Last weekend marked the first outdoor meet of the season for the Stanford track and field team, setting a tone for the next few months of stiff outdoor competition. This was not a full team, though, as a few athletes were in Arkansas for a last-chance meet, and another large contingent did not participate in order to prepare for the upcoming NCAA Indoor Nationals.
The Cardinal had a strong performance on its home field, with sophomore Geoffrey Tabor leading the way. Tabor won the shot put with a mark of 57-3, and won the discus with a mark of 184-10. Another meet title winner in the throws was freshman Robert Hintz, who won the javelin with a toss of 193-2.
In the sprints, senior Mark Mueller led the men, winning the 200 meters with a time of 21.80.
On the women’s side, the Cardinal was led by freshman Elaine Patten, who won the high jump with a leap of 5-7. Junior Natasha Barthel also fared well in the field events, finishing second in the pole vault with a mark of 12-5.
In an exciting 800 race, freshman Justine Fredronic and junior Maddie Duhon finished first and second. They finished with times of 2:12.35 and 2:12.79 in an extremely close race. Fredronic and Duhon were at the front of the pack the entire time, taking turns maintaining the lead.
In the women’s 4×4 relay, freshman Karynn Dunn had a great run, pulling the team into the lead with a powerful sprint. Freshman Hannah Farley also had a strong performance, anchoring the team with an impressive run where she maintained her speed for the entirety of the 400 meters. The 400 is one of the toughest races, as it requires an all-out sprint for such a long distance.
Coming up next for the Cardinal is the NCAA Indoor Championships, which will prove both challenging and exciting, as the Stanford men and women try to prove themselves on a national scale.
“For nationals I just want to take it one day at time,” said sophomore distance runner Dylan Ferris. “I hope to relax in the mile preliminaries, and then come back in the distance medley relay and add four new All-Americans to the track roster. I have a lot of confidence in the group we have for the DMR.”
The Cardinal will head off to Fayetteville, Ark. this coming weekend, with a strong group of distance runners leading the way for Stanford, including some talented freshmen.