Day of the Freshmen
STANFORD, Calif. – Track and field upon track and field – 22 hours worth – completed on Saturday in the form of the two-day Stanford Invitational at Cobb Track and Angell Field. And the results were promising for Stanford, which got top-10 performances on the track and in the field.
A day after twice breaking the school 100-meter record, freshman Udodi Onwuzurike nearly eclipsed James Lofton's Stanford 200 standard, settling for a convincing victory after rallying the Cardinal 4x100 relay team to an earlier victory on a stunning anchor leg.
The reigning world under-20 200 champion blazed to a time of 20.38, believed to be the fastest outdoor time in NCAA Division I this year, and only 0.05 off the 1978 Stanford record held by Lofton, the Pro Football Hall of Fame receiver and 1978 NCAA outdoor long jump champion. Teammate Dorien Simon was fifth in a personal best 21.24, which ties him for No.10 all-time at Stanford outdoors.
Onwuzurike, who broke the Stanford freshmen record of 20.93 by Isaiah Brandt-Sims from 2015, also nearly reached the Stanford Invite meet record of 20.33 by Washington's Ja'Warren Hooker from 2001.
In four collegiate meets – two indoor and two outdoor – Onwuzurike owns two school records (indoor 60 and outdoor 100), the No. 2 time in the outdoor 200 and No. 9 in the 4x100. In the latter, the Stanford team of Simon, Miles Zoltak, Karson Lippert, and Onwuzurike ran 40.10, Stanford's fastest time in four years.
Udodi Onwuzurike anchors the 4x100 relay. Photo by John P. Lozano/ISIphotos.com.
J.J. Clark, Stanford's Franklin P. Johnson Director of Track and Field/Cross Country, admired "how effortlessly Dodi ran," especially Onwuzurike's school-record 10.07 in the on Friday.
The Cardinal trailed by four feet just after the final exchange with 90 meters to go, but Onwuzurike powered past Cal with 15 meters left to win by 0.09.
Another Stanford men's freshmen record nearly fell when Garrett Brown had a strong try at 17-9 (5.41m) in the pole vault, which would have exceeded Olympian Toby Stevenson's frosh mark by a quarter of an inch.
Brown did not clear that height, but his consolation was a lifetime best 17-5 (5.31m) and his first collegiate victory in a 1-2-3 Stanford finish. Brown was matched by Max Manson, but won on a countback, and J.T. Herrscher was third at 16-7 ¼ (5.06m). Both Brown and Manson needed three tries at 17-1 (5.21m), but the difference was Brown's first-attempt clearance at 17-5, while Manson required two additional tries.
"Overall, some very solid marks," J.J. Clark said of the weekend. "We achieved some regional qualifying marks and in the two weeks since our last meet, we've made some really great adjustments."
Among other highlights for Stanford on Saturday was Christina Aragon and Ellie Deligianni in the women's 800. Racing in section two, Aragon clocked 2:05.78 for third and Deligianni ran 2:06.27. For Aragon, it was close to her collegiate best of 2:05.67, when she was runner-up at the 2017 Pac-12 Championships. The time for Deligianni, the 2021 world U20 800 bronze medalist, was a season best.
Megan Olomu's 25.01 was a big personal best in the 200 and was among seven PB's by Stanford athletes on Saturday and among 33 in the meet overall.
Christina Aragon. Photo by John P. Lozano/ISIphotos.com.
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Stanford Invitational
At Cobb Track and Angell Field
Saturday's results
Winners and all Stanford
Men
200 – 1, Udodi Onwuzurike (Stanford) 20.38 (No. 2 Stanford AT; Stanford frosh record); 5, Dorien Simon (Stanford) 21.24 (PB; No. 10 Stanford AT); 36, Marcus Floyd (Stanford) 22.77; DNF, Karson Lippert (Stanford).
800 – Sec. 1: Sam Van Dorpe (USC) 1:49.65; 5, John Lester (Stanford) 1:50.90. Sec. 4: 5, Nick Feffer (Stanford) 1:53.46. Sec. 5: 4, Liam Conway (Stanford) 1:52.80 (PB).
4x100 relay – 1, Stanford (Dorien Simon, Miles Zoltak, Karson Lippert, Udodi Onwuzurike) 40.10 (No. 9 Stanford AT).
4x400 relay – 1, North Dakota State 3:09.78; 8, Stanford (Olufemi Cole, John Lester, Dorien Simon, Bobby Wood) 3:23.08.
Pole vault – Invite: 1, Garrett Brown (Stanford) 17-5 (5.31m) (PB; No. 6 Stanford AT; No. 3 Stanford frosh); 2, Max Manson (Stanford) 17-5 (5.31m); 3, J.T. Herrscher (Stanford) 16-7 ¼ (5.06m).
Triple jump – Invite: 1, Mathieu Tshani (Academy of Art) 52-1 ¾ (15.89m); 4, Kevin Yang (Stanford) 48-2 ½ (14.69m); 7, Marcus Floyd (Stanford) 45-3 ½ (13.80m).
Shot put – Invite: 1, Kristoffer Thomsen (North Dakota State) 61-5 ½ (18.73m); 5, Sam Liokumovich (Stanford) 57-5 ¾ (17.52m). Collegiate: 7, Garin Gross (Stanford) 47-4 ½ (14.44m).
Hammer – Invite: 1, Nick Miller (Great Britain) 239-11 (73.13m); 5, Max McKhann (Stanford) 198-3 (60.44m); 8, Anthony Argyropoulos (Stanford) 179-8 (54.76m) (PB); 9, James Wright (Stanford) 167-4 (51.01m) (PB).
Women
200 – 1, Ezinne Abba (Cal) 23.18; 8, Allie Jones (Stanford) 24.55; 9, Trinity Price (Stanford) 24.63; 18, Megan Olomu (Stanford) 25.01 (PB); 34, Teagan Zwaanstra (Stanford) 25.60; 39, Camille Peisner (Stanford) 25.88; DNF, Alex Rossum (Stanford).
800 – Sec. 1: 1, Addy Townsend (unattached) 2:03.27. Sec. 2: 3, Christina Aragon (Stanford) 2:05.78; 4, Ellie Deligianni (Stanford) 2:06.27; Sec. 4: 3, Lily Flynn (Stanford) 2:10.69; 6, Morgan Foster (Stanford) 2:11.83. Sec. 5: 2, Audrey Suarez (Stanford) 2:09.31 (PB); 3, Melissa Tanaka (Stanford) 2:09.33. Sec. 6: 3, Hannah Wilson (Stanford) 2:12.61.
4x100 relay – 1, California 44.45.
4x400 relay – 1, USC 3:41.51; 3, Stanford (Samantha Thomas, Maya Valmon, Trinity Price, Camille Peisner) 3:42.54.
Triple jump – Collegiate: 5, Allyson Weiss (Stanford) 39-6 (12.04m).
Discus – Invite: 1, Amanda Anderson (North Dakota State) 180-2 (54.93m); 10, Brandy Atuatasi (Stanford) 144-11 (44.19m); F, Kaiah Fisher (Stanford).
Hammer – Collegiate: 10, Brandy Atuatasi (Stanford) 131-6 (40.09m); F, Kaiah Fisher (Stanford).