As most students on the Farm lazed away the long weekend, a contingent of the Stanford track and field team traveled to Austin, Texas for preliminary rounds of the NCAA National Championships. A total of 48 athletes competed in each event, in both the women’s and men’s sections, with only 12 moving on to nationals. At the end of the three-day meet, 10 Stanford women and seven Stanford men earned a trip to Eugene, Ore. for the NCAA Championships, which will be held in the second weekend of June.
In the distances, junior Stephanie Marcy qualified in the 10,000 meters with a time of 34:36.42. Fifth-year senior Madeleine O’Meara earned her first trip to NCAAs, running a career-best time of 10:20.30 in the steeplechase. The final female distance runner to finish in the top 12 was freshman Kathy Kroeger, who placed 11th in the 5,000 meters with a time of 16:39.80.
In the sprints, the women were led by freshman Carissa Levingston. On the second day of the meet, she ran a blistering 11.51 seconds in the 100 meters for the top NCAA qualifying time. On the final day of the meet, she was a part of the 4×100-meter relay team, alongside junior Shataya Hendricks, junior Brittni Dixon-Smith and senior Griffin Matthew. The team finished sixth in the event.
In the field events, the women were led by the consistently stellar performance of sophomore Katerina Stefanidi. After not making the height on her first two jumps, Stefanidi nailed the third jump to qualify for nationals. Stefanidi was one of nine vaulters to clear 13-9.25. Also qualifying in a field event was junior Arantxa King, who finished eighth in the long jump with a leap of 20-11.75. Matthew, who also competed in the event, sadly just missed the mark, finishing in 13th with a leap of 20-4.25.
“I am really excited to have qualified for nationals,” King said. “It takes a lot of the weight off my back. The next step is really to work on some technical things and get ready for next week. I have been jumping consistently far, but in order for me to do well I have to really break out from that consistency. I know that I am capable of competing well, so I am excited for the outcome.”
The final Stanford female to qualify in a field event was fifth-year senior Jaynie Goodbody, who placed sixth with a mark of 196-1. This will be Goodbody’s third consecutive NCAA Outdoor Championship appearance.
In the distances, junior Jake Riley became the first NCAA qualifier for the Cardinal men, placing third in the 10,000 meters with a time of 29:38.64. Riley also qualified in the 5,000 meters, placing 10th with a time of 14:07.48.
Also qualifying in the 5,000 meters were junior Elliott Heath, who won his heat with a time of 14:06.27, and sophomore Chris Derrick, finishing with a time of 14:02.16.
“I think we were pretty satisfied with the results from regionals,” Derrick said. “It would have been nice to get the 4×400 qualified, but we have a pretty solid group going. I’d say for me it’s just more of a relief to have regionals behind me so I can focus all of my attention on NCAAs.”
The final two male distance runners to qualify for nationals were sophomore Dylan Ferris and junior JT Sullivan. Ferris ran 3:46.76 in the 1,500 meters to earn his ticket to Eugene. Sullivan finished ninth in the 3,000-meter steeplechase to earn his spot at nationals. Sullivan finished with a time of 8:52.50.
In the 400-meter hurdles, the men had a pair of phenomenal finishes to qualify for nationals in the event. Sophomore Amaechi Morton finished with a time of 49.19, while senior Durell Coleman finished with a career-best time of 50.24. This was Morton’s second time breaking 50 seconds and an incredible race for Coleman.
Stanford’s 17 qualifiers will compete for NCAA national titles from June 9-12 in Eugene, Ore.