SEATTLE – Stanford’s Sean McGorty ran the fastest mile in Stanford track and field history – indoors or outdoors – at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation indoor championships Saturday.
In a ferocious duel with Washington’s Izaic Yorks, McGorty was narrowly beaten. However, York’s 3:53.89 and McGorty’s 3:53.95 were the fastest ever by American collegians indoors and rank No. 3 and No. 4 all-time indoors on any-sized track.
“I’m still pretty shocked with how everything turned out,” McGorty said long after his epic day was done.
In the team competition, Stanford’s women finished a strong second to Oregon – their best finish since 2012 – with 73.75 points. The Cardinal men were sixth, with 51.5, while USC took home the title.
Sophomore Olivia Baker earned the women’s 800 title in 2:04.28 and was Stanford’s only winner among the men or women. However, the Cardinal also got NCAA qualifiers from Vanessa Fraser and Aisling Cuffe, racing on the track for the first time in two years, in the women’s 3,000.
The top 16 marks in the country -- and 12 in the relays -- earn passage to the NCAA Championships on March 11-12 in Birmingham, Alabama. This meet represented the final chance at qualifying and the NCAA fields will be determined in the coming days.
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McGORTY AND YORKS left Dempsey Indoor buzzing, but the times won’t count on the official collegiate record lists because the 307-meter track is oversized, bigger than the standard 200-meter tracks considered for indoor record purposes. The collegiate indoor record is 3:52.88 run in 2014 by Arizona’s Lawi Lalang, a native of Kenya, and the American collegiate record remains 3:54.54 by BYU’s Mike Batty from 2012.
McGorty obliterated the school indoor record of 3:57.14 by Michael Atchoo run on the same track (Stanford includes all track sizes for indoor records) from 2013, and even the outdoor record of 3:55.16 set by Olympian Jeff Atkinson in 1986.
On the final lap, McGorty twice tried to take the lead on the final lap, first on the backstretch and then in a finishing kick, but fell just short of York’s 3:53.89. Both were under Atchoo’s meet record, as well as the facility standard of 3:54.52 by Chris Solinsky in 2011.
This was the only mile of the indoor season for McGorty, who will bypass the event at NCAA’s in favor of the 3,000. The meet schedule allows McGorty, who is a junior academically but a sophomore in eligibility, to anchor Stanford’s distance medley relay on Friday and then run the 3,000 on Saturday. The mile requires a semifinal round Friday.
“I really wanted to get a good mile in, but I talked with Coach (Chris Miltenberg) and the focus was definitely on racing and competing,” McGorty said.
McGorty’s previous mile best was 3:59.34, run on the same track a year ago. But he tipped his hand with a 3:55.8 anchor split over 1,600 in a school-record setting DMR Jan. 29 at Penn State.
The loss hurt. McGorty suffered close losses in the DMR at the Penn State National to Penn State, and in the 3,000 at the Iowa State Classic to Justyn Knight of Syracuse. McGorty’s aggression in trying to take the lead from Yorks may have cost him.
“I pulled up to him at 200, but when he surged, I had to go back behind him and then wait until the straightaway,” McGorty said. “It would have been better to tuck in on his shoulder and just make one move with 100 to go. We were both happy with my last 50 though.
“Situations like that help me run my best. I’m really looking forward to competing with the team in the DMR in two weeks.”
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PERHAPS STANFORD'S STRONGEST event among men or women is the women’s 800, and Baker led a Cardinal finish of three in the top four, with Claudia Saunders third (2:04.89) and Malika Waschmann fourth in a personal record 2:05.33. Baker became the third in school history to win an MPSF women’s 800 title, following Lindsay Hyatt in 2000 and Amy Weissenbach in 2014.
At the gun, Baker immediately grabbed a solid position on the inside and stayed patient behind BYU’s Shea Collinsworth before slingshotting past her while coming off the final turn and ran strong to the finish.
With a 2:04.10 behind her already, Baker is assured of an NCAA berth at No. 12, while Saunders also is in, at No. 15, though she did not improve upon her season best of 2:04.43.
“My plan was to get out there and race to win,” Baker said. “The plan wasn’t surrounded by time. It was just an opportunity to get into a fast race and win. The last lap was tough. I gave it all I had down the final stretch.”
Baker has qualified in two events – the 800 and DMR -- and has a choice to make. Miltenberg may want to maximize scoring opportunities by having Baker and Saunders stick to the 800 and move others into the DMR, but Baker said that has yet to be determined.
In the women’s 3,000, Fraser secured an NCAA berth in the No. 14 spot by running a personal best 9:09.89 to finish fourth. Teammate Cuffe, the NCAA indoor and outdoor 5,000 runner-up in 2014, returned from injury and ran 9:10.59, which gave her the final NCAA spot, at No. 16.
Fraser knew she had to run a personal record to have a shot at NCAA’s, but also was confident in her training. That combination pushed her to jump into the lead when the pace slowed about a mile in.
“I knew I would have to be bold,” Fraser said, “so I was prepared to make any decisive moves necessary. My body kind of went into autopilot when I took the lead. I felt really strong and wanted to increase the effort with each lap, which I felt I did pretty well.”
Though Fraser was passed on the final lap, she proved something about her ability to compete, and was rewarded with a five-second PR and NCAA passage.
“Seeing Vanessa make her move was inspiring,” Cuffe said. “I see her put so much hard work into practice every day, and to see the hard work show through as confidence in her racing style makes me so proud of her. It definitely inspired me to step it up and hang on.”
The race also was notable because it was the first time fifth-year senior Cuffe and sophomore teammate Elise Cranny – with 11 All-America honors between them -- had ever raced together. Injuries to each prevented that until Saturday. Cranny was among the leaders for much of the race, but fell back in the latter stages to finish eighth (9:18.18) in her second race back since NCAA Outdoors in June.
“I’ve been waiting a very long time to get to race with Elise,” Cuffe said. “That in itself was so great.”
The women’s 4x400 relay team of Kristyn Williams, Gaby Gayles, Michaela Crunkleton Wilson and Baker ran the second-fastest time in school history, a 3:33.92 that actually was superior to its school record of 3:33.78, run two weeks ago in Albuquerque, and placed second. Because the Albuquerque race was at altitude, Stanford’s time was adjusted to 3:34.22 on the NCAA qualifying list. Saturday’s performance improved its position, but Stanford was left at No. 17, five spots from qualifying.
Among other top performances, Dartis Willis II was second in the high jump at 7-0 1/2 . He had trouble clearing his opening height of 6-10 ¾, but rebounded to clear the next bar on his first try.
Sophomore Tristen Newman continues to establish himself on the Cardinal men’s all-time shot put list, moving up two spots to No. 4 at 58-1. In the women’s shot, Lena Giger established a lifetime best by more than a foot, finishing fourth at 53-0 ¼ and moving to No. 5 all-time.
In the women's 400, Williams was second in 53.39, running a season best by more than a second. In the men's 400, Jackson Shumway ran 47.36 to finish sixth. It was his third PR in as many races this season, and strengthened his hold on the No. 7 spot at Stanford.
MPSF Championships
At Dempsey Indoor
Saturday’s results
Winners and Stanford competitors
Men
Team scores – 1, USC 90 ½; 2, BYU 82; 3, UCLA 73; 4, Oregon 72; 5, Arizona State 59; 6, Stanford 51 ½; 7, Washington 49 ½; 8, California 48; 9, Arizona 43; 10, Colorado 38; 11, Long Beach State 20 ½; 12, Washington State 19; 13, Portland 9; 14, CSUN 8.
Individual results
400 – 1, Ricky Morgan Jr. (USC) 46.45; 6, Jackson Shumway (Stanford) 47.36 (PB; No. 7); 25, Daniel Brady (Stanford) 50.02.
800 – 1, Robert Ford (USC) 1:47.88; 12, Justin Brinkley (Stanford) 1:52.31.
Mile – 1, Izaic Yorks (Washington) 3:53.89 (meet and track record); 2, Sean McGorty (Stanford) 3:53.95 (school record; PB); 9, Tom Coyle (Stanford) 4:05.32; 15, Adam Thorne (Stanford) 4:08.59 (PB); 20, Patrick Perrier (Stanford) 4:11.09.
3,000 – 1, Pierce Murphy (Colorado) 7:51.51; 12, Collin Leibold (Stanford) 8:03.95; 14, Steven Fahy (Stanford) 8:07.95 (PB).
4x400 relay – 1, USC 3:07.32; 6, Stanford (Daniel Brady, Harrison Williams, Isaiah Brandt-Sims, Jackson Shumway) 3:13.91.
High jump – 1, Zachary Blackham (BYU) 7-2 ½ (2.20m); 2, Dartis Willis II (Stanford) 7-0 ½ (2.15m).
Triple jump – 1, Eric Sloan (USC) 53-6 ¼ (16.31m); 4, Darian Brooks (Stanford) 51-7 (15.72m); 5, Jaak Uudmae (Stanford) 50-11 ½ (15.53m).
Shot put – 1, Nicholas Scarvelis (UCLA) 65-2 ¾ (19.88m); 11, Tristen Newman (Stanford) 58-1 (17.70m; PB; No.4).
Women
Team scores – 1, Oregon 108; 2, Stanford 73 ¾; 3, USC 59; 4, Washington State 54 ½; 5, Colorado 50; 6, Washington 47 ¾; 7, BYU 47 ½; 8, Arizona State 44; 9 (tie), Arizona and California, 43; 11, UCLA 34; 12, Oregon State 14; 13, Long Beach State 11; 14, Utah 9; 15, Portland 8; 16, CSUN 6 ¾; 17, Hawaii 4 ½; 18, UC Irvine 3; 19, Cal State Fullerton 2 ¼.
Individual results
400 – 1, Kendall Ellis (USC) 53.11; 2, Kristyn Williams (Stanford) 53.39.
800 – 1, Olivia Baker (Stanford) 2:04.28; 3, Claudia Saunders (Stanford) 2:04.89; 4, Malika Waschmann (Stanford) 2:05.33 (PB; No. 5).
Mile – 1, Ashley Maton (Oregon) 4:38.32; 10, Maddy Berkson (Stanford) 4:48.05; 11, Molly McNamara (Stanford) 4:51.49.
3,000 – 1, Erin Clark (Colorado) 9:08.29; 4, Vanessa Fraser (Stanford) 9:09.89 (PB); 6, Aisling Cuffe (Stanford) 9:10.59; 8, Elise Cranny (Stanford) 9:18.18; 10, Rebecca Mehra (Stanford) 9:25.48 (PB); 15, Sophie Chase (Stanford) 9:30.27; 17, Danielle Katz (Stanford) 9:35.75.
4x400 relay – 1, Arizona 3:32.54 (meet and track record); 2, Stanford (Kristyn Williams, Gaby Gayles, Michaela Crunkleton Wilson, Olivia Baker) 3:33.92.
Triple jump – 1, Isabella Martin (California) 42-10 ¾ (13.07m); 6, Carla Forbes (Stanford) 40-7 ¾ (12.39m); 8, Marisa Kwiatkowski (Stanford) 40-2 ¾ (12.25m).
Shot put – 1, Brittany Mann (Oregon) 56-0 ½ (17.08m); 4, Lena Giger (Stanford) 53-0 ¼ (16.16m; PB; No. 5).
PB = personal best.
No. = rank after addition or improvement on Stanford’s all-time indoor performers’ list.
