LOUISVILLE, Ky. – On Saturday, for the 442nd time in the history of a program that began in 1893, a Stanford athlete captured a conference championship in track and field or cross country.
But what makes Zofia Dudek’s achievement especially noteworthy is that she was the first to do so in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Dudek, a graduate student studying biomedical data science, won the women’s 5,000 meters at Norton Healthcare Sports & Learning Center on the first day of the three-day meet. In Stanford’s first season in the ACC, Dudek became the first Cardinal to win a title and thus became the 279th different Stanford athlete to win a conference title of any kind.
Dudek ran a season-best 15:43.83 to beat Louisville’s Layla Roebke, who was the runner-up in 15:48.28. In fourth was Stanford teammate Audrey Suarez, who set a personal record by nearly nine seconds, of 15:50.85. Dudek and Suarez each earned All-ACC honors – Dudek on the first team and Suarez on the second.
Dudek led from the 1,600 onward -- the final 17 laps -- and wasn't threatened over the final half of the race.
Stanford hadn’t competed in an indoor conference championships since the final year of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation meet in 2020. Stanford’s most recent conference indoor champion was Ella Donaghu, who won the women’s mile in 2020 in 4:34.85. The last woman to win an indoor conference 5,000 was Kate Niehaus, who won the MPSF title in 16:22.34 in 2009.
Nine ACC champions were crowned on the first day, with Lex Young giving the Stanford men their first all-conference honor. Young was sixth in the 5,000 at 13:40.31. It matched the sophomore’s best conference finish, which was sixth in the 10,000 at the 2024 Pac-12 outdoor meet.
In what will be a busy meet for Tess Stapleton, the senior ran an indoor best in the 200 of 23.85 in the prelims, strengthening her spot at No. 9 on Stanford’s all-time indoor list.
Stanford Olympian Juliette Whittaker led off the women’s distance medley relay team that placed 11th. Whittaker is not entered in an individual event at this meet, but is competing in two relays – the DMR and the 4x400.
ACC Indoor Championships
At Norton Healthcare Sports & Learning Center
(200-meter banked track)
Men
Team scores (Day 1 of 3) – 1, Virginia 32; 2, North Carolina 29; 3, North Carolina State 12.5; 4, Duke 12; 5, California 11; 6 (tie), Clemson, Virginia Tech 10; 8, Notre Dame 9; 9 (tie, Louisville, Wake Forest 7; 11 (tie), Stanford, Boston College 5; 13, Syracuse 4; 14, Miami 1.5; 15, Florida State 1; 16 (tie), Georgia Tech, Pittsburgh 0.
5,000 – 1, Ethan Strand (North Carolina) 13:26.60; 6, Lex Young (Stanford) 13:40.31; 11, Robert DiDonato (Stanford) 13:50.99; 15, Patrick Koon (Stanford) 13:53.08; 30, Nolan Topper (Stanford) 14:07.36.
Distance medley relay – 1, Virginia Tech 9:31.55; 7, Stanford (Leo Young, Olufemi Cole, Zane Bergen, James Dargan) 9:35.66.
Weight throw – 1, Jeremiah Nubbe (Virginia) 77-8 (23.67); 14, Mason McKhann (Stanford) 57-9 ½ (17.61).
Women
Team scores (Day 1 of 3) -- 1, Virginia Tech 33; 2, Notre Dame 30; 3, Louisville 23; 4, North Carolina State 16; 5 (tie), Stanford, California, 15; 7, Duke 13; 8 (tie), Pittsburgh, Virginia 11; 10, Clemson 8; 11, North Carolina 7; 12, Wake Forest 6; 13, Florida State 5; 14 (tie), Miami, SMU 1; 16 (tie), Boston College, Georgia Tech, Syracuse 0.
200 – Prelims: 11, Tess Stapleton (Stanford) 23.85 (PB; No. 9 Stanford AT); 15, Sage Hinton (Stanford) 24.19.
5,000 – 1, Zofia Dudek (Stanford) 15:43.83; 4, Audrey Suarez (Stanford) 15:50.85 (PB); 12, Riley Stewart (Stanford) 16:13.61; 25, Audrey DaDamio (Stanford) 16:58.57.
Distance medley relay – 1, North Carolina State 10:52.59; 11, Stanford (Juliette Whittaker, Cate Peters, Amelia Everett, Hillary Studdert) 11:17.87.
Pole vault – 1, Julia Fixsen (Virginia Tech) 14-8 (4.47); 16, Sky Schuller (Stanford) 13-0 ¼ (3.97); 18, Lianne Kistler (Stanford) 12-6 ¼ (3.82).
PB = personal best
AT = all-time
Stanford’s Schedule (all times Pacific)
Sunday
10 a.m.: Women’s high jump (Alyssa Jones)
11:15 a.m.: Women’s long jump (F1: Alaysia Oakes, Tess Stapleton, Teagan Zwaanstra; F2: Alyssa Jones).
12:15 p.m.: Women’s mile prelims (H3: Julia Flynn; H4: Amy Bunnage).
12:45 p.m.: Men’s mile prelims (H1: Leo Young; H2: Zane Bergen; H3: James Dargan).
1:35 p.m.: Women’s 60 hurdles prelims (H2: Tess Stapleton).
2:35 p.m.: Women’s 400 prelims (H1: Cate Peters).
2:45 p.m.: Men’s long jump (F1: Xavier Drumgoole, John Kroeger).
2:55 p.m.: Men’s 400 prelims (H1: Zachary Ryan).
3:40 p.m.: Women’s 60 prelims (H2: Teagan Zwaanstra; H3: Alyssa Jones).
4:15 p.m.: Women’s 800 prelims (H1: Amelia Everett, Hillary Studdert; H2: Roisin Willis).
Monday
8 a.m.: Women’s triple jump (F1: Alaysia Oakes).
8:15 a.m.: Women’s shot put (Kaiah Fisher).
9 a.m.: Men’s pole vault (Garrett Brown).
9 a.m.: Women’s mile final.
9:10 a.m.: Men’s mile final.
9:30 a.m.: Women’s 60 hurdles final.
10 a.m.: Women’s 400 final.
10:10 a.m.: Men’s 400 final.
10:20 a.m.: Women’s 60 final.
10:30 a.m.: Men’s shot put (Sam Liokumovich).
10:40 a.m.: Women’s 800 final.
10:45 a.m.: Men’s triple jump (F1: Kevin Yang; F2: Xavier Drumgoole).
11:20 a.m.: Women’s 3,000 (S1: Audrey DaDamio, Julia Flynn, Audrey Suarez; S2: Zofia Dudek, Sophia Kennedy, Riley Stewart).
11:55 a.m.: Men’s 3,000 (S1: Zane Bergen, James Dargan, Robert DiDonato, Patrick Koon, Nolan Topper, Lex Young; S2: Thomas Boyden, Cole Sprout, Leo Young).
12:25 p.m.: Women’s 4x400 relay (S2: Stanford).
12:50 p.m.: Men’s 4x400 relay (S1: Stanford).