Last weekend, Stanford track and field’s distance squad and throwers travelled to Eugene to represent the Cardinal at the dual-location West Coast Classic. This week, the Cardinal return to Oregon and the infamous Hayward Field to take on 15 other teams at the Oregon Relays on Friday and Saturday.
As the second-to-last meet on the team’s regular-season schedule, the Oregon Relays will be one of few remaining opportunities for Cardinal athletes to make NCAA Championship qualifying marks. With the last day to make qualifying marks being May 16, Stanford athletes will have two other competitions — Big Meet versus Cal on May 1 and the Pac-12 Championships beginning May 14 — to punch their tickets to NCAA West Prelims in College Station, Texas; the top 32 athletes from each half of the country earn a spot at the NCAA Prelims.
Heading into the weekend’s events, 18 Cardinal athletes sit in qualifying position across 22 events. Fifth-year Ella Donaghu tops the ranking for Stanford women with a No. 3 national rank in the women’s 5,000 meters; she’ll compete in the women’s invitational 5,000 meters on Friday evening and will be joined in the event by sophomore Grace Connelly, freshman Lucy Jenks and senior Jessica Lawson.
The men’s invitational 5,000 meters will feature Stanford freshmen Thomas Boyden and Cole Sprout as the duo test their skills against a challenging field. Boyden and Sprout rank No. 16 and No. 18 in the distance, respectively.
Fifth-year Christina Aragon is slated to run the women’s 1,500 meters on Friday evening after finding success in the women’s 800 meters on the same track last weekend.
Stanford’s sprinters will look to improve on a challenging weekend in Tuscon, Arizona at the second venue of the West Coast Classic. After recording two new personal bests in the women’s 100 meters and 200 meters with finishing times of 11.53 and 23.62, respectively, sophomore Alexa Rossum has the chance to shave more time off in both of the events in Oregon. Also representing the Cardinal in the women’s 200 meters will be junior Allie Jones and senior Ashlan Best.
On the men’s side, junior Gabriel Navarro will aim to build on a 47.59 third-place showing in the men’s 400 meters last weekend. Aside from the 400 meters, Navarro will test his luck in the men’s 200 meters. Junior Miles Zoltak will join Navarro in the former, while junior Andrew Franco is set to run the latter.
Junior Keyshawn King seeks to continue a streak of success. King’s three best career performances in the men’s triple jump have come in the last month, including a personal best of 52 feet, 6 inches recorded at the Stanford Invitational on April 3; the mark was just shy of the school record.
Field events will kick off the meet, with men’s hammer throw starting at 3 p.m. PT in Eugene.