EUGENE, Ore. – Charles Hicks completed back-to-back conference titles in the 10,000 meters on Friday as the Pac-12 Track and Field Championships opened in the rain at Hayward Field.
Hicks closed out the night with Stanford's second title, following Virginia Miller's triumph in the women's javelin, an event the Cardinal has won in nine of the past 10 seasons.
Suddenly, the Cardinal men, with help from Max Manson's runner-up among 14 points in the pole vault, has bolted out of the gate with 27 points, second only to Oregon's 28. The Stanford women are sixth with 13.
Hicks, who broke the British under-23 record when he ran 27:40.16 at Stanford's Payton Jordan Invitational on April 29, won in 28:11.17 – the fastest in the conference meet since the great Henry Rono of Washington State ran 27:46.55 in 1978.
Hicks became Stanford's 10th different winner in that event and the first to capture consecutive victories. Last year, he ran 28:39.46. Hicks is a junior academically, a sophomore athletically, but he could be classified as a freshman considering the extra season of eligibility because of COVID. In any case, Hicks is on pace to become the first in conference history to win four championships in the 10,000, and perhaps even five if he stays three more seasons.
Hicks settled behind leader Aaron Bienenfeld of Oregon for much of the race, while the pack slowly dwindled to five on the penultimate lap. Finally, with 450 left, Hicks moved to the front. Washington's Kieran Lamb went with him, but never could catch him. Hicks remained at least a step ahead, while peeling off a closing lap of 56.8.
Hicks now will sit back and watch as teammates Ky Robinson (steeplechase, 5,000) and Cole Sprout (5,000) take their shots at Pac-12 championships of their own.
Virginia Miller. Photo by Serei Hendrie/Pac-12.
In the javelin, Miller came back for a fifth year for moments like this. She was fifth last year at conference and went on to place sixth at the Olympic Trials. She knew that she had more in her and after winning on Friday, she posted a photo on Instagram accompanied with the words "Mission Accomplished."
Miller gives Stanford its 11th conference title in that event, and, after a two-year hiatus, brings a women's javelin title back to Stanford since Brianna Bain and Mackenzie Little combined for eight consecutive victories from 2012-20.
The leading throw was 152-11 (46.62m) when Miller had her first attempt, and she put it away immediately with a toss of 171-11 (52.41m). Miller's next throw was 178-6 (54.42m) and that stood as the winning distance.
Stanford has a good chance at another title, in the women's seven-event heptathlon. Allie Jones, the 2021 runner-up, holds a 90-point lead going into the second day.
Jones, who has 3,451 points, has led from the first event, winning the 100 hurdles in 13.43 and following with her best high jump in a multi-event competition, going 5-7 (1.70m) to tie for the highest point total. She followed with a shot put of 36-5 ¾ (11.12m) and finished by winning the 200 in 24.50.
In the men's pole vault, Manson was clean through 16-5 ¼ (5.01m), but was unable to make 16-9 ¼ (5.11m), while Washington State's Jacob Englar made the height after being on the verge of elimination at 16-1 ¼ (4.91m), needed three tries at that height.
Action continues Saturday with the final three events of the heptathlon. That and the men's steeplechase seem to be Stanford's best shots at additional titles.
Allie Jones. Photo by Serei Hendrie/Pac-12.
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Friday's results
Pac-12 Championships
At Hayward Field, Eugene, Ore.
Winners and all Stanford competitors
Men
Team scores (first day of three) – 1, Oregon 28; 2, Stanford 27; 3, Washington 20; 4, Colorado 11; 5, Washington State 10; 6, UCLA 8; 7, Arizona 7; 8, Cal 5; 9, Arizona State 1; 10, USC 0.
200 prelims – 4, Udodi Onwuzurike (Stanford) 20.76; 18, Dorien Simon (Stanford) 21.95. (Onwuzurike qualifies for final).
10,000 final – 1, Charles Hicks (Stanford) 28:11.17; 6, Meika Beaudoin-Rousseau (Stanford) 28:35.17 (PB); 10, Nolan Topper (Stanford) 29:06.76; Evan Burke (Stanford) DNF.
Pole vault final – 1, Jacob Englar (Washington State) 16-9 ¼ (5.11m); 2 (tie), Max Manson (Stanford), Tate Curran (UCLA), each 16-5 ¼ (5.01m); 5 (tie), J.T. Herrscher (Stanford), Garrett Brown (Stanford), each 15-7 ¼ (4.76m).
Women
Team scores (first day of three) – 1, Washington 32; 2, Cal 26; 3, Colorado 20; 4, Arizona State 17; 5, Oregon 14; 6, Stanford 13; 7, Washington State 12; 8, UCLA 11; 9, Oregon State 6; 10, USC 4; 11, Arizona 1; 12, Utah 0.
200 prelims – 7, Alexa Rossum (Stanford) 23.74; 13, Kennedy Gamble (Stanford) 24.20. (Rossum qualifies for final).
1,500 prelims – 9, Christina Aragon (Stanford) 4:18.63; 10, Melissa Tanaka (Stanford) 4:20.89; 12, Lucy Jenks (Stanford) 4:21.44; 20, Lily Flynn (Stanford) 4:30.44. (Aragon, Tanaka, Jenks qualify for final).
10,000 final – 1, Abby Nichols (Colorado) 32:27.25; 10, Grace Connolly (Stanford) 34:10.90.
400 hurdles prelims – 8, Samantha Thomas (Stanford) 1:01.21. (Thomas qualifies for final).
Pole vault final – 1, Makenna Barton (Washington) 13-2 ½ (4.03m); 8, Kelly Kern (Stanford) 12-4 ¾ (3.78m); 9, Laurel Wong (Stanford) 11-10 ¾ (3.63m); Lianne Kistler (Stanford) NH.
Hammer final – 1, Camryn Rogers (Cal) 241-10 (73.71m); 7, Jordan Fong (Stanford) 193-3 (58.90m).
Javelin final – 1, Virginia Miller (Stanford) 178-6 (54.42m).
Heptathlon (after the first of two days) – 1, Allie Jones (Stanford) 3,451.
Allie Jones (event, place in event, mark, points, place in competition):
First day: 100 hurdles – 1, 13.43, 1,060 (1); High jump – 2, 5-7 (1.70m), 855 (1); Shot put – 7, 36-5 ¾ (11.12m), 603 (1); 200 – 1, 24.50, 933 (1). First-day total: 3,451.
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Stanford's Schedule
Saturday
1 p.m. – Women's heptathlon long jump: Allie Jones.
1:45 p.m. – Men's hammer final: Sam Liokumovich, Max McKhann (Pac-12 Network, Pac-12 Now app, Pac-12.com).
2:30 p.m. – Women's heptathlon javelin: Allie Jones.
3:30 p.m. – Women's long jump final: Tess Stapleton, Teagan Zwaanstra (Pac-12 Now app, Pac-12.com).
3:45 p.m. – Women's shot put: Brandy Atuatasi, Kaiah Fisher, Jordan Fong (Pac-12 Now app, Pac-12.com).
4:20 p.m. – Women's 400 prelims: Maya Valmon.
4:35 p.m. – Men's 400 prelims: Olufemi Cole, Karson Lippert, Miles Zoltak.
4:50 p.m. – Women's 800 prelims: Ellie Deligianni, Lily Flynn, Morgan Foster, Julia Heymach.
5:05 p.m. – Men's 800 prelims: John Lester.
5:20 p.m. – Women's heptathlon 800: Allie Jones.
5:25 p.m. – Women's 100 prelims: Kennedy Gamble, Alexa Rossum.
5:40 p.m. – Men's 100 prelims: Udodi Onwuzurike, Dorien Simon.
6:20 p.m. – Men's 3,000 steeplechase final: Ky Robinson, Michael Vernau (Pac-12 Network, Pac-12 Now app, Pac-12.com).
Sunday
11 a.m. – Women's discus final: Brandy Atuatasi, Kaiah Fisher (Pac-12 Now app, Pac-12.com).
1 p.m. – Women's 4x100 relay final: Stanford (Pac-12 Network, Pac-12 Now app, Pac-12.com).
1:10 p.m. – Men's 4x100 relay final: Stanford (Pac-12 Network, Pac-12 Now app, Pac-12.com).
1:15 p.m. – Women's triple jump final: Elise Miller, Allyson Weiss (Pac-12 Now app, Pac-12.com).
1:20 p.m. – Women's 1,500 final: Christina Aragon, Lucy Jenks, Melissa Tanaka. (Pac-12 Network, Pac-12 Now app, Pac-12.com).
1:30 p.m. – Men's triple jump final: Marcus Floyd, Keyshawn King, Kevin Yang (Pac-12 Now app, Pac-12.com).
1:35 p.m. – Men's high jump final: James Stevens (Pac-12 Now app, Pac-12.com).
1:45 p.m. – Men's discus final: Chudi Ikpeazu, Sam Liokumovich, Max McKhann (Pac-12 Now app, Pac-12.com).
1:55 p.m. – Women's 400 final (Pac-12 Network, Pac-12 Now app, Pac-12.com).
2 p.m. – Men's 400 final (Pac-12 Network, Pac-12 Now app, Pac-12.com).
2:05 p.m. – Women's 100 final (Pac-12 Network, Pac-12 Now app, Pac-12.com).
2:10 p.m. – Men's 100 final (Pac-12 Network, Pac-12 Now app, Pac-12.com).
2:15 p.m. – Women's 800 final (Pac-12 Network, Pac-12 Now app, Pac-12.com).
2:22 p.m. – Men's 800 final (Pac-12 Network, Pac-12 Now app, Pac-12.com).
2:30 p.m. – Women's 400 hurdles final: Samantha Thomas (Pac-12 Network, Pac-12 Now app, Pac-12.com).
2:45 p.m. – Women's 200 final: Alexa Rossum (Pac-12 Network, Pac-12 Now app, Pac-12.com).
2:50 p.m. – Men's 200 final: Udodi Onwuzurike (Pac-12 Network, Pac-12 Now app, Pac-12.com).
3 p.m. – Women's 5,000 final: Christina Aragon, Grace Connolly, Julia Heymach, Lucy Jenks, Jessica Lawson, Audrey Suarez (Pac-12 Network, Pac-12 Now app, Pac-12.com).
3:25 p.m. – Men's 5,000 final: Thomas Boyden, Robert DiDonato, DJ Principe, Ky Robinson, Joshua Schumacher, Cole Sprout, Nolan Topper, Michael Vernau (Pac-12 Network, Pac-12 Now app, Pac-12.com).
3:50 p.m. – Women's 4x400 relay (Pac-12 Network, Pac-12 Now app, Pac-12.com).
4:05 p.m. – Men's 4x400 relay (Pac-12 Network, Pac-12 Now app, Pac-12.com).