Last weekend the Cardinal traveled to Washington University in Seattle for the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Indoor Championships, their last opportunity to qualify for the NCAA National Meet.
Although no new athletes qualified, that cannot take away from the craziness that ensued.
First was Valarie Allaman, who reached 62' 8 ½" in the 20-pound weight throw on Friday, setting a Stanford record and finishing 5th in the meet.
Friday was a day for strength, but Saturday was all about the speed on display.
Junior Sean McGorty embodied that speed to the highest degree. Running his first individual mile of the season, he trashed the previous school record of 3:57.14s (Michael Atchoo, 2013) with an astounding 3:53.95s time from his previously recorded 3.59.34 last year.
This performance positioned McGorty into the No. 4 all-time spot for collegiate indoor miles. The No. 3 spot is held by Washington's Izaic Yorks who managed to beat McGorty by 0.06s. The race was split by a hair the whole way, and came down to the final lap.
"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 [McGorty and Coach Chris Miltenberg] were both happy with my last 50 though."
As astonishing as his performance was, McGorty will bypass the mile at NCAA Nationals in order to race in the 3000m on Saturday. The mile would require a semifinal round on Friday, with McGorty's DMR (distance medley relay) also set to compete on Friday.
McGorty headlined the day for the men, while the women continued to dominate in the 800m.
Olivia Baker won the event with a 2:04.28s, as Claudia Saunders' 2:04.89s took bronze and Malika Waschmann's 2:05.33s took 4th.
The women's 4*400m relay team of Kristyn Williams, Gaby Gayle, Michaela Crunkleton Wilson, and Olivia Baker ran a 3:33.92s, good enough for No. 2 in school history. Unfortunately, this performance only improved their position to 17th, five spots behind the necessary 12th to qualify for nationals.
In Williams' individual 400m, she chopped off more than a second from her time, finishing second with a 53.39s. Jackson Shumway finished 6th in the respective men's 400m with his own personal best of 47.36s.
Dartis Willis II took silver in the men's high jump, leaping 7' 0 ½", as Tristan Newman climbed up two spots to No. 4 in the school's record for the shot put (58' 1").
2016's indoor season has now come to a close for most Stanford athletes. The Cardinal's focus now shifts over to March 11-13 in Birmingham, Alabama where it will send 10 of its best athletes to compete at the NCAA National Meet. They include the Men's and Women's DMR teams of Tom Coyle, Jackson Shumway, Justin Brinkley, and Sean McGorty (also individual 3000m); and Claudia Saunders, Kristyn Williams (also individual 800m), Olivia Baker (also individual 800m), and Rebecca Mehra; who will be joined by heptathlete Harrison Williams and triple jumper Darian Brooks.
