Relays Through to Nationals

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – With qualifying concluding Saturday, Stanford's representation at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships has been determined. 

Nine individuals – five men, four women -- plus both women's relay teams advance to Austin for the June 7-10 meet. All told, 13 different athletes are expected to compete for the Cardinal, including five freshmen and four sophomores in eligibility. 

The last of four days of qualifying at the NCAA West Prelims resulted in the second relay school record of the meet for Stanford and nearly a third. 

The day after the Cardinal men broke a 58-year-old Stanford record in the 4x100-meter relay, the Cardinal women shattered the school record in the same event. Stanford was the 16th seed, but shocked the field by placing third to grab the final automatic qualifying spot in the third and final quarterfinal heat and finish seventh overall. 

The team of Cydney Wright, Alyssa Jones, Maya Valmon, and Alexa Rossum ran 43.69, shattering the Stanford standard of 44.07 by Shataya Hendricks, Carissa Levingston, Katie Nelms, and Kori Carter in their preliminary heat at the 2012 NCAA Championships in Des Moines, Iowa. 

The 4x400 relay team of Roisin Willis, Maya Valmon, Juliette Whittaker, and Cydney Wright. Photo by Spencer Allen/SportsImageWire.com.

In the final event of the night at Sacramento State, the 4x400 relay team of Wright, Juliette Whittaker, Roisin Willis, and Valmon placed third in their heat to earn another automatic spot for Austin. The Cardinal ran 3:29.43 for seventh overall while clocking the No. 2 time in school history, only 0.04 off the 3:29.39 by Christine Moschella, Janice Davis, Ashley Freeman, and Nashonme Johnson on the same Hornet Stadium track in 2005. 

While the first two splits are difficult to decipher because of the three-turn stagger, Whittaker 52.19 on the third leg and Valmon closed in 51.97.

This is the first time both Stanford women's relay teams advanced to the NCAA Championships in the same year since 2004. Stanford's previous 4x400 qualifier was 2018 and its most recent 4x100 qualifying team was 2012. 

Stanford's individual qualifiers Saturday were Willis and Taylor James in the 800 and Lucy Jenks in the 5,000. Jones already had qualified in the long jump.

Only the top three were guaranteed advancement in the 800 and Willis, a freshman, led the first heat from start to finish. She was the top overall qualifier in 2:02.51. 

James, a redshirt freshman, stayed on Willis' heels as long as she could before dropping off on the backstretch of the final lap. James ran a personal best 2:04.90 to place fifth in the heat, leaving her as the second of three potential qualifiers on time. She had to endure another two heats and hope she didn't get knocked back more than one place. Through it was dicey, James' time indeed held up as the final qualifier on time. 
 

Roisin Willis leads Taylor James. Photo by Spencer Allen/SportsImageWire.com.

Whittaker, the Pac-12 800 champion, bypassed that distance in favor of the 1,500. However, Whittaker and Melissa Tanaka, an NCAA 1,500 finalist last year, did not advance, finishing seventh and eighth in the first of two heats and out of the top-five automatic qualifying positions. 

The field was crowded throughout with no one pushing the pace and Whittaker found herself running in lane two nearly the entire way before fading down the stretch. Tanaka was boxed in much of the way and never had a clear lane until the end. 

Tanaka had a tenuous hold on the second of two timed-qualifiers, but her 4:13.46 was overtaken by three other non-auto qualifiers in the next heat. Tanaka was 15th overall and Whittaker 16th. 

In the 5,000, Jenks found herself in a three-runner chase pack behind a three-runner lead pack, with only the top five advancing automatically. However, Oklahoma State's Taylor Roe dropped off the front and was snapped up by Jenks' chase pack. Jenks closed with a strong 67-second lap to finish fourth in her race and sixth overall. This will be her first trip to the NCAA Outdoor Championships. 

In the 400, Valmon is the only woman in Stanford history to run under 52 seconds. She did it with a school-record 51.71 at the Pac-12 Championships and went sub-52 a second time on Saturday, running 51.99 for 15th overall and three away from the qualifying top-12. 

Rossum also was close, running the 200 in a season best 23.01 to finish fifth in her heat and 14th overall -- just 0.13 and two places behind the final timed-qualifier. 

Lucy Jenks. Photo by Spencer Allen/SportsImageWire.com.

 
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NCAA West Prelims
At Hornet Stadium
Saturday's results
Winners and all Stanford

Women
200 – 1, Lanae Thomas (Texas) 22.12; 14, Alexa Rossum (Stanford) 23.01. 
400 – 1, Britton Wilson (Arkansas) 49.51; 15, Maya Valmon (Stanford) 51.99. 
800 – 1, Roisin Willis (Stanford) 2:02.51; 10, Taylor James (Stanford) 2:04.90 (PB). Willis and James advance to NCAA Championships.
1,500 – 1, Sophie O'Sullivan (Washington) 4:08.06; 15, Melissa Tanaka (Stanford) 4:13.46; 16, Juliette Whittaker (Stanford) 4:16.15.
5,000 – 1, Everlyn Kemboi (Utah Valley) 15:30.25; 6, Lucy Jenks (Stanford) 15:38.35; 22, Grace Connolly (Stanford) 16:05.16; 24, Riley Stewart (Stanford) 16:09.40; Zofia Dudek (Stanford) DNF. Jenks advances to NCAA Championships.
400 hurdles – 1, Britton Wilson (Arkansas) 53.71; 20, Samantha Thomas (Stanford) 58.98.
4x100 relay – 1, Texas 42.15; 7, Stanford (Cydney Wright, Alyssa Jones, Maya Valmon, Alexa Rossum) 43.69 (Stanford record). Stanford advances to NCAA Championships.
4x400 relay – 1, Arkansas 3:25.95; 7, Stanford (Cydney Wright, Juliette Whittaker, Roisin Willis, Maya Valmon) 3:29.39 (No. 2 Stanford AT). Stanford advances to the NCAA Championships. 
High jump – 1, Lamara Distin (Texas A&M) 6-0 ¾ (1.85m); 37, Alyssa Jones (Stanford) 5-7 ¾ (1.72m). 
 
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Stanford's NCAA Qualifiers

Men
100: Udodi Onwuzurike.
200: Udodi Onwuzurike.
5,000: Charles Hicks, Ky Robinson.
10,000: Charles Hicks, Ky Robinson.
Pole vault: Garrett Brown.
Long jump: John Kroeger.

Women
800: Taylor James, Roisin Willis. 
5,000: Lucy Jenks.
4x100 relay: Cydney Wright, Alyssa Jones, Maya Valmon, Alexa Rossum.
4x400 relay: Cydney Wright, Juliette Whittaker, Roisin Willis, Maya Valmon.
Long jump: Alyssa Jones.