In a track and field duel that came down to the final running event, Stanford trounced California in a rainy 4×400-meter relay to earn its first men’s team victory in four years and sweep the 122nd Big Meet at Edwards Stadium on Saturday.
Stanford rallied from a 15-point deficit over the final four events by shutting out Cal in three of them to win, 86-77. Meanwhile, the Cardinal women led from start to finish to rout Cal, 114-48, and earn their fifth victory in six years.
After a Cal sweep of the men’s discus, the Bears led, 73-58. But Stanford responded with sweeps of the pole vault and 3,000 to take a 76-73 lead going into the relay.
Stanford made a late switch to insert Harrison Williams, its school-record decathlete, into the relay lineup. Williams, with a 47.17 best in the 400, gave the Cardinal a 10-meter lead on the leadoff leg and teammates Isaiah Brandt-Sims, Daniel Brady and Jackson Shumway extended it from there. The Cardinal ran 3:11.21 to Cal’s 3:18.14.
Stanford had trailed by as many as 43-25 after eight events.
The relay finished a big day for Williams, only nine days removed from winning the decathlon at the Texas Relays in a school-record 7,842 points.
Williams, a sophomore, also won the pole vault (16-0) and set a lifetime best in the 110 high hurdles (14.25, second place), in addition to leading off the second-place 4×100.
Though Stanford had the meet in hand, two-time defending Pac-12 champion Darian Brooks finished off the meet by winning the triple jump (50-9 1/4) for the final margin. Brooks was a catalyst, earning the victory in his first long jump competition in two years, winning at 23-10 3/4.
Stanford won all four men’s jumping events, but none was greater than the high jump by Dartis Willis II, a fifth-year senior who matched a lifetime best 7-2 1/4 to win. It was his best jump since 2011, an outdoor personal record and it moved him to No. 5 on Stanford’s all-time outdoor performers’ list.
Also significant was the collegiate track debut for freshman Grant Fisher, one of eight high-schoolers in history to run a sub-4 mile.
Fisher was third in the 1,500 in a personal best 3:42.86, behind teammates and two other members of the sub-4 club, Sean McGorty and Tom Coyle. McGorty earned the victory in 3:42.11 and Coyle kicked to second in a personal best 3:42.68.
In the men’s 800, Stanford placed four in the top five – each in a lifetime best. Justin Brinkley led the charge in 1:49.81 with Tai Dinger just behind in 1:49.84, his best by nearly two seconds.
Both the Stanford men and women won the 4×400 relays for the sixth consecutive year, but a more impressive streak continued in the women’s javelin.
Freshman Mackenzie Little – two for two in meet victories so far in her young collegiate career – won the event in 179-5 to give the Cardinal its 14th consecutive victory in that event.
Defending Pac-12 discus champion Valarie Allman won her specialty (184-2), but also captured the hammer in 189-1 – a four-foot personal best – moving her past Carol Cady to No. 6 all-time at Stanford. With Allman and Lena Giger (182-10) going 1-2 in the hammer, Stanford launched the rout, outscoring Cal in 16 of the 19 events.
Another top-10 addition came in the 400 hurdles, where freshman Hannah Labrie-Smith moved to No. 8 with her 59.71 victory.
Michaela Crunkleton Wilson, a sophomore, won the 100 (11.90) and 200 (24.40), just ahead of teammate Gaby Gayles in each, and anchored the winning 4×100 (46.60). And Kristyn Williams gave Stanford the women’s sprints sweep by winning the 400 in 53.53 and 4×400 (3:44.58).
Vanessa Fraser provided the most stirring victory of the day for Stanford. Locked in a 3,000 duel with fellow All-America Bethan Knights of Cal, Fraser was passed on the backstretch of the final lap, but managed to grind out a final push down the stretch and beat Knights on the final stride, 9:18.20 to 9:18.25.
Another high-quality race came in the 800 when two-time NCAA outdoor runner-up Claudia Saunders pulled away from teammate Olivia Baker, third at NCAA Indoors, to win in 2:03.73 to 2:04.15.
By David Kiefer/Stanford Athletics
By David Kiefer/Stanford Athletics
By David Kiefer/Stanford Athletics