FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Two school indoor records fell Saturday as the Stanford men's and women's track and field teams completed the two-day Razorback Invitational at the Randal Tyson Track Center.
Udodi Onwuzurike made his season debut and promptly tied his own Stanford mark of 6.67 in the 60-meter prelims and broke it in the final, placing a close second in 6.63. Including his outdoor records in the 100 and 200, the sophomore already has tied or broken school records eight times and is undeniably Stanford's greatest sprinter since Olympian and 1962 NCAA 100-yard champion Larry Questad.
Perhaps 20 minutes before the men's 60 final, Stanford sprints and hurdles coach Jarius Cooper saw another one of his athletes break a school mark. Maya Valmon, a sophomore, followed up on her sizzling leg in the distance medley relay on Friday with a 53.01 in the 400, edging Ashlan Best's time of 53.02 from 2020.
Valmon had a superb meet. On Stanford's winning DMR on Friday, Valmon staked Stanford to a huge lead by running the fastest 400 DMR leg in Stanford history. Her 52.41 split was faster than the 52.5 by Jayna Smith on the team that won the 2000 NCAA title.
She finished off the meet by running the opening leg on the Cardinal's 4x400 relay that just missed tying the school record by 0.16 seconds. The team of Valmon, Roisin Willis, Alexa Rossum, and Juliette Whittaker clocked 3:33.94 – the third-fastest in school history – and placed 10th overall.
In her first collegiate mile, Whittaker crushed the Stanford freshmen record by more than eight seconds. Whittaker was second in the final section and fourth overall. Her time of 4:33.89 places her No. 4 at Stanford all-time and bettered the 2009 frosh record time of 4:42.25 by Laurynne Chetelat.
Willis, the reigning world under-20 800 champion, ran her first collegiate race at that distance and won the sixth and final section in 2:03.79. But her time was second to LSU's Michaela Rose, who ran 2:01.66 in the fifth section. Willis' time placed her No. 4 on Stanford's all-time indoor list, and is No. 3 on a strong school freshmen list, behind Whittaker (2:02.48 indoors two weeks ago) and Amy Weissenbach's 2:00.98 at the U.S. national outdoor championships in 2013.
Willis has reached the finish first in her sections in each of her two individual races so far – the 400 in the UW Indoor Preview and the 800 on Saturday.
The men's 3,000 was expected to be a Stanford highlight and it certainly was, with Cole Sprout and Ky Robinson finishing second (7:44.50) and third (7:49.72) overall. It was a personal best for Robinson, who now is NCAA qualifying (national top 16) position in three events – the 5,000, mile, and 3,000.
Devin Hart won his section in 7:52.75 and was seventh overall. NCAA cross country champion Charles Hicks made his season debut and placed fifth in the top section and 10th overall, in 7:53.90.
With five weeks of qualifying still to go, five Stanford men in eight events, and six Cardinal women in eight events, plus a women's DMR, are in position to qualify for the NCAA Championships March 10-11 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Stanford's highest national ranking in any event is the women's DMR team (Whittaker, Valmon, Willis, and Melissa Tanaka), which is No. 1. The top ranked Cardinal male is Robinson, who is No. 2 in the 5,000.
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Saturday's results
Razorback Invitational
At Randal Tyson Indoor Track Center
(200-meter banked track)
Winners and all Stanford
Men
60 – 1, P.J. Austin (Florida) 6.58; 2, Udodi Onwuzurike (Stanford) 6.63 (PB; school record). Prelims: 1, Udodi Onwuzurike (Stanford) 6.67 (ties PB; ties school record); 27, Dorien Simon (Stanford) 6.92; 34, Gabriel Navarro (Stanford) 7.11.
400 – 1, Christopher Bailey (Arkansas) 45.09; 31, Karson Lippert (Stanford) 48.25; 35, Miles Zoltak (Stanford) 48.44; Olufemi Cole (Stanford) DNF.
800 – 1, Sebastian Fernandez (BYU) 1:47.63; 5, John Lester (Stanford) 1:49.95; 20, Zane Bergen (Stanford) 1:52.85.
Mile – 1, Fouad Messaoudi (Oklahoma State) 3:54.98; 7, John Lester (Stanford) 3:58.84 (PB); 18, Caleb Boutelle (Stanford) 4:05.03 (PB); 26, Zane Bergen (Stanford) 4:08.51; 28, Gavin Sherry (Stanford) 4:08.84.
3,000 – 1, Casey Clinger (BYU) 7:43.96; 2, Cole Sprout (Stanford) 7:44.50; 3, Ky Robinson (Stanford) 7:49.72 (PB; No. 8 Stanford AT); 7, Devin Hart (Stanford) 7:52.75; 10, Charles Hicks (Stanford) 7:53.90; 12, Thomas Boyden (Stanford) 7:54.34 (PB); 13, Evan Burke (Stanford) 7:54.56 (PB); 15, Robert DiDonato (Stanford) 7:56.55 (PB); 23, Meika Beaudoin-Rousseau (Stanford) 8:01.90.
4x400 relay – 1, Florida 3:04.11; 12, Stanford (Miles Zoltak, Karson Lippert, Udodi Onwuzurike, Marcus Floyd) 3:13.83.
Triple jump – 1, Emanuel Ihemeje (Italy) 55-9 (16.99m); 7, Kevin Yang (Stanford) 49-0 ¾ (14.95m) (No. 10 Stanford AT); Marcus Floyd (Stanford) F.
Weight throw – 1, Tarik Robinson-O'Hagan (Ole Miss) 72-7 ¾ (22.14m); 7, Anthony Argyropoulos (Stanford) 62-7 ¾ (19.09m) (PB; No. 10 Stanford AT).
Women
60 – Final: 1, McKenzie Long (Ole Miss) 7.28. Prelims: 12, Alexa Rossum (Stanford) 7.49; 20, Alyssa Jones (Stanford) 7.53 (No. 4 Stanford frosh); 36, Megan Olomu (Stanford) 7.94.
400 – 1, Abby Steiner (U.S.) 50.59; 14, Maya Valmon (Stanford) 53.01 (PB; school record); 32, Samantha Thomas (Stanford) 54.86 (PB).
800 – 1, Michaela Rose (LSU) 2:01.66; 2, Roisin Willis (Stanford) 2:03.79 (No. 4 Stanford AT; No. 3 Stanford frosh); 7, Melissa Tanaka (Stanford) 2:06.15; 17, Anna Tovkach (Stanford) 2:08.15; 18, Taylor James (Stanford) 2:08.61.
Mile – 1, Lauren Gregory (Arkansas) 4:31.88; 4, Juliette Whittaker (Stanford) 4:33.89 (PB; No. 4 Stanford AT; school frosh record); 12, Ellie Deligianni (Stanford) 4:39.45 (PB); 19, Riley Stewart (Stanford) 4:43.83 (No. 3 Stanford frosh); 30, Audrey Suarez (Stanford) 4:46.87; 36, Julia Flynn (Stanford) 4:48.42; 44, Ava Parekh (Stanford) 4:52.43; 50, Imogen Gardiner (Stanford) 4:57.82.
3,000 – 1, Sydney Thorvaldson (Arkansas) 9:11.47; 5, Lucy Jenks (Stanford) 9:22.01; 7, Grace Connolly (Stanford) 9:23.01 (PB).
60 hurdles – Final: Ackera Nugent (Arkansas) 7.88. Prelims: 27, Madison Romain (Stanford) 9.45.
4x400 relay – 1, Arkansas 3:26.40; 10, Stanford (Maya Valmon, Roisin Willis, Alexa Rossum, Juliette Whittaker) 3:33.94 (No. 3 Stanford AT).
Pole vault – 1, Amanda Fassold (Arkansas) 14-7 ¼ (4.45m); 12, Laurel Wong (Stanford) 13-1 (3.99m) (No. 6 Stanford AT); 23, Kelly Kern (Stanford) 12-7 ¼ (3.84m).
Triple jump – 1, Koi Johnson (Baylor) 42-8 (13.00m); 11, Alaysia Oakes (Stanford) 37-7 ¼ (11.46m).
PB = personal best
AT = all-time
