EUGENE, Ore. – She was fifth with 200 meters to go in the women’s 800 final, but Stanford junior Roisin Willis unleashed a kick that put a talented field to shame at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships Saturday at Hayward Field.
Willis crossed the finish line with a smile and moments later covered her face with both hands as the realization of her accomplishment took hold.
In a race that included second, third, and fourth fastest women in collegiate history, Willis ran faster than all them, and her time of 1:58.13 was an NCAA Championships record, an Atlantic Coast Conference record and a personal best.
The time is the third-fastest in a collegiate race in history, and eighth-fastest among collegians on all dates, including non-collegiate competition. The Stanford record of 1:57.76 by teammate Juliette Whittaker at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games is the fifth-fastest among all-dates in collegiate history and Willis’ time is the second-fastest all-time at Stanford.
Willis was among three podium placers for the Stanford women on Saturday, with sophomore Sophia Kennedy taking third in the 5,000 in 15:35.08 and Alyssa Jones placing fourth in the high jump with a school outdoor record of 6-2 ¾ (1.90).
Those three scorers -- including Jones’ second place in the long jump on Thursday – gave the Cardinal 29 points and sixth place as a team. It was the best team placing for the Cardinal since taking third in 2018 and made Stanford the highest placing women's team from the ACC.
The final day of the four-day meet consisted of women’s finals and the 800 final was among the most anticipated because of the talent and depth of the field. Three entrants had won NCAA titles at 800 – Willis indoors in 2023 (she also won the 2023 indoor distance medley relay), LSU’s Michaela Rose outdoors in 2023, and North Carolina’s Makayla Paige indoors in 2025.
Rose and Willis like to run from the front and at the gun, it was Rose in first with Willis tucked behind. But Willis slowly got swallowed up by the pack and at 400, was fifth. Rose came through the first lap in 56.09 with Willis in 56.70.
“There was a little bit of hesitation when I saw how fast we went through 400,” she said. “I knew I didn't want to use that much energy too early and I figured a lot of people would push the pace through 700. I trusted that I could make different moves when I needed to.”
On the backstretch of the final lap, Willis looked capable of moving up, but was boxed in. With 200 to go, Willis found room inside to pass Harvard’s Victoria Bussong and got the opening she needed to swing around Paige coming off the turn.
“My coaches said to me all week, ‘They will come back, they will come back, just trust in your kick,’” Willis said. “We've been training for that all season. I knew they were going to push the pace, but I think that I could come through when I needed to.”
Willis’ momentum continued to carry her forward, as Rose and BYU’s Meghan Hunter began to falter. Willis won going away, closing with a final lap of 1:01.44 – nearly a second faster than anybody else.
Willis has been open about her mental health struggles over the past three years, while also trying to manage pressure and high expectations on the track. But in recent months, Willis has found peace with the sport and has begun enjoying running again. As she showed in winning a semifinal on Thursday, she clearly was confident and clearly fit.
Down went the meet record of 1:58.95, which Rose ran in a semifinal Thursday, and the ACC record of 1:58.55 by Virginia’s Michaela Meyer in 2021.
Combined with Whittaker’s victory last year, this is the fourth time a school has won back-to-back women’s 800 titles with different individuals. One such winner was Tennessee’s Joetta Clark, sister of J.J. Clark, Stanford’s Franklin P. Johnson Directory of Track and Field and Cross Country. Clark directly coaches women’s distance runners, such as Willis, Kennedy, and Whittaker.
“Really, in the past 24 hours, I was just visualizing -- visualizing me crossing that line first,” Willis said. “Leading up to the race, I started to doubt myself a little bit. But as it was happening, coming down the home stretch, I said to myself, I want to win today.”
In warming up for the high jump, Jones failed to make any of her attempts. The NCAA long jump runner-up on Thursday, Jones was competing in the high jump for the first time in the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
But at gametime, Jones was on fire, clearing her first attempts each of her first four heights -- 5-8 ½ (1.74), 5-10 ½ (1.79), 6-0 ½ (1.84), and 6-1 ½ (1.87).
Six women still were alive at 6-2 ¾ (1.90) and cleared it on her third try. The jump broke Lisa Bernhagen’s outdoor school record of 6-2 (1.88) from 1988. It also was Stanford’s NCAA Outdoor Championships record, breaking Bernhagen’s 6-1 ¼ (1.86) in placing second in 1988.
In the 5,000, Stanford had representation in this event for the 15th consecutive year, but had not had a top-three finisher since Aisling Cuffe was second in 2014.
Kennedy led early with teammate Zofia Dudek hanging back. But as the race progressed, Kennedy stayed around ninth or 10th in a tight pack.
With two laps to go, 16 runners still were connected, and Kennedy had stayed out of trouble by running on the inside of Lane Two to be in position to cover any moves.
Kennedy was ninth just after the bell and roughly maintained that position until making a sharp move with 150 to go and started to reel in the field. Still fifth with 100 to go, Kennedy caught North Carolina State’s Grace Hartman and, in her final stride, caught New Mexico’s Marion Jepngetich.
It was Kennedy’s highest NCAA finish – improving upon her fifth in the 5,000 at this year’s NCAA Indoors – and she earned the distinction of being the top American finisher, with New Mexico’s winner Pamela Kosgei from Kenya and Boston University’s runner-up Vera Sjoberg from Sweden.
Dudek placed 17th in 15:53.91.
And thus ended the academic year of 2024-25 for Stanford Athletics. The year began on August 15, 2024, with a 1-0 women’s soccer victory at University of San Francisco, and was characterized by Stanford’s first year in the ACC.
Ten months later, it ended with a sixth-place women’s finish in outdoor track and field. In two months, it starts all over again.
NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships
At Hayward Field
Saturday's Stanford results
Women
Team scores -- 1, Georgia 73; 2, USC 47; 3, Texas A&M 43; 4, Washington 31; 5, Illinois 29.5; 6, Stanford 29; 7, South Carolina 28; 8, Arkansas 26; 9, New Mexico 25; 10 (tie), Oregon, Texas, 23.
800 – 1, Roisin Willis (Stanford) 1:58.13 (PB; No. 2 Stanford AT; meet record; ACC record).
5,000 – 1, Pamela Kosgei (New Mexico) 15:33.96; 3, Sophia Kennedy (Stanford) 15:35.08; 17, Zofia Dudek (Stanford) 15:53.91.
High jump – 1, Elena Kulichenko (Georgia) 6-5 (1.96); 4, Alyssa Jones (Stanford) 6-2 ¾ (1.90) (PB; School outdoor record).
PB = personal best
AT = all-time