On the first day of competition at the Pac-12 Championships in Pullman, Washington, Stanford track and field won three individual titles — the most of any school. After the first day of competition of the two-day event, the Cardinal men sat in seventh place, while the women sat in fourth. At the end of the second day, both squads had improved from their first-day placements, with the women tying for third and the men finishing in sixth.
In the final day of competition, Stanford took home one more title in the men’s triple jump, with junior Darian Brooks breaking the school record that was set back in 1970. However, Brooks, who broke three personal records over the span of competition, still trailed by three-quarters of an inch with one jump left.
“When you get into competition, the adrenaline is pumping,” said Brooks to GoStanford.com. “Even if I had broken my foot, it wouldn’t have mattered. I would have kept jumping. I was feeling strong, I’ve been working for something special and I felt today had to be that day.”
His final jump soared him past Arizona State’s narrow lead and gave Brooks a decisive 17-inch victory with what was the 10th-longest jump of any Division I athlete this year.
“Darian was probably the most undertrained and least-competed athlete in the field,” said jump coach Michael Eskind to GoStanford.com. “But we’ve known he was capable of big things since the testing we did in the fall. The ability level was there. He just needed to step up to competitions like this to bring it out…He’s a whole new jumper now. He’s put himself on the national level.”
On Saturday, junior Brianna Bain won her third consecutive conference women’s javelin title, with freshman Megan Glasmann, the reigning U.S. junior national champion, coming in second. Bain is one among only three other women in conference history to have won at least three titles in the event. In men’s javelin, sophomore Andrew Rondema finished just seventh despite recording a personal record (205-6, 62.65m) that placed him sixth in Stanford’s all-time record list.
“Finishing 1-2 was one of our goals,” said Bain to GoStanford.com. “Having Megan on the podium was really exciting.”
Junior Joe Rosa and senior Jessica Tonn swept the 10,000 meter races to complete the three-title day for the Card on Saturday. Tonn won her race with a personal best of 34:09.13. It was the first Pac-12 title for both distance runners; Tonn had been runner-up in the event at last year’s race.
“The game plan was to go out there conservatively and hang in the back for a little bit,” Tonn told GoStanford. “But of course I did the complete opposite, and took the lead, which is totally fine. I felt really comfortable out there and it’s almost better for me to be out in front and kind of be in control.”
Stanford also had the top qualifying times for three other running events. Senior Michael Atchoo and sophomore Rebecca Mehra both led the 1,500 meter race with times of 3:47.21 and 4:23.95, respectively. Three other Cardinal men and two women qualified for the event, as well. Atchoo ended up finishing third in the finals of the event. Junior Aisling Cuffe finished second in both the finals of the women’s 1,500 and 5,000.
In addition, sophomore Steven Solomon was one of the favorites in the men’s 400 heading into Sunday’s final after recording a time of 46.39. Solomon, however, would be going up against the World Championship 4×400 gold medalist Michael Berry of Oregon. Unfortunately for Solomon, Berry bested the defending Australian national champion by just 0.75 seconds to take first in the event.
On Sunday, sophomore Nick Budincich recorded a personal best in the men’s discus with a mark of 54.27 meters, while freshman Valarie Allman finished second in the women’s discus.
The preliminary round of the NCAA Finals will begin Thursday, May 29, in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
Contact Ashley Westhem at awesthem ‘at’ stanford.edu.