STANFORD, Calif. – The 41st Stanford Invitational takes on added significance to those track and field athletes jockeying for Olympic Trials and even Olympic qualifying marks.
The Stanford Invitational distance events – especially the 10,000 meters – typically qualify great numbers into the NCAA preliminary meets. And for high school athletes, the meet provides an ideal opportunity to make an impression in front of college coaches.
Below is meet information and ways to follow the action. Then, there is schedule of Stanford’s athletes, followed by a closer look at key events, as well as a brief history of the meet.
Meet information:
When: Friday and Saturday.
What: 41st Stanford Invitational
Where: Cobb Track and Angell Field
Events begin:
Friday: Field, 9 a.m.; Running, 10:42 a.m.
Saturday: Field, 9 a.m.; Running, 9:52 a.m.
Follow the action:
Entries/Live results: Click here
Heat sheets: Click here
Event schedule: Click here
Flotrack premium webcast (10:30 a.m. each day): Click here
Meet Twitter: @StanfordMeets
Stanford Twitter: @stanfordXCTF
Stanford Instagram: StanfordXCTF
Tickets: For adults, tickets are $10 each day and $15 for both days. For youths, seniors, and staff, tickets are $5 each day. The ticket booth outside the entrance to the track stadium opens at 8 a.m. each day.
Parking: Free everywhere on campus after 4 p.m. Friday and on weekends.
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Stanford notes:
Top performers for Stanford include four first-team individual All-Americans – discus thrower Valarie Allman, and middle-distance standouts Elise Cranny and Claudia Saunders, and pole vaulter Dylan Duvio.
Allman, the defending Pac-12 champion, set a personal best of 190-7 (58.09 meters) two weeks ago in her most recent meet, in Sacramento. Allman, an Olympic trials qualifier, enters the meet with the third-farthest throw among collegians this year.
Fellow junior Duvio, third at NCAA Outdoors last year, shares the high school record at this meet, at 16-6. He and teammate Garrett Starkey will battle former UCLA All-America Michael Woepse.
Cranny, an NCAA outdoor finalist in the 1,500 last year as a freshman, and Saunders, a two-time NCAA outdoor 800 runner-up, will swap specialties for training purposes. Cranny will run the 800 and Saunders the 1,500.
Another Stanford event of note will be the women’s javelin. Victoria Smith, a Canadian junior coming off an All-America season, will be joined by Australian freshman Mackenzie Little, making her collegiate debut. Little won the gold medal and set a meet record (61.47 meters, 201-8 with a 500 kg javelin) to win the World Youth Championships in Donetsk, Ukraine, in 2013.
Three other Stanford athletes will make their collegiate debut. Sophomore high jumper Rachel Reichenbach missed last season with an injury after placing second at the U.S. junior championships in 2014 at 5-8 ¾. Also, freshman Isaac Westlund, the 2015 Washington state 2A champion, and freshman Zac Espinosa will race the 400. Each was under 48 seconds in high school.
Also, keep an eye on two Stanford 400-meter hurdlers. Jackson Shumway was the Pac-12 runner-up last year and repeatedly broke his 400 personal best during the indoor season. In the women’s event, Hannah Labrie-Smith chopped her steps late in her debut in Sacramento two weeks ago, but otherwise would have run one of the top freshman times in school history. She has another opportunity to put a full race together.
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Stanford’s meet schedule and athletes:
Friday:
9 a.m.: Men’s javelin collegiate (Charles Kerr).
10 a.m.: Men’s hammer collegiate (Fl. 1: Tristen Newman).
10:42 a.m.: Men’s 5,000 Sec. 4 (Jack Bordoni).
11 a.m.: Women’s shot put invitational (Lena Giger).
11 a.m.: Women’s javelin invitational (Mackenzie Little, Victoria Smith).
11:27 a.m.: Women’s 100 hurdles prelims (Heat 1: Amber Lewis; Heat 3: Hannah Labrie-Smith).
11:30 a.m.: Men’s long jump collegiate (Jaak Uudmae).
12:12 p.m.: Women’s 100 prelims (Heat 1: Gaby Gayles, Missy Mongiovi, Kristyn Williams; Heat 2: Michaela Crunkleton Wilson; Heat 3: Olivia Baker).
12:27 p.m.: Men’s 100 prelims (Heat 1: Daniel Brady; Heat 2: Miguel Shaw; Heat 3: Isaiah Brandt-Sims, Jackson Shumway; Heat 4: Colin Dolese, Frank Kurtz).
12:30 p.m.: Women’s pole vault invitational (Kaitlyn Merritt).
1 p.m.: Men’s high jump (Invitational: Dartis Willis II; collegiate, fl. 1: Trevor Rex).
1:10 p.m.: Men’s 1,500 (Sec. 5: Tai Dinger, Adam Thorne).
1:30 p.m.: Men’s javelin invitational (Andrew Rondema).
2:34 p.m.: Women’s 400 hurdles (Sec. 1: Hannah Labrie-Smith; Sec. 2: Amber Lewis).
2:45 p.m.: Women’s long jump invitational (Carla Forbes, Daryth Gayles, Marisa Kwiatkowski).
3 p.m.: Men’s 400 hurdles (Sec. 1: Daniel Brady; Jackson Shumway; Sec. 2: Colin Dolese).
3 p.m.: Men’s pole vault invitational (Dylan Duvio, Garrett Starkey).
3 p.m.: Women’s hammer invitational (Fl. 1: Valarie Allman).
3:30 p.m.: Women’s high jump Collegiate (Rachel Reichenbach).
4:12 p.m.: Women’s 400 (Sec. 1: Olivia Baker, Kristyn Williams; Sec. 2: Missy Mongiovi).
4:36 p.m.: Men’s 400 (Sec. 1: Frank Kurtz; Sec. 3: Amit Maity; Sec. 4: Zac Espinosa; Sec. 5: Isaac Westlund).
5 p.m.: Women’s 100 final.
5:03 p.m.: Men’s 100 final.
6:15 p.m.: Men’s discus throw collegiate (Fl. 1: Nick Budincich).
6:31 p.m.: Women’s 1,500 Sec. 3 (Maddy Berkson, Malika Waschmann).
6:38 p.m.: Women’s 1,500 Sec. 2 (Claudia Saunders).
6:58 p.m.: Men’s 1,500 Sec. 2 (Jack Keelan, Collin Leibold).
7:04 p.m.: Men’s 1,500 invitational (Justin Brinkley).
7:13 p.m.: Women’s 5,000 Sec. 3 (Sophie Chase, Emma Fisher, Danielle Katz, Julia Maxwell, Molly McNamara, Abbie McNulty).
7:53 p.m.: Men’s 5,000 Sec. 3 (Tom Coyle, Patrick Gibson, Patrick Perrier).
8:11 p.m.: Men’s 5,000 Sec. 2 (Steven Fahy).
10:13 p.m.: Women’s 10,000 Sec. 2 (Megan Lacy).
10:51 p.m.: Men’s 10,000 Sec. 2 (Sam Wharton).
Saturday:
10 a.m.: Women’s hammer collegiate (Fl. 2: Lena Giger).
12:58 p.m.: Women’s 4x100 relay (Stanford).
1 p.m.: Men’s triple jump collegiate (Jaak Uudmae).
1:06 p.m.: Men’s 4x100 relay (Sec. 1: Stanford).
1:30 p.m.: Men’s pole vault collegiate (Dan Emery).
2:07 p.m.: Women’s 800 (Sec. 2: Elise Cranny; Sec. 3: Molly McNamara; Sec. 5: Kaitlyn Williams; Sec. 7: Karina Shepard).
2:34 p.m.: Men’s 800 (Sec. 3: Justin Brinkley; Sec. 4: Brian Smith, Adam Thorne; Sec. 5: Tai Dinger; Sec. 6: Daniel Book, Christian White).
2:58 p.m.: Women’s 200 (Sec. 2: Michaela Crunkleton Wilson).
3 p.m.: Women’s discus invitational (Fl. 1: Valarie Allman).
3 p.m.: Men’s shot put invitational (Tristen Newman).
3:19 p.m.: Men’s 200 (Sec. 1: Isaiah Brandt; Sec. 5: Miguel Shaw).
4 p.m.: Women’s triple jump invitational (Carla Forbes, Marisa Kwiatkowski).
4:21 p.m.: Women’s 100 hurdles final.
4:30 p.m.: Women’s pole vault collegiate (Taylore Jaques, Jackie McNulty, Nicole Summersett).
4:56 p.m: Women’s 4x400 relay (Sec. 1: Stanford ‘A’; Sec. 2: Stanford ‘B’; Stanford ‘C’).
5:12 p.m.: Men’s 4x400 relay (Sec. 1: Stanford ‘A’; Sec. 2: Stanford ‘B’).
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Highlighted events:
Men’s 10,000:
Last year, 41 of the top 50 NCAA qualifying times in the 10,000 were run at the Stanford Invitational. Headlining the field is Shadrack Kipchirchir, No. 4 in the U.S. last year in Track & Field News’ annual rankings, and Aron Rono, who was No. 7. Kipchirchir is a former Oklahoma State star who ran 27:36.79 at the Payton Jordan Invitational on this track two years ago and was an NCAA 10,000 runner-up. He made the U.S. team for the World Championships last year, finishing 16th.
Rono’s best of 27:31.15 also was run at the Payton Jordan, in 2011. Like Kipchirchir and eight-time Arizona Pac-10 champion Robert Cheseret, Rono is a Kenya native now running for the U.S. Army in this race. He was sixth at the U.S. Championships in the 10,000 the past two years.
German Fernandez, a California schoolboy legend while growing up in the Modesto area, is making his track debut at 10,000. Fernandez, an NCAA champ while at Oklahoma State, won the fast section of the Stanford Invitational 1,500 last year, and has a best of 3:34.60 at that distance.
Women’s 5,000:
Dominique Scott, the 2015 NCAA Indoor 3,000 champ and Outdoor 10,000 and 5,000 runner-up at Arkansas, is seeking to make the South African Olympic team. The Olympic standard of 15:24.00 will be a focus this season.
Kim Smith is a three-time New Zealand Olympian and former Providence star who endured foot surgery, childbirth, and a stint in the cardiac intensive care unit during a 12-month span through the end of last season. She was 15th in the 2012 Olympic marathon
Former Boise State star Emma Bates was the 2014 NCAA 10,000 champion and set a 5,000 personal record of 15:32.46 to finish seventh at the Stanford Invitational last year.
Also competing are two of the Pac-12’s top runners – Oregon’s Alli Cash and Cal’s Bethan Knights, and Alice Wright, an Englishwoman who was fifth at the NCAA Cross Country Championships while helping New Mexico to the team title.
Women’s 10,000:
Laura Thweatt was Track & Field News’ No. 2-ranked U.S. marathoner for 2015, placing seventh at the New York City Marathon in 2:28.23. Thweatt bypassed the U.S. Olympic trials marathon to focus on the track. She was the 2015 U.S. cross country champion, qualifying her for worlds, and finishing 29th.
Also in the field is Sarah Pease, the No. 10-ranked U.S. steeplechaser last year, and Stephanie Bruce, competing in her first track race since 2012 after becoming a mother, and now running for Northern Arizona Elite in Flagstaff.
Men’s 5,000:
Paul Chelimo, fresh off the IAAF World Indoor Championships in Portland, headlines the field. Chelimo, who runs for the U.S. Army, reached the final at worlds, placing seventh. He earned the U.S. team spot with by capturing second at the U.S. Indoors behind Ryan Hill.
Former Lamar star Sam Stabler returns to defend his Stanford Invitational title of last year, which he won in 13:30.50. Penn’s Tommy Awad, was third in the mile at NCAA Indoors and Tom Lancashire was a 2008 British Olympian in the 1,500.
Women’s 1,500:
Kate Van Buskirk is a Canadian who won bronze at the 2014 Commonwealth Games. She ran 4:05.38 in the 1,500 in 2014 and has a mile best of 4:28.08. She was a 2013 world championship semifinalist. She could be challenged by North Dakota State’s Erin Teschuk, a Canadian who placed fourth in the 3,000 at the recent NCAA Indoors.
Women’s 400:
Maggie Vessey set the Stanford Invitational 800 record last year with a 2:01.58 and earned a No. 8 U.S. ranking. She also ran on the U.S. 4x800 team that won gold at the World Relay Championships in the Bahamas. Longtime area track fans might remember Vessey as a Central Coast Section 400 champion while at Soquel High near Santa Cruz. She is coached by former Stanford All-America Greg Brock.
Stanford sophomore Olivia Baker is another half-miler dropping down to a familiar distance. Baker holds the New Jersey high school 400 record of 52.46 and was a member of the U.S. gold-medal winning 4x400 team at the World Junior Championships in 2014. At NCAA Indoors this year, she captured third in the 800. Kristyn Williams, Stanford’s indoor 400 record-holder, is another contender.
Among other top competitors:
Women’s 100 and 200: Ashton Purvis was the top high school sprinter in the country in 2010 while running for Oakland’s St. Elizabeth and continues to hold the Stanford Invitational high school 100 record (11.50). She went on to race at Texas A&M, setting another Stanford Invite mark, this time for the college/open 4x100 (42.69) in 2014.
Women’s 800: Zhao Jing won bronze in the 2014 Asian Games and represented China at the World Championships last year.
Women’s steeplechase: Colorado sophomore Erin Clark is the defending Pac-12 steeplechase champion. She races teammate Lucy Cheadle, who won consecutive NCAA Division II steeple titles and a 5,000 crown for Washington University of St. Louis before transferring to Colorado.
Men’s 400: Shaquille Walker, a BYU junior, ran a 1:45.58 800 last year and earned a year-end No. 9 U.S. ranking from Track & Field News. Walker was fifth at NCAA Outdoors and sixth at the U.S. Championships.
Men’s 1,500: Englishman Oliver Aitchison of Adams State is the reigning NCAA Division II Indoor champion in the mile.
Men’s steeplechase: Colorado’s Connor Winter is the defending Pac-12 champion and will face Arizona’s Bailey Roth, a two-time U.S. junior national champ, and Florida State’s Zak Seddon, a first-team All-America last year.
Men’s javelin: Tim VanLiew had the fifth-farthest throw among Americans last year, at 260-9 (79.49 meters) and was ranked No. 6 in the U.S. by Track & Field News.
Men’s high jump: Roderick Townsend is a world champion Paralympian and a former Boise State multi-events athlete. The Stockton native has a right arm smaller and weaker than his left and doesn’t extend straight. Dartis Willis II, who has a best of 7-2 ¼, should contend for the victory.
Men’s long jump: Arizona’s Pau Tonnesen, the Pac-12 decathlon champ and NCAA runner-up, will compete in this event and the 110 high hurdles.
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Meet history:
The Stanford Invitational has been held continuously since 1985, but has its roots as far back as 1975 when Stanford first began holding a large late-March meet, with the Stanford Relays.
Coach Brooks Johnson transformed it into the high-profile Martin Luther King Games from 1980-83 at Stanford Stadium. There was no meet in 1984, but it started up the following year and has taken different forms, such as the Stanford Track and Field Festival and the Diet Pepsi Track Challenge. It has been called the Stanford Invitational since 1995.
This is one of two major meets Stanford hosts each year, including the Payton Jordan Invitational, which will be held May 1 at Cobb Track and Angell Field.
The meet is in its 41st year, and 32nd consecutive season. Here is how the Stanford Invitational evolved:
1975-76 Stanford Relays
1977-79 Stanford Invitational Relays
1980-83 Martin Luther King Games
1985-86 Stanford Invitational
1987-90 Holiday Inn/Stanford Track Festival
1991 Diet Pepsi Track Challenge
1992-94 Stanford Track and Field Festival
1995-2016 Stanford Invitational
