Card Women 13th at NCAA's

EUGENE, Ore. – Christina Aragon and Julia Heymach -- runners with a combined 17 All-America honors – each earned their highest NCAA individual finishes to help Stanford place 13th at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Hayward Field on Saturday.

Aragon took third in the 1,500 meters, just ahead of Heymach in fifth as the Cardinal sent three to the starting line. And Allie Jones also earned first-team All-America honors, capturing fourth in the heptathlon, Stanford's highest finish in that event in 23 years. 

Two other Stanford athletes became All-Americans for the first time: Melissa Tanaka, a graduate transfer from Penn, placed 12th in the 1,500 and sophomore Lucy Jenks was 15th in the 5,000. Each earned second-team honors.

With the men placing eighth on Friday and the women 13th, Stanford was among five schools to finish with both teams in the top 13, joining Florida, LSU, Texas, and Texas Tech. This was Stanford's highest finish in each since 2019, when the men were fifth and the women 10th.  

The women's 1,500 included three Stanford runners, the most for the Cardinal in that race since 2007. Aragon was making her fourth appearance in the final, with a best place of fourth (2018). Heymach was appearing in her first 1,500 final, though she was sixth in the 5,000 last year. This was Tanaka's first NCAA meet.

Krissy Gear of Arkansas led through the bell for the final lap with Heymach and Aragon positioned well in the pack. NCAA mile champ Micaela Degenero made a move on the backstretch and Sintayehu Vissa of Ole Miss went with her. Heymach and Aragon fought to go with them, but were unable to match their pace. 

Heymach found her path cut off by Gear as she came off the turn and Aragon went wide to avoid the traffic, passing Gear on the way to third place in 4:10.00, with Heymach in 4:10.58, and Tanaka in 4:21.28. 

In their final collegiate meet, Aragon earned her ninth All-America honor and Heymach her eighth. 

Allie Jones. Photo by Chuck Aragon.

In the heptathlon, Jones found herself in ninth place through six events, but jumped five places by closing with a 2:07.08 in the 800. Her final total of 5,823 for the two-day, seven-event competition, just missed her school record of 5,832 by nine points, in rainy conditions. 

Jones was 11th last season and this year won the Pac-12 championship and became Stanford's highest NCAA heptathlon finisher since Tracye Lawyer won the title in 1999. 

Jones came out on Day Two with 19-1 ¼ (5.82m) in the long jump and 123-11 (37.76m) in javelin, briefly going slightly ahead of her Stanford record pace, with 4,959 points. She finished with a personal-best second day of 2,283.

Though this ends the collegiate season, several Cardinal will continue to compete, with the U.S. Championships and U.S. under-20 meet on June 23-26 in Eugene. 

Udodi Onwuzurike, the reigning world under-20 200 champ who placed third in that event at NCAA's on Friday, is the only Stanford athlete thus far to achieve the entry standard for the World Championships at Hayward Field from July 15-24. His best of 20.08 is under the standard of 20.24. Onwuzurike represents Nigeria in international competition. 

Lucy Jenks. Photo by Chuck Aragon.

 
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NCAA Championships
Saturday's results
Winners and all Stanford

Women
Final team scores – 1, Florida 74; 2, Texas 64; 3, Kentucky 50; 4 (tie), LSU and Texas A&M, 39; 6, Arkansas 38; 7, Texas Tech 36; 8, Arizona State 28; 13, Stanford 17.
1,500 – 1, Sintayehu Vissa (Ole Miss) 4:09.42; 3, Christina Aragon (Stanford) 4:10.00; 5, Julia Heymach (Stanford) 4:10.58; 12, Melissa Tanaka (Stanford) 4:21.28.
5,000 – 1, Katelyn Tuohy (N.C. State) 15:18.39; 15, Lucy Jenks (Stanford) 15:55.19.
Heptathlon – 1, Anna Hall (Florida) 6,385; 4, Allie Jones (Stanford) 5,823.
Allie Jones (event, place in event, mark, points, place in competition):
First day: 100 hurdles – 4, 13.38, 1,068 (4); High jump – 19, 5-5 ¼ (1.66m), 806 (11); Shot put – 7, 40-4 (12.29m), 680 (7); 200 – 5, 23.95 (PB), 986 (5). First-day total: 3,540. 
Second day: Long jump – 9, 19-1 ¼ (5.82m), 795 (9); Javelin – 11, 123-11 (37.76m), 624 (9); 800 – 6, 2:17.08, 864 (4). Second-day total: 2,283 (PB). Total: 5,823.
 
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All-Americans
Men
First team: Charles Hicks (10,000), Keyshawn King (triple jump), Udodi Onwuzurike (200), Ky Robinson (5,000), Cole Sprout (10,000).
Second team: Udodi Onwuzurike (100), Cole Sprout (5,000). 
Women
First team: Christina Aragon (1,500), Julia Heymach (1,500), Allie Jones (heptathlon), Virginia Miller (javelin).
Second team: Lucy Jenks (5,000), Melissa Tanaka (1,500).