EUGENE, Ore. – Ky Robinson, a 19-year-old true freshman from Brisbane, Australia, set a Stanford record in the 3,000-meter steeplechase while placing sixth on the final day of men's competition at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Hayward Field on Friday.
Robinson clocked 8:32.01 to better the Stanford standard of Olympian Ian Dobson, who ran 8:32.09 in 2004. Robinson also broke his own two-day-old Australian and Oceania under-20 records of 8:36.29 from the semifinals.
In six steeplechase races this season, Robinson set a lifetime best in five of them, including at the Pac-12 Championships when he tripped on a barrier, fell and was spiked in the face while on the ground. He got up to finish third, but required 27 stitches to close the wounds.
Robinson stayed in Lane Two most of Friday's race, keeping out of trouble while remaining mid-pack until a group of four broke away on the final lap, leaving Robinson amidst a second pack farther back. Robinson closed with a 62-second final lap, using his momentum from the final water jump to pass two runners down the homestretch to capture sixth, the highest Stanford finish by a true freshman since Grant Fisher was sixth in the 5,000 in 2016.
Robinson's time was faster even than the Stanford's Steven Fahy ran (8:38.46) while winning the 2019 NCAA title on a hot humid evening in Austin, Texas.
Robinson earned first-team All-America honors and was half of Stanford's team, along with Charles Hicks, that finished 42nd with 5 points.
Charles Hicks. Photo by Chuck Aragon.
Hicks, also 19, ran a personal best of 13:33.89 to place 15th in the 5,000 and earned second-team All-America honors. He finished the meet as a two-time All-American, after earning first-team honors Wednesday with a seventh-place in the 10,000.
In four races – two in the steeplechase, and a 5,000 and 10,000 – Robinson and Hicks ran lifetime bests every time they stepped on the track at this meet.
The lone women's competition Friday was the first day of the heptathlon and Stanford's Allie Jones stands ninth with 3,432 points.
Jones opened by winning her heat in the 100 hurdles, running personal wind-legal best of 13.37, which placed her fourth. She dropped to ninth and then 12th after the high jump and shot put, respectively, but regained her footing with a personal-best 24.33 in the 200 to close the day.
The heptathlon continues with the long jump, her second-best event after the hurdles, and then the javelin and 800. Jones trails her personal-best first-day score from the Pac-12 Championships by 75 points.
The four-day meet concludes on Saturday with Jones in the heptathlon, Christina Aragon and Ella Donaghu in the women's 1,500 final (3:11 p.m.), and Donaghu and Julia Heymach in the 5,000 final (4:55 p.m.).
Allie Jones. Photo by Chuck Aragon.
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NCAA Championships
At Hayward Field
Friday's Stanford results
Men
Team scores – 1, LSU 84; 42, Stanford 5.
3,000 steeplechase final – 1, Kigen Chemadi (Middle Tennessee State) 8:28.20; 6, Ky Robinson (Stanford) 8:32.01 (PB; school record; school frosh record).
5,000 final – 1, Cooper Teare (Oregon) 13:12.27; 15, Charles Hicks (Stanford) 13:33.89 (PB).
Women
Heptathlon (first day) – 9, Allie Jones (Stanford) 3,432.
Allie Jones (event, place in event, mark, points, place in competition):
First day: 100 hurdles – 4, 13.37 (PB; No. 3 Stanford AT), 1,069 (4); High jump – 13, 5-5 ¼ (1.66m), 806 (9); Shot put – 18, 36-9 (11.20m), 608 (12); 200 – 5, 24.33, 949 (9). First-day total: 3,432.
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Stanford's Schedule
Saturday
11 a.m.: Women's heptathlon long jump – Fl.2: Allie Jones.
12:15 p.m.: Women's heptathlon javelin –Fl.2: Allie Jones.
3:11 p.m.: Women's 1,500 final – Christina Aragon, Ella Donaghu.
4:43 p.m.: Women's heptathlon 800 – Allie Jones.
4:55 p.m.: Women's 5,000 final – Ella Donaghu, Julia Heymach.