May 12, 2011
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The Stanford track and field teams will travel to the desert to compete in the Pac-10 Championships this weekend, May 13-14 in Tucson, Ariz. The No. 12 men's team and the unranked women's team will look to bring home the conference titles. The action begins at 2:30 on Friday with the beginning of the field events. Running events will be in the evening, beginning at 5:15 p.m. on Friday. Saturday, the field events begin at 3 p.m. and the running events at 6 p.m.
Stanford Men at the Pac-10 Meet
The Cardinal enter the meet ranked No. 12 in the nation as one of six ranked teams from the powerful Pac-10. No. 7 USC, No. 10 Arizona, No. 20 Oregon, No. 21 UCLA and No. 23 Washington along with Stanford all will be competitive for the title. Stanford has not won a Pac-10 title on the men's side since 2002 when it scored 151 points in Pullman, Wash.
The Cardinal will be led by its deep and talented distance crew that includes defending Pac-10 5,000 and 10,000 meter champion Chris Derrick. In addition, Elliott Heath is coming of a NCAA indoor title in the 3,000 meters and has been in fine form all year. He is currently ranked No. 1 in the nation in the 5,000 meters with a time of 13:26.14. Other notables are 5,000 and 10,000 All-American Jake Riley and All-America steeplechaser JT Sullivan.
Beyond the distance crew, the Cardinal has a well rounded group led by Amaechi Morton in the 400-meter hurdles. Morton was third at the NCAA meet last year, but will be looking for his first Pac-10 title when he duals with Washington State rival Jeshua Anderson. Other notables for Stanford are Jules Sharpe in the high jump and Geoffrey Tabor in the throws. Tabor is currently ranked No.1 in the Pac-10 in the discus with a throw of 188-9.
Stanford Women at the Pac-10 Meet
The Cardinal women dropped out of the ranking this week after being No. 23 in the country a week ago. Despite the drop, the women are a threat for a high finish at the Pac-10 Championships that includes five ranked teams. No. 4 USC, No. 5 Oregon, No. 8 Arizona, No. 12 Arizona State and No. 23 Washington State make up the group of ranked teams. The Cardinal will be looking for it first title since 2005 when it scored 173 points in Los Angeles in a meet hosted by UCLA.
The Cardinal women are led by a pair of standouts in the field events. Katerina Stefanidi is back to defend her Pac-10 title in the pole vault. The junior was the NCAA runner-up during the indoor season and already has a season best of 14-6. Also performing well in the field is Whitney Liehr who enters the meet as the No. 2 triple jumper in the conference and No. 6 in the nation with a mark of 43-8 1/2.
On the track, Stanford is led by Stephanie Marcy in the distances and Kori Carter in the hurdles. Marcy ranks fifth in the conference in both the 5,000 and 10,000 meters, while Carter is third in the 100-meter hurdles and seventh in the 400-meter hurdles. Other notables are Shataya Hendricks and Carissa Levingston in the sprints and Justine Fedronic in the 800 meters.