EUGENE, Ore. – Until Harrison Williams came along, the Stanford decathlon record had stood for 63 years. The way Williams is putting it out of reach, it may be at least that long before someone else can touch it.
The freshman shattered his own Stanford mark by 127 points, scoring 7,806 points while placing fourth at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. No Stanford decathlete has ever placed higher. He also is almost without peer for his age.
Williams is now No. 2 on the all-time United States junior list (19 and under), and the highest NCAA freshman finisher in the past two years. And by eclipsing 7,800, Williams has qualified for the 2016 Olympic trials.
“I’m just happy to get through it injury free and to get a solid score,” Williams said. “I was hoping to get 7,800 this year and reach the Olympic trials standard. That was my goal coming in.”
Williams is quickly becoming the most dominant decathlete in Stanford history. Williams first set the Stanford record of 7,679 on May 10, breaking a standard established in 1952 by two-time Olympic gold medalist Bob Mathias at the Helsinki Games. Though it stood for so long, Williams already has put 214 points on Mathias.
His performance combined with Dylan Duvio’s third place in the pole vault Wednesday, gives Stanford 11 points, exceeding its total for each of the past two years.
Williams opened with solid marks in the 110 hurdles (14.68) and discus (124-7), but it was his 16-4 ¾ clearance in the pole vault that thrust him from eighth to third. His 910 points in that event was his highest. After a javelin throw of 163-8, the school record was as good as broken. Williams made sure with a 4:30.89 in the 1,500 meters, needing something under 4:31 to reach the trials standard.
As for the school record, Williams was so far ahead of pace, he needed only 5:39.86 to break it.
His approach to each event Thursday, provides some insight into the strategy involved in the event.
In the discus, for example, Williams was short of his best of 130-1, but was close with two of his three throws and that was enough.
“You obviously want to get a PR, but at the end of the day, you just don’t want to foul three times,” Williams said. “You want to get something on the board. In the really technical events, you really just want to get a solid score.”
Those scores allowed him to maintain contact with the top, while also setting him up for his big events, like the pole vault.
He missed the first try at his opening height of 15-1, but wasn’t worried about the possibility of a no-height that would jeopardize his entire competition.
“I was on a pole that was too small,” Williams said. “I blew through the bar on that one. I knew if I got one pole up in size, I’d be fine.”
At 16-4 ½ (5.00 meters), Williams broke out an entire new pole – one he had never used in competition. Williams was “shocked” that the 5 meter 13.5 Flex pole shot him up so high and didn’t invert his body at the peak.
“On the second attempt, my coach (Michael Eskind) told me to invert sooner and use the pole to try to point me up there,” he said. “And it worked. It took one attempt basically to get used to it.”
Williams had a great second attempt at a personal record 5.10 meters (16-8 ¾). He actually reached the pit and pumped his fist before the bar fell.
When the decathlon ended, Williams briefly dropped to the track in exhaustion, but said he always feels a rush of adrenaline as well. There is a unique camaraderie among fellow competitors. After shaking hands and exchanging stories, all the competitors lined up in front of the West grandstand, held hands and bowed to the crowd.
The mutual respect is “like nothing else in the world,” Williams said. “You’re going through, basically, hell with these guys. I’ve competed against a lot of them and I’m really good friends with all the Oregon guys, but even the guys I just met yesterday, we’re very close now because we just went through this incredible experience together. We’ve spent 48 hours side by side by side.”
Williams is not done yet. He has two decathlons upcoming. He will defend his U.S. junior title later this month back at Hayward Field. In late July, he will represent the U.S. at the Pan Am Junior Championships in Edmonton.
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Two Stanford women’s middle-distance runners advanced to finals: junior Claudia Saunders in the 800 and freshman Elise Cranny in the 1,500.
Saunders ran 2:03.38 to finish second in her heat – only the first two in each of the three sections advanced automatically – while freshman teammate Olivia Baker (2:04.55) missed advancing by 0.12.
Cranny spent the first few moments after her race anxiously looking at the scoreboard. Her kicked improved her position by several places, and Cranny discovered that she indeed placed fifth, to earn the final automatic qualifying spot in her heat. Unbeknownst to Cranny, her 4:17.87 would have been enough to advance based on time.
Cranny was thankful to reach the final, but fell into a repeat of her regional race when by getting into a bad position and having to rally late. She held the rail for the first two laps, but found herself getting passed on the outside without anywhere to move.
“I need to work on not letting people get around on the outside,” Cranny said. “I was definitely afraid, especially coming into the last lap. I was so far back that once people started to pick up the pace, it was hard to answer.”
For the final, Cranny said she needs to stay calm, have fun, and avoid the traps, so she can cover any move.”
* * *
Unlike the 1,500, only the top two advanced automatically out of each of the three 800 sections. Only eight make the final, as opposed to 12 in the 1,500. This leads to the sense the races can be a crapshoot. And because the heats were seeded by regional times – when competitors didn’t have to go all out – there was a sense of imbalance among them.
“I feel I got lucky this year because the third heat was so stacked,” said Saunders, who ran in the first heat. “I knew that someone that should be in the finals was going to get left out.”
With the heats to competitive, chances are the races would be aggressive rather than technical. Saunders took that approach by staying in first or second throughout.
“I wasn’t holding back,” she said. “I figured if I kept pushing, I should be OK.”
Saunders now returns to the NCAA final. A year ago, she was a surprising second.
“It’s definitely a relief,” she said. “There are so many people that are capable of getting there. There’s never a guarantee. It’s a huge weight off my shoulders to know I’m in again.
“I want to get a PR, that would be exciting. I want to run for place, but I realize that if you do that, all the other important stuff just goes out the window. Hopefully, I can run a really aggressive race, so I can leave and not have any regrets about how I ran, whether I finish fifth or eighth.”
Baker wasn’t so fortunate, having to try to advance on time when only two individuals out of three heats would be able to do so. Baker missed by two spots by only fractions of a second.
“I did my best and left it all out on the track,” Baker said. “I really don’t think I could have run any harder on this given day. I can go home and be proud of myself for going out there and doing my best.”
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Baker didn’t have much time to recover – about 90 minutes – before running the second leg on the 4x400 relay.
With a foursome that included three true freshmen, Stanford maintained second-place in its semifinal – and an automatic qualifying spot – until the homestretch of the final leg. The team of junior Kristyn Williams, freshman Baker, freshman Gaby Gayles, and freshman Michaela Crunkleton Wilson ran 3:36.35. Though the Cardinal did not reach the final, it finished 15th overall to earn each member second-team All-America honors.
Stanford frontloaded its order with Williams and Baker and it paid off. Williams led off from Lane 1 and put Stanford in second. The spot was maintained by Baker and Gayles. On the final turn, Crunkleton Wilson tried hard to keep the spot, but was overtaken down the stretch. However, their willingness to compete and fight put Stanford in that spot. Those were qualities shared by all four runners.
“We had an awesome performance,” Kristyn Williams said. “Everyone had a task to do and we all did it really well. Olivia and I did really well in getting the team out there and getting us out of traffic. Gaby moved really well on her leg. And I felt Michaela did really well in bringing it home the way she did. I’m so proud of her.”
That the team was so young spoke well for their potential to return and use this experience down the road.
“We were in it to the end,” Gayles said. “Next year, we’ll be even stronger.”
* * *
The only single-event final for a Stanford athlete Wednesday was in the women’s javelin where sophomore Victoria Smith placed 16th with a throw of 155-1, earning the Canadian second-team All-America honors.
Smith’s best throw was her second of three, and capped a strong first season of eligibility after redshirting as a true freshman.
* * *
Stanford competes in only one event on Friday, the 5,000 with fifth-year senior Erik Olson and sophomore Sean McGorty. That concludes competition for the Cardinal men.
On Saturday, Stanford will have five women in finals: Cranny, Saunders, Valarie Allman in the discus, and Vanessa Fraser and national leader Jessica Tonn in the 5,000.
NCAA Championships
At Hayward Field
Stanford results
Men
Team score – 5, Stanford, 11 points.
Decathlon
Harrison Williams (Event, place in event, mark, points)
Day One – 100: 3, 10.83 (899); Long jump – 16, 22-10 ¾w (6.98m) (809); Shot put – 8, 43-7 ¼ (13.29m) (685); High jump – 11, 6-2 ¾ (1.90m) (714); 400 – 1, 47.16 (950). First-day total: 4,057.
Day Two – 110HH: 5, 14.68 (889); Discus: 13, 124-7 (37.98m) (624); Pole vault: 16-4 ¾ (5.00m) (910); Javelin – 13, 163-8 (49.89m) (587).
Total: 7,806 points (fourth place).
Women
800 semifinal – Heat 1: 2, Claudia Saunders (Stanford) 2:03.38 (advanced to final on place); 4, Olivia Baker (Stanford) 2:04.55 (did not advance).
1,500 semifinal – Heat 1: 5, Elise Cranny (Stanford) 4:17.87 (advanced to final on place).
4x400 relay semifinal – Heat 2: 6, Stanford (Kristyn Williams, Olivia Baker, Gaby Gayles, Michaela Crunkleton Wilson) 3:36.35 (15th, did not advance).
Javelin final – 16, Victoria Smith (Stanford) 155-1 (47.27m).
* * *
Stanford's remaining schedule:
Friday
6:30 p.m.: Men’s 5,000 final (Sean McGorty, Erik Olson)
Saturday
1:35 p.m.: Women’s discus final (Valarie Allman)
2:15 p.m.: Women’s 1,500 final (Elise Cranny)
3:20 p.m.: Women’s 800 final (Claudia Saunders)
4 p.m.: Women’s 5,000 final (Vanessa Fraser, Jessica Tonn)
Stanford athletes who have concluded competition and secured All-America honors:
Men
First team: Dylan Duvio (pole vault), Harrison Williams (decathlon).
Women
Second team: Olivia Baker (800, 4x400), Michaela Crunkleton Wilson (4x400), Gaby Gayles (4x400), Victoria Smith (javelin), Kristyn Williams (4x400).
