Men win Big Meet, but women fall to Cal in final event

A chilly day in Berkeley ushered in the 116th Big Meet between Stanford and UC-Berkeley, fondly — or not so fondly — known as Cal. While the promise of a rain-free day did not hold true, the promise of an exciting, close meet did come to fruition. While the Stanford men won the meet, the women’s side came down to the last event, the 4×400 relay, which resulted in a Cal win.

The meet was laid out with first through third scoring five points, three points and one point respectively. In the relays, the first place team scored five points, with the losing team scoring no points.

On the men’s side, senior Danny Belch led the Cardinal with two meet titles, in both the 100 and 200 meters. Belch won the 100 meters with a time of 10.59 seconds and the 200 meters with a personal best time of 21.59 seconds.

“It was one of the best days of my college career,” said Belch, who is a Daily columnist. “I knew that I had those times in me, it was just a matter of putting it together in one race, and I definitely did.”

Also faring well in the sprints and hurdles was sophomore Amaechi Morton, who won the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 51.13, and placed second in the 110 hurdles with a time of 14.58 seconds.

To close out the sprints, the Cardinal captured another event with the 400 meters, with freshman Spencer Chase winning the event with a time of 48.12 seconds.

In the middle distances, sophomore Dylan Ferris had an excellent run, winning the 800 meters with a time of 1:48.79. Placing third in the event was freshman Andrew Berberick. The 1,500 meters also proved a successful event for the Cardinal, with junior Elliott Heath winning the event with a time of 3:49.80, and senior Justin Marpole-Bird placing third with a time of 3:50.61. Sophomore Chris Derrick also won the 3,000 meters easily, coming in a full three seconds ahead of second-place finisher Marpole-Bird. Stanford runners had nine of the top 11 finishes in the race.

The Stanford men also fared well in the field events, with freshman Jules Sharpe capturing the high jump title with a mark of 6-9. Sophomore Geoffrey Tabor scored twice for the Cardinal, winning the discus with a mark of 174-0 and placing second in the shot put with a mark of 49-7. Redshirt junior Carter Wells also scored twice, winning the hammer throw with a toss of 194-0 and placing third in the discus with a mark of 159-0. The final win of the field events came from freshman Robert Hintz, who won the javelin with a throw of 194-2.

The meet was incredibly close on the women’s side. The women were led by senior Griffin Matthew, who set the bar high by winning three individual events and a relay. Matthew started the day off with a win in the long jump, leaping a personal best mark of 21-1.5, which should be enough to secure her spot in the postseason. Matthew has qualified for the NCAA Championships in the 100 and long jump in the past, and should easily qualify once again this year.

At Big Meet, Matthew won the 100 meters and 200 meters with times of 11.51 and 23.87 respectively. Matthew was also a part of the winning 4×100 meter relay, along with junior Brittni Dixon-Smith, junior Shataya Hendricks and freshman Carissa Levingston.

Hendricks and Levingston also scored points for the Cardinal women in the individual events, assisting in a sprints sweep for the women. Levingston finished second in both the 100 and 200, with times of 11.65 and 23.93, while Hendricks finished third in both events, with times of 12.03 and 24.43.

In the distance events, the Cardinal women were led by senior Madeleine O’Meara, who won the 3,000 meter steeplechase with a time of 10:47.70, with sophomore Emma Miller-Bedell finishing third with a time of 11:03.04. A brutal event, the steeplechase requires the runner to jump over several large hurdles throughout the race, and also requires a splash through a make-shift pond.

The women had an exceedingly good day in the field events as well, with senior Jaynie Goodbody leading the way. Goodbody won both the hammer throw and the shot put, with marks of 185-2 and 43-4.25, respectively. In addition to her two meet titles, Goodbody also placed second in the javelin with a toss of 136-11. Stanford junior Liz Minoofar captured the javelin title with a mark of 142-3.

Sophomore Katerina Stefanidi, a consistently excellent pole vaulter, captured the meet title in the event with a mark of 13-5.75. Her skill and ability is only slightly showcased by the fact that she passed on several heights before clearing 13-5.75, which was not a personal best, but enough to win the event title.

Despite a number of excellent performances and event titles, the Stanford women were unable to capture the meet title, and lost their first Big Meet after a 10-year winning streak. Needless to say, the Cardinal will meet Cal with a vengeance in the upcoming Brutus Hamilton Meet, as well as Pac-10 Championships, which will both be hosted on enemy territory.