April 12, 2012
Meet Schedule
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BERKELEY, Calif. - The Stanford track and field teams will head across the Bay for the 118th running of the Big Meet on Saturday afternoon at Edwards Stadium. The Cardinal men will be looking to take their sixth-straight Big Meet, while the women its second straight.
Running events at the Big Meet get underway at 1:00 p.m. with the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase, but field events will begin in the morning. The women's hammer throw kicks things off at 9:30 a.m., followed by the women's long jump at 11:30.
Last year, Stanford swept the Big Meet with the Cardinal men winning 98-65, while the women won 88-75. Stanford still trails Cal overall in the men's competition with a record of 49-66-2, but has been successful lately, winning eight of the last 11. The women hold a 21-11 edge as this will be just the 33rd running of the women's meet.
Stanford is coming off hosting the Stanford Invitational where most of the team competed in various events over the two-day meet. Chris Derrick led the Cardinal men, winning his section of the 1,500 meters with a time of 3:41.17. The time currently ranks third in the nation, although Derrick will likely focus on longer distances the rest of the season. Amaechi Morton is Stanford's top ranked athtlete nationally, having run an NCAA-best 49.58 in the 400-meter hurdles at the Texas Relays.
On the women's side, Kori Carter won the 100-meter hurdles at the Stanford Invite and ranks ninth nationally with a time of 13.15 run at the Texas Relays. In the field, Arantxa King and Katerina Stefanidi both rank inside the top-10 as well. Stefanidi ranks third in the pole vault (14-3 ¼), while King is seventh in the long jump (21-4).
The Big Meet is a unique event in that is it an old-fashioned dual meet with head-to-head team scoring. The meet is scored as five points for a winner, three for second and one for first. Relays are just five points to the winner. Due to the unique style, both teams will have all healthy bodies compete with several looking to score points in events that they normally don't compete.
Following the Big Meet, Stanford will send some athletes to the Mt. SAC Relays and the Triton Invitational. The highly anticipated Payton Jordan Invitational will take place on April 29 at Cobb Track and Angell Field. The evening distance carnival will feature many top pros as numerous runners will be looking to achieve Olympic Standards in preparation for the Olympic Trials.