EUGENE, Ore. – Allie Jones led from wire to wire at the Pac-12 Track and Field Championships to give Stanford its first conference heptathlon title in 23 years.
Over the seven-event, two-day competition at Hayward Field, Jones scored 5,731 points to improve upon her second-place finish last year. The title was the second for the Stanford women in the meet and third for the Cardinal overall, following Virginia Miller in the women's javelin and Charles Hicks in the men's 10,000, both on Friday.
Also on Saturday, sophomore Ky Robinson was second in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. His time of 8:33.91 was the third-fastest in school history, eclipsed by his own 8:32.01 last year and the 8:32.09 by Olympian Ian Dobson in 2004.
The Stanford men are fourth in the team scoring with 37 points and the Cardinal are seventh with 23 after eight of 19 events in each division.
Allie Jones. Photo by Spencer Allen/SportsImageWire.com.
Jones became Stanford's fourth different conference heptathlon winner, following Tracye Lawyer's three titles from 1997-99, Peggy Odita in 1990 – all in the Pac-10 – and Denise Gaztambide in 1986 when Stanford competed in the Pac West. Odita is the mother of current Stanford beach volleyball All-American Xolani Hodel.
Jones set one lifetime best in the competition, throwing the javelin 129-0 (39.33m), a six-foot improvement. She won three events and runner-up Avery McMullen of Colorado never drew closer than 51 points, the difference after the long jump, the fifth event.
Going into the final event, the 800, McMullen needed to beat Jones by 4.2 seconds to make up a 65-point deficit and win the conference championship, but Jones outran McMullen by more than six seconds, running 2:17.29, to earn the victory.
Ky Robinson. Photo by Spencer Allen/SportsImageWire.com.
In the steeplechase, Robinson took the lead with 2 ½ laps to go, with Washington's Brian Fay and Washington State's Colton Johnson going with him. Fay passed Robinson on the backstretch of the final lap and Robinson was third going into the final water jump, but kicked past Johnson to take second behind Fay.
In the women's 800 prelims, Stanford sophomore Ellie Deligianni won her heat in a lifetime best 2:03.48 to earn the top qualifying mark for Sunday's final. Julia Heymach, who defends her title in the 5,000, qualified as well in the 800 and will double.
In the men's hammer, Max McKhann came out of the first flight to take seventh with a lifetime best of 212-0 (64.62m) and moves into the No. 10 spot on Stanford's all-time list. Toby Norwood, who threw 211-0 (64.32m) in 1995, drops off the list.
Sunday's finals include Robinson and Cole Sprout in the 5,000, Heymach in the 800 and 5,000, Christina Aragon in the women's 1,500, freshman Udodi Onzuwurike in the men's 100, 200, and 4x100 relay, and Keyshawn King in the men's triple jump.
Ellie Deligianni. Photo by Spencer Allen/SportsImageWire.com.
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Saturday's results
Pac-12 Championships
At Hayward Field, Eugene, Ore.
Winners and all Stanford competitors
Men
Team scores (after two of three days) – 1, Oregon 67; 2, Washington 60; 3, Cal 40; 4, Stanford 37; 5, UCLA 28; 6 (tie), USC, Washington State, each 18; 8 (tie), Arizona State, Colorado, each 15; 10, Arizona 14.
100 prelims – 3, Udodi Onwuzurike (Stanford) 10.25; 10, Dorien Simon (Stanford) 10.59. (Onwuzurike qualifies for final).
400 prelims – 14, Olufemi Cole (Stanford) 48.07 (PB); 15, Karson Lippert (Stanford) 48.09; 17, Miles Zoltak (Stanford) 48.21.
800 prelims – 7, John Lester (Stanford) 1:46.96. (Lester qualifies for final).
3,000 steeplechase final – 1, Brian Fay (Washington) 8:32.47; 2, Ky Robinson (Stanford) 8:33.91; 13, Michael Vernau (Stanford) 9:03.63.
Shot put final – 1, Josh Johnson (Cal) 65-5 (19.95m); 10, Sam Liokumovich (Stanford) 57-5 ¾ (17.52m).
Hammer final – 1, Trey Knight (USC) 235-7 (71.81m); 7, Max McKhann (Stanford) 212-0 (64.62m) (PB; No. 10 Stanford AT).
Women
Team scores (after two of three days) – 1, Oregon 60; 2, Colorado 44; 3, Washington 40; 4, Arizona State 34; 5, Cal 29; 6, Oregon State 24; 7, Stanford 23; 8, UCLA 17; 9, Washington State 16; 10, Arizona 15; 11, USC 10; 12, Utah 0.
100 prelims – 10, Kennedy Gamble (Stanford) 11.68; 23, Alexa Rossum (Stanford) 12.95.
400 prelims – 8, Maya Valmon (Stanford) 54.18. (Valmon qualifies for final).
800 prelims – 1, Ellie Deligianni (Stanford) 2:03.48 (PB; No. 6 Stanford AT); 7, Julia Heymach (Stanford) 2:04.41; 16, Lily Flynn (Stanford) 2:08.52; 18, Morgan Foster (Stanford) 2:09.49. (Deligianni and Heymach qualify for final).
Long jump final – 1, Alysah Hickey (Oregon) 21-0 ½ (6.41m); 11, Teagan Zwaanstra (Stanford) 18-9 ¾ (5.73m); 13, Tess Stapleton (Stanford) 18-8 (5.69m).
Shot put – 1, Jorinde Van Klinken (Arizona State) 60-1 (18.31m); 17, Jordan Fong (Stanford) 42-9 (13.03m); 18, Kaiah Fisher (Stanford) 42-8 ¾ (13.02m); 19, Brandy Atuatasi (Stanford) 42-7 (12.98m).
Heptathlon – 1, Allie Jones (Stanford) 5,731.
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.
Second day: Long jump – 3, 18-9 ¼ (5.72m), 765 (1); Javelin – 4, 129-0 (39.33m) (PB), 654 (1); 800 – 4, 2:17.29, 861. Second-day total: 2,280 (ties PB). Total: 5,731.
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Stanford's Sunday schedule
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: Maya Valmon (Pac-12 Network, Pac-12 Now app, Pac-12.com).
2:10 p.m. – Men's 100 final: Udodi Onwuzurike (Pac-12 Network, Pac-12 Now app, Pac-12.com).
2:15 p.m. – Women's 800 final: Ellie Deligianni, Julia Heymach (Pac-12 Network, Pac-12 Now app, Pac-12.com).
2:22 p.m. – Men's 800 final: John Lester (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).