shares of records, including Allman's college roommate, Elise Cranny '18, who was part of a world record in the infrequently-run 4x1,500 meters.
Competing at a Bowerman Track Club intrasquad meet without spectators at Jesuit High School in Portland, Oregon, Cranny ran the second leg on a team that ran 16:27.02 (pending ratification), averaging just over 4:06.7 per leg. The team of Colleen Quigley, Cranny, Karissa Schweizer, and Shelby Houlihan bettered the world mark of 16:33.58 by the Kenyan national team at the 2014 World Relays in the Bahamas. The Bowerman foursome crushed the U.S. record by 28 seconds, also from 2014.
The Bowerman TC men, which included Grant Fisher '19 and Sean McGorty '18, set an American record in the 4x1,500 relay by running 14:34.97 (pending ratification). The team of Evan Jager, Fisher, McGorty, and Lopez Lomong bettered the mark of 14:40.80, set by the U.S. national team in 2014.
One June 30, in the first Bowerman TC intrasquad, McGorty won the 5,000 in a then-world-leading 13:11.22 and Fisher was second in 13:11.68. Both were personal records. As of Aug. 3, McGorty and Fisher ranked No. 7 and No. 8 in the world this year.
At the same meet, Cranny won the 5,000 in 14:48.02. It is the 11th-fastest time ever run by an American woman and Cranny now ranks as the seventh-fastest American performer.
