This weekend will prove demanding for the men’s and women’s track and field team, as it heads off to Seattle, Wash. to compete in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) Championships. This weekend, the Stanford women will look to defend their title from last year, while the men will try to win their first title in school history. Currently, the women are unranked in the country while the men sit at No. 14.
Last indoor season, the women won their fifth MPSF title in school history and have their eyes set on number six. Last year’s title was the first for the Cardinal since 2006, with four individuals securing meet titles. Two of these athletes have returned this season–junior Arantxa King in the long jump and senior Kate Niehaus in the 5,000 meters.
“We are really excited for MPSF this weekend,” Niehaus said. “This is a great opportunity to compete for team championships on both sides. And at the same time, we are looking forward to using this competitive atmosphere to our advantage to post some really great marks. We will definitely be using this meet as a stepping stone to NCAAs in two weeks.”
The women go into the meet with six NCAA provisional qualifiers and one automatic qualifier, sophomore Katerina Stefanidi in the pole vault. Currently eighth in the nation, Stefanidi is vying for the podium at the MPSF Championships. The provisional qualifiers include King in the long jump, junior Whitney Liehr in the triple jump, junior Stephanie Marcy, sophomore Georgia Griffin and Niehaus–all in the 5,000 meters–and senior Griffin Matthew in the 200 meters.
The toughest competition for the Cardinal women will be the No. 1 ranked team in the country, Oregon, and No. 16 Arizona. Oregon enters the meet with the top seeds in eight events, as well as both relays.
On the men’s side, Stanford faces a stacked line up with No. 2 Oregon, No. 5 Arizona State, No. 18 Arizona and No. 24 California. The men do not have any returning individual title winners, yet have a deep field with 12
provisional standards and two automatic standards.
The distance runners lead the way for the Cardinal, with several runners being ranked in the top 20 in the nation. Senior Justin Marpole-Bird and sophomore Dylan Ferris sit at sixth and eighth nationally with automatic qualifying standards in the mile, having run sub-four minute races two weeks ago. These athletes also have provisional times in other events–the 3,000 meters for Marpole-Bird (No. 15) and the 800 meters for Ferris (No. 11).
Stanford’s remaining ranked athletes are junior Jake Riley (10th in the 5,000 meters), junior J.T. Sullivan (19th in the mile) and freshman Jules Sharpe (20th in the high jump). The distance medley relay, consisting of Sullivan, sophomore Amaechi Morton, Ferris and Marpole-Bird is ranked second in the nation, right behind Oregon.
Other men with provisional standards include sophomore Miles Unterreiner in the mile, junior Elliott Heath in the 3,000 meters and sophomore Geoffrey Tabor in the shot-put.
“We go into this weekend with our sights set on team titles on both sides,” Heath said. “Competing well at the MPSF meet is one of our major goals for the indoor season.”
Heath affirmed that the MPSF title might not have the same level of importance as a Pac-10 title.
“Although it maybe doesn’t have the prestige of the Pac-10 Championships during the outdoor season, it is still our indoor conference meet and the culmination of the indoor season for a lot of the team.”
“Basically all of the Pac-10, as well as a few other teams, will be lining their best squads up to race this weekend, so coming home with a team victory would mean a lot for our program,” he added.
The MPSF Championships begin today in Seattle, Wash. and will conclude competition tomorrow.