Stanford Track & Field: Fisher takes NCAA Crown, Women Shine

Well, that’s a wrap.

With the conclusion of this action-packed Nationals weekend at the historic Hayward Field in Oregon, that marks the end of our Spring track season, and it is hard to believe that it could have ended any better.

Sophomore Grant Fisher added to his trophy collection with an NCAA title in the men’s 5000m in a time of 14:35.60s. He kicked his final lap in a blazing 55.76s, passing Syracuse’s Justyn Knight and holding off Arkansas’ Jack Bruce down the final straightaway to become the first American underclassmen in 28 years to earn the title, and first Stanford men’s NCAA champ in 5 years.

"It feels awesome and surreal right now," Fisher said. "Ask me in a day, maybe in a week, but it feels pretty nice right now though. It's been a really fun season."

The race turned itself into a tactical one, going out incredibly slow and creating an environment where Fisher is known to thrive.

"Not as slow as it turned out to be. But it's championship racing. Everyone wants to be tactical and kick at the end and conserve energy. That’s what it was, and it was physical in there. I've had a lot of physical races this season, so there wasn't anything I was unprepared for. I was confident going in." Fisher said.

He hung on Knight’s shoulder until he felt it was time to go, and that time happened to be on the bell lap. Now he can add this title to his undefeated resume from this season that already includes a Pac-12 title in the 1500m.

On the women’s side, 5 received First Team All-American honors. Fiona O’Keeffe took 5^th in the women’s 5000m in 15:46.93s, a career best time by 9s. Rebecca Mehra, a fifth-year senior, capped off her career by going 6^th in the 1500m, followed by Christina Aragon in 7^th. Junior Olivia Baker finished 8^th in the 800m. Mackenzie Little earned her recognition in the javelin by finishing 4^th, while Jenna Gray earned Second Team honors with her 16^th place finish. Lena Giger finished 17^th in the shot put, earning an Honorable Mention for All-American.

Those outstanding performances by those 7 athletes positioned the women’s team in 13^th place nationwide.

And with that, another school year and track year comes to an end. With a small graduating class, Stanford can expect to return with even more firepower for next year.