NEW ORLEANS – The preseason indoor track and field rankings were released Tuesday and Stanford holds the No. 13 spots in both USTFCCCA men’s and women’s coaches’ polls.
The Cardinal women are coming off an eighth-place finish at the 2015 NCAA Indoor Championships and return three – Claudia Saunders (800 meters), Elise Cranny (3,000), and Aisling Cuffe (5,000) -- who have finished second at an NCAA championship meet.
A fall in the distance medley relay conspired to prevent the Cardinal men from scoring at NCAA’s last year, but Stanford comes in with a strong squad that includes two sub-4 milers (three if freshman Grant Fisher does not redshirt), seven who have broken 14 minutes in the 5,000 meters, two 50-foot triple jumpers, an 18-foot pole vaulter, and a heptathlete who holds the U.S. junior decathlon record.
Junior pole vaulter Dylan Duvio and sophomore heptathlete Harrison Williams are coming off third- and fourth-place finishes, respectively, at NCAA outdoors and are primed to contend indoors. The distance trio of Sean McGorty, and Jim and Joe Rosa, also could score. McGorty could make an impact in the mile, 3,000, 5,000, or DMR.
Darian Brooks is a three-time conference triple jump champ (Pac-12 outdoors twice, MPSF indoors last year) who is looking to make an impact nationally.
For the women, there may be an opportunity to break through in the 4x400 or the DMR, the event that has become a trademark for the Cardinal men and women. The two squads have combined for five NCAA titles in that event, most recently by the men in 2014.
The women’s 4x400 squad could include school-record quartermiler Kristyn Williams, 2014 world junior relay gold medalist Olivia Baker, as well as Gaby Gayles and Michaela Crunkleton Wilson – the lineup that ran at NCAA outdoors last year.
The Cardinal opens the indoor season Jan. 16 at the UW Indoor Preview in Seattle. The NCAA’s are March 11 in Birmingham, Alabama.
The Cardinal women are coming off an eighth-place finish at the 2015 NCAA Indoor Championships and return three – Claudia Saunders (800 meters), Elise Cranny (3,000), and Aisling Cuffe (5,000) -- who have finished second at an NCAA championship meet.
A fall in the distance medley relay conspired to prevent the Cardinal men from scoring at NCAA’s last year, but Stanford comes in with a strong squad that includes two sub-4 milers (three if freshman Grant Fisher does not redshirt), seven who have broken 14 minutes in the 5,000 meters, two 50-foot triple jumpers, an 18-foot pole vaulter, and a heptathlete who holds the U.S. junior decathlon record.
Junior pole vaulter Dylan Duvio and sophomore heptathlete Harrison Williams are coming off third- and fourth-place finishes, respectively, at NCAA outdoors and are primed to contend indoors. The distance trio of Sean McGorty, and Jim and Joe Rosa, also could score. McGorty could make an impact in the mile, 3,000, 5,000, or DMR.
Darian Brooks is a three-time conference triple jump champ (Pac-12 outdoors twice, MPSF indoors last year) who is looking to make an impact nationally.
For the women, there may be an opportunity to break through in the 4x400 or the DMR, the event that has become a trademark for the Cardinal men and women. The two squads have combined for five NCAA titles in that event, most recently by the men in 2014.
The women’s 4x400 squad could include school-record quartermiler Kristyn Williams, 2014 world junior relay gold medalist Olivia Baker, as well as Gaby Gayles and Michaela Crunkleton Wilson – the lineup that ran at NCAA outdoors last year.
The Cardinal opens the indoor season Jan. 16 at the UW Indoor Preview in Seattle. The NCAA’s are March 11 in Birmingham, Alabama.
