This weekend, the Stanford track and field team hosted the legendary Payton Jordan Invitational. Stanford hosts this annual event in honor of Jordan, a former coach, who passed away in February of 2009. In the past, the meet has been known to attract elite track and field athletes from all over the country, resulting in spectacular times and marks in various events. This year proved no different, with records falling and several personal bests earned for the Cardinal.

Chris Solinsky, a professional runner for Nike and Oregon Track Club Elite, provided the highlight for the meet by smashing the American record in the 10,000 meters with a time of 26:59.60. Interestingly enough, Meb Keflezighi, an elite runner who won the New York City Marathon in 2009, set a 10,000 meter record at the Payton Jordan Invitational back in 2001, with a time of 27:13.98. Solinsky’s achievement was huge, setting a record time and also being the first non-African to run under 27 minutes.

Aside from the professional runners, Stanford athletes had some incredible performances this weekend, achieving some personal bests and moving into high rankings in the NCAA.

Leading the way for the Stanford men was sophomore Amaechi Morton, who broke his own record in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 50.03 seconds. Morton’s time not only retains his top spot in the Stanford books, but also puts him in the third-place position in the entire nation, an incredible feat for this young hurdler.

“I’m definitely stoked about this season, being able to run as fast as I did, with a few technical difficulties,” Morton said. “It was a good race, but could definitely be better.”

Also faring very well in the 400-meter hurdles was senior Durell Coleman, who ran a personal best time of 51.70 seconds to put himself in the top 25 in the NCAA as of Saturday.

Senior Danny Belch also fared well in the sprints. Belch, who has been having a great season thus far, won both the 100- and 200-meter dashes with times of 10.71 and 21.57, respectively. His time in the 200 meters was a personal best.

On the distances side, the men dominated, with sophomore Dylan Ferris leading the way. Ferris won the 1,500 meters with a time of 3:40.07, moving him up to fourth in the nation. Right behind Ferris was junior Elliott Heath, who finished second in the meet, and fifth in the nation, with a time of 3:41.27. Accompanying these two men was sophomore Chris Derrick, who usually runs longer distances, but fared well regardless. Derrick finished with a time of 3:42.45 in his first collegiate 1,500 meters. Derrick will most likely return to his longer races, but his ability to run fast in these middle distances will benefit him in finishing strong.

Ferris was happy with both himself and his teammates.

“I felt like I raced exactly the way I needed to win and come out with a fast time,” Ferris said. “More exciting was having three guys run good PRs in the race.”

“For me, I was glad I had a strong finish and was tough during the race to put myself into a position to win at the end,” Ferris said. “Being fourth in the NCAA feels good right now, but I still have to keep working hard and taking care of myself as we move into the championship season.”

In the field events, the men had two event wins, with junior Casey Roche taking home the pole vault title with a mark of 17-0.25, a personal best, and freshman Robert Hintz winning the javelin with a collegiate-best mark of 195-8.

Leading the way for the women was the sprinting duo of senior Griffin Matthew and freshman Carissa Levingston. Matthew captured the meet title in the 200 meters, with a career-best time of 23.41 seconds. Levingston won the 100 meters with a time of 11.70 seconds.

The women performed exceedingly well in the field events, scoring three event wins. Sophomore Katerina Stefanidi, who has consistently dominated the pole vaulting scene this season, won the event with a mark of 13-10.5. Redshirt senior Jaynie Goodbody won the hammer throw with a season-best toss of 196-9, and junior Liz Minoofar won the javelin with a career-best toss of 147-10.

The meet was a huge success, from amazing runs by professional athletes to top performances from Stanford athletes as well. The meet proved promising for the upcoming Pac-10 Championships (May 15-16), as the Cardinal has established itself as a threat to be dealt with in the conference.