Stanford, California, March 30-31—Olympic 100H champion Brianna Rollins-McNeal, returning from a year-plus layoff, and defending NCAA steeple winner Allie Ostrander (see sidebar) put up performances at the Stanford Invitational that are auspicious for the young ’18 outdoor season. The annual fixture also served up its trademark 10K offerings.
Friday evenings at Stanford each year often frame 10,000s as their set pieces. This edition did that late in the session when temperatures had dropped into the ’60s after record Bay Area highs during the day.
Alabama’s Vincent Kiprop got the men’s win in a PR 28:19.07 from 33-year-old débutant Lopez Lomong (28:21.37), scampering away over the last 100.
The women’s 25-lapper ended in similar fashion, but with two 30-somethings at the fore. Olympic triathlon gold medalist Gwen Jorgensen, who is 31, hammered her 33:38.38 PR from ’09—when she was a Wisconsin senior—down to 31:55.68. To secure the victory, Jorgensen had to sprint away from fellow Bowerman TC marathoner Carrie Dimoff, also in the final homestraight. Dimoff, mother of two and a Nike shoe designer, was timed in 31:57.85, a 48.90 reduction of her PR set 3 years ago.
Placing 3rd was NCAA 5K ace Karissa Schweizer, who couldn’t catch her elders but nonetheless produced the second-fastest collegiate debut ever. The Missouri senior’s 32:00.55—which made her the No. 8 all-time collegian—was inferior in that category only to then-Notre Dame frosh Anna Rohrer’s winning 31:58.99 at this meet last year.
In the 80-degrees-plus speed-conducive warmth of the afternoon, though, Rio winner Rollins-McNeal rolled out a world-leading 12.62 in the 100H some 2 hours after a 12.70 heat.
“Feels great to be back on the track competing again,” Rollins-McNeal tweeted. “First hurdle race since the Olympics and it felt great! All…” Here she inserted a smiling emoticon.
Feels great to be back on the track competing again. First hurdle race since the Olympics and it felt great! All ?
— Brianna McNeal (@Bri_Rollin) March 30, 2018
Rollins-McNeal, the former American Record holder, had three drug-testing whereabouts failures in ’16 resulting in a sitdown for all of ’17, despite the arbitration panel that ruled on her appeal describing the hurdler as “a brilliant athlete who is not charged or suspected of using banned substances of any kind.”
Back on the track again on Saturday afternoon, Rollins-McNeal churned a runaway win in the 200, with her 23.12 time (wind 0.9) her fastest since ’13, and tweeted after that race, “A hot bubbly Epsom salt bath is calling my name right about now.”
The 12.62 was the second world leader of the meet, with Briton Nick Miller having whirled a 256-10 (78.29) hammer throw, in the third round of his morning final.
Boise State redshirt soph Ostrander is making PRs in the steeple at Stanford a tradition of her own. Ostrander debuted in the barrier race here last year with a win (9:55.61) and went on to grab the NCAA crown. This time, after opening a gap on USF’s Marie Bouchard, the tiny Alaskan native finished with a turn of speed to lower her best to 9:38.57, good for No. 8 on the all-time collegiate list. Bouchard, a French senior, followed in 9:47.03.
“I didn’t go in with any really big expectations,” said Ostrander, who placed 2nd to Schweizer in the NCAA Indoor 3000 last month. “It was just an opener and I just kind of wanted to get in the race and feel it out. I was really happy with how it went.”
Ostrander has diverse racing experience for a 21-year-old, from 300H races in high school to a World Junior mountain running title. She is finding the steeple suits her, counterintuitive as that might seem given her compact stature.
“It’s just the challenge of the event,” she said, “and how it keeps you engaged and is constantly changing throughout the race. I like the different elements that the barriers and the water provide. It changes things up and makes the race a little bit more interesting for me.”
The two 10Ks, while neither was world class fast from the get-go, ended with shape-testing finishes for early spring. True on the men’s side even after NCAA XC/indoor 5K champ Justyn Knight’s withdrawal from the meet.
Kiprop surged 64.4 for the 21st lap, cutting the lead group to 5, including his fellow Alabama Kenyans Gilbert Kigen and Alfred Chelanga, and BYU’s Clayton Young.
Lomong rebuffed the move and led the next three circuits (63.5 for lap 24) to set up a two-man contest with Kiprop at the bell. The Crimson Tide senior, the top of his head barely peaking higher than Lomong’s shoulders, tore into a sprint in the final turn, took the lead just before the straight and rushed away on the wings of his 28.1 last 200.
The plan, for Kiprop and his teammates said the winner—twice an NCAA Div. II 10,000 champion for Missouri Southern before his transfer and runner-up in the NCAA Indoor 5K in March—was “just to come here and do our best because our coaches have done a very good job so far. We are very fortunate with that and we came here to see where we are at, to go improve and see what to work on. I like the 10K the best.”
Lomong, an Olympian at 1500 in ’08 and 5000 in ’12 (10th), said of his debut in the long track event, “What a tough race. Jeez. I mean this is 25 laps and it really hurt the last mile. We ran maybe 63s, 64s, maybe a little bit there. Man, it’s tough but I’m happy I put the mark somewhere and I’ll improve on that mark and perfect it next time.”
Next time, he’ll be more prepared. “This is a good tempo,” the Northern Arizona alum said of the evening’s exertion. “We haven’t done anything yet specifically for 10,000 but we did a lot of mileage so I’m happy to see 28:21 on the board. That’s a good start.”
Jorgensen effectively came down to the 10K having set marathon goals after winning the first-ever U.S. triathlon Olympic gold in Rio. She ran 2:41:01 for 14th at the ’16 New York City Marathon. But there’s more to her story, though.
Just 7 months ago, she gave birth to her first child, son Stanley—further wowing perspective on her PR win here.
The prerace buzz was around Jorgensen’s meeting with first-time 10K racer Schweizer, who has not lost an NCAA 5000 in or out since she took the ’16 NCAA XC crown.
The Missouri senior did most of the leading for 20 laps before the 30-somethings took over. Dimoff led at the bell after three 76-range laps and looked to have the upper hand until Jorgensen, her hair wrapped back by a headband, swung past late in the final curve and won going away with a 33.3 last 200.
While the first two spots went to the veterans, Schweizer closed in 35.0 and gained ground on Dimoff in the stretch.
Schweizer’s tweet the next day reacting to a Flotrack photo of her expression on the start line: “Probably questioning what I got myself into.”
A fine debut is the answer.
STANFORD INVITATIONAL MEN’S RESULTS
Stanford, California, March 30-31—
(3/30—1500, St, 5K, 10K, 110H, 400H, HJ, DT, JT)
800: 1. Nijel Amos’ (Bot) 1:44.65; 2. David Ribich (WnOr) 1:48.09 PR; 3. Harun Abda (OTC) 1:48.66; 4. Trevor Guerrera (SHeart) 1:49.48 PR.
1500: I–1. Peter Callahan’ (Bel) 3:38.41; 2. Drew Hunter (adi) 3:39.49; 3. Sam Prakel (Or) 3:39.75; 4. **Mick Stanovsek (Or) 3:39.96 PR; 5. ***Reed Brown (Or) 3:40.28 PR; 6. Sean McGorty (Stan) 3:40.57 PR; 7. Abraham Alvarado (BYU) 3:41.17 PR; 8. Ryouji Tatezawa’ (Jpn) 3:41.82 PR; 9. Jacob Dumford (NDm) 3:42.04 PR.
III–1. Shoma Funatsu (Jpn) 3:42.66; 2. *Chandler Teigen (WaSt) 3:43.13 PR; 3. **Jack Anstey (IlSt) 3:43.22 PR; 4. *Trent Mazelli (Port) 3:43.57 PR.
St: I–1. Yusuke Uchikoshi’ (Boise) 8:38.32; 2. ***Matt Owens (BYU) 8:39.41; 3. *Daniel Carney (BYU) 8:42.17; 4. Jamaine Coleman’ (EnKy) 8:42.21;
5. **Jacob Heslington (BYU) 8:43.41; 6. Adam Visokay (unat) 8:44.28; 7. Kyle Medina (Chico) 8:44.40; 8. *Dylan Hodgson (Ks) 8:47.81; 9. **Nathan Mylenek (Ia) 8:48.66; 10. *Bailey Roth (Az) 8:56.23.
II–1. *Simon Grannetia’ (Port) 8:42.91; 2. Gatien Airiau’ (AArt) 8:49.73; 3. *Kellen Manley (Gonz) 8:51.26; 4. ***Riley Osen (Port) 8:52.70;
5. *Kai Benedict (Cal) 8:56.36; 6. Spencer Fehlberg (UtSt) 8:56.66; 7. **Samuel Abascal’ (EnKy) 8:56.85; 8. Michael Leet (Lewis) 8:58.21.
III–1. Andrew Milliron (AF) 8:54.56; 2. ***Carter Persyn (Ar) 8:55.81; 3. **Sammy Truax (Gonz) 8:55.95; 4. Alexander Howard (USF) 8:56.78.
5000: I–1. *Zach Long (Tn) 13:39.22 PR; 2. Luc Bruchet’ (Can) 13:39.62; 3. **Tyler Day (NnAz) 13:40.22 PR; 4. *Cole Rockhold (CoSt) 13:40.29 PR; 5. George Parsons (adi) 13:40.37 PR; 6. **Edwin Kurgat’ (IaSt) 13:41.94; 7. Alex Monroe (BouTC) 13:43.15 PR; 8. Shota Onizuka’ (Jpn) 13:43.54; 9. Craig Lutz (HOKAAgs) 13:45.61; 10. ***Ben Veatch (In) 13:50.49 PR; 11. Hayato Seki’ (Jpn) 13:51.45; 12. Nahom Solomon (GaT) 13:51.92 PR; 13. *Geordie Beamish’ (NnAz) 13:55.65.
II–1. ***Luis Grijalva (NnAz) 13:49.75 PR; 2. Philo Germano (Syr) 13:50.48 PR; 3. *James West’ (Or) 13:52.29 PR; 4. **Aidan Tooker (Syr) 13:52.92 PR; 5. *Garrett Corcoran (Cal) 13:54.64 PR; 6. *Dan Curts (IaSt) 13:56.39 PR; 7. Andrew Gardner (Wa) 13:56.77 PR; 8. *Fred Huxham (Wa) 13:57.72.
10,000: I–1. *Vincent Kiprop’ (Al) 28:19.07 PR (28.1, 58.4, 2:01.7, 4:15.1); 2. Lopez Lomong (BowTC) 28:21.37 PR; 3. *Gilbert Kigen’ (Al) 28:27.31 PR; 4. *Clayton Young (BYU) 28:27.48 PR; 5. *Alfred Chelanga’ (Al) 28:32.66; 6. *Noah Schutte’ (Port) 28:34.51 PR; 7. Colin Bennie (Syr) 28:37.04 PR; 8. Reed Fischer (unat) 28:38.62 PR; 9. Aaron Nelson (Zap) 28:38.74 PR; 10. Jerrell Mock (CoSt) 28:46.86; 11. Grant Fischer (CoSt) 28:54.19; 12. **Emmanuel Roudolff-Levisse’ (Port) 28:55.50 PR; 13. Andrew Johnston (AF) 28:56.60 PR; 14. ***Conner Mantz (BYU) 28:57.83 PR; 15. Dillon Maggard (UtSt) 29:01.00 PR; 16. Joe Stilin (Zap) 29:07.92 PR; 17. *Benjamin Preisner (Tul) 29:08.17 PR; 18. *Jack Rowe’ (USF) 29:10.33 PR.
II–1. Sydney Gidabuday (Adams) 29:02.97 PR; 2. Swarnjit Boyal (SLO) 29:05.54 PR; 3. **Tanner Anderson (Or) 29:07.39 PR; 4. *Austen Dalquist (Ar) 29:08.60 PR; 5. *Miler Haller (Boise) 29:08.90 PR; 6. Travis Neuman (Or) 29:09.59; 7. Sam Wharton (Stan) 29:11.33 PR; 8. **Gilbert Boit (Ar) 29:13.31 PR; 9. Michael Crozier (Gtn) 29:14.68 PR.
110H(1.5): 1. Misana Viltz (unat) 13.85.
400H: 1. Quincy Hall (SeqCC) 49.65; 2. Jeshua Anderson (unat) 49.96; 3. Jehue Gordon’ (Tri) 51.21.
Field Events
HJ: 1. *Tyler Arroyo (Chico) 7-1½ (2.17) PR.
PV: 1. Nate Richartz (NDm) 18-2½ (5.55).
SP: 1. *Payton Otterdahl (NDSt) 65-6¼ (19.97) PR; 2. **McKay Johnson (Cal) 64-11½ (19.80) PR; 3. ***Jordan West (Tn) 62-3¼ (18.98) PR; 4. Péter Simon’ (Cal) 61-6¼ (18.75); 5. Tristen Newman (Stan) 60-9¼ (18.52) PR PR; 6. ***Joseph Maxwell (Tn) 60-6 (18.44) PR.
DT: 1. Otterdahl 184-9 (56.33).
HT: I–1. Alex Young (Vel) 234-1 (71.36); 2. *Brock Eager (WaSt) 228-3 (69.57) PR; 3. ***Georgios Korakidis’ (Tn) 215-3 (65.61); 4. Gary Randolph (unat) 214-11 (65.51).
II–1. Nick Miller’ (GB) 256-10 (78.29) PR (WL);
2. Taylor Campbell’ (GB) 231-0 (70.42).
JT: 1. Dejan Mileusnic’ (Bos) 247-9 (75.52); 2. Brent Lagace (unat) 236-4 (72.05).
STANFORD WOMEN
(3/30—100, 400, 1500, St, 5K, 10K, 100Hh, 100H, 400H, HJ, PV, SP, HT, JT)
100(0.7): 1. Ashton Purvis (unat) 11.42.
200(0.9): 1. Brianna Rollins-McNeal (Nik) 23.12.
400: 1. Dalilah Muhammad (Nik) 52.72; 2. *Jasmine Malone (NnAz) 53.12 PR.
800: V–1. Dalanne Zanotelli (unat) 2:05.77; 2. *Jessica Harris (NDm) 2:07.24.
VI–1. Lindsey Butterworth’ (Can) 2:04.25; 2. Laurence Cote’ (Can) 2:05.86; 3. Adrea Propp’ (Can) 2:06.71.
1500: I–1. Butterworth’ 4:13.12 PR; 2. Mariah Kelly’ (Can) 4:15.59; 3. Erin Teschuk’ (Can) 4:16.09; 4. Sarah MacPherson’ (Can) 4:16.52; 5. Ashley Maton (unat) 4:16.96; 6. **Paige Duca (BC) 4:18.04 PR.
II–1. *Alexis Fuller (Boise) 4:17.80 PR.
III–1. Madelyn Brooks (BYU) 4:19.56 PR; 2. *Jasmine Staebler (IaSt) 4:19.68 PR.
St: I–1. **Allie Ostrander (Boise) 9:38.57 PR (WL) (9, x C);
2. Marie Bouchard’ (USF) 9:47.03; 3. Grayson Murphy (Ut) 9:51.36 PR; 4. Taylor Austin (InSt) 9:54.01 PR; 5. *Rachel King (SDSt) 10:01.14 PR; 6. Lizzie Bird (unat) 10:06.45; 7. Courtney Coppinger (Ks) 10:09.74 PR; 8. *Minttu Hukka’ (Boise) 10:13.63; 9. Alex Burkhart (Chico) 10:16.19.
II–1. Breanna Sieracki (TMn) 10:10.05 PR; 2. *Maddie Cannon (BYU) 10:12.76 PR; 3. **Rachel Nichwitz (Ar) 10:14.59 PR.
5000: 1. *Lilli Burdon’ (Or) 15:42.65 PR; 2. *Katherine Receveur (In) 15:43.26 PR; 3. Kaitlyn Benner (Co) 15:47.23 PR; 4. **Clare O’Brien (Boise) 15:48.74 PR; 5. ***Emily Venters (Boise) 15:49.12 PR; 6. *Taryn Rawlings (Port) 15:49.38 PR; 7. *Margaret Allen (In) 15:51.73 PR; 8. *Jillian Hunsberger (PennSt) 15:55.27 PR.
10,000: I–1. Gwen Jorgensen (BowTC) 31:55.68 PR; 2. Carrie Dimoff (BowTC) 31:57.85 PR;
3. Karissa Schweizer (Mo) 32:00.55 (8, 9 C PR; 4, 4 AmC) PR;
4. Alice Wright’ (NM) 32:15.73 PR; 5. *Sharon Lokedi’ (Ks) 32:21.19 PR; 6. *Paige Stoner (Syr) 32:23.38 PR; 7. *Caroline Kurgat’ (AkA) 32:33.24 PR; 8. Natalie Tanner (Strava) 32:36.15 PR; 9. Rachel Johnson (AsicsFE) 32:36.94 PR; 10. Danielle Shanahan (unat) 32:55.04 PR; 11. Samantha Nadel (Or) 33:01.82 PR; 12. Shannon Malone (Syr) 33:13.16 PR; 13. *Militsa Mircheva’ (FlSt) 33:33.70 PR; 14. **Carmela Cardama Baez’ (Or) 33:36.73 PR; 15. *Jaci Smith (AF) 33:36.92 PR; 16. *Abbie McNulty (Stan) 33:37.36 PR; 17. *Anne Frisbie (IaSt) 33:42.53 PR; 18. Misaki Hayashida’ (Jpn) 33:46.16 PR; 19. Vallery Korir’ (WaSt) 33:52.28 PR; 20. Cleo Boyd’ (Can) 33:57.34; 21. Addi Zerrenner (Az) 33:59.63.
II–1. **Hannah Miller’ (SMU) 33:43.35 PR; 2. Amy Schnittger (Strava) 33:49.24 PR; 3. Megan Ratcliffe (Brown) 33:49.57 PR; 4. *Andrea Shine (Ia) 33:50.25 PR; 5. Kelsey Bruce (361) 33:50.93 PR; 6. Maggie Drazba (WV) 33:51.71 PR; 7. **Abigail McLaughlin (Col) 33:53.19 PR; 8. *Carleen Jeffers (Brown) 33:54.92 PR; 9. Erin Clark (Co) 33:56.01.
100H(2.0): 1. Rollins-McNeal 12.62 (WL, AL);
2. Bridgette Owens (unat) 12.98.
400H: 1. ***De’Andreah Young (CSN) 58.15.
4 x 400: 1. Stanford 3:35.96.
Field Events
HJ: 1. Liz Patterson (unat) 6-¾ (1.85).
PV: 1. *Lauren Martinez (Cal) 13-7¼ (4.15); 2. **Kaitlyn Merritt (Stan) 13-7¼.
TJ: 1. *Isabella Marten’ (Cal) 42-9¾ (13.05); 2. Ashley Anderson (Cal) 42-7½ (12.99).
SP: 1. Lena Giger (Stan) 57-9½ (17.61); 2. Courtney Pasiowitz (NDSt) 52-7½ (16.04).
DT: 1. Valarie Allman (Stan) 198-11 (60.65); 2. Kayla Hopkins (Fres) 175-11 (53.62); 3. *Stamatia Scarvelis’ (Tn) 171-3 (52.21);
4. **Maddy Nilles (NDSt) 170-4 (51.92); 5. *Kendall Mader (Cal) 169-1 (51.54); 6. Amarie Bremel (Cal) 167-9 (51.14).
HT: 1. Sophie Hitchon’ (GB) 234-3 (71.41); 2. Scarvelis’ 222-11 (67.96); 3. ***Camryn Rogers’ (Cal) 207-3 (63.17); 4. **Maddy Nilles (NDSt) 203-2 (61.92).
JT: I–1. *Mackenzie Little’ (Stan) 182-7 (55.67); 2. Alyssa Olin (NDSt) 176-11 (53.92); 3. *Destiny Dawson (OrSt) 163-8 (49.88);
4. *Vanja Spaic’ (Fres) 163-4 (49.78); 5. Channing Wilson (unat) 159-2 (48.52); 6. ***Virginia Miller (Stan) 159-0 (48.47).
II–1. ***Kari Wolfe (NDSt) 170-0 (51.82) PR; 2. **Raquel Pellecer (WnWa) 157-2 (47.91) PR.
