Fourteen Stanford athletes who have a combined 33 All-America honors will compete in seven competitions at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships, which begin Friday at the Birmingham (Ala.) CrossPlex.
Eight women and six men will represent the Cardinal, which brings its most competitors since 2012, when it brought 15. The Stanford women have finished among the top 10 in each of the past two years, while the men are seeking their first top-10 result since 2011. The last time both Cardinal teams finished in the top 10 was 2008.
The centerpieces of Stanford’s schedule are the distance medley relays. Stanford’s men have qualified in the DMR for the seventh consecutive year, and the women are on a five-year streak.
The Cardinal women’s DMR comes in with the nation’s top time, but the team that will race Friday will have a much different look than the one that ran a national season-best 10:54.58 in January. Two of those members – Olivia Baker and Claudia Saunders – will focus on the 800 meters and their spots will be taken by Elise Cranny and Malika Waschmann.
The Cardinal men’s DMR is the No. 4 seed and also has a chance to become the first Stanford NCAA indoor champion since its men’s DMR won in 2014. Sean McGorty, who set a Stanford absolute mile record two weeks ago, will anchor the Cardinal and also is a contender for a high finish in a loaded 3,000 on Saturday.
Men’s diving
All four Stanford entrants qualified for the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships this past week at the NCAA Zone E Championships in Flagstaff, Ariz.
“Having all of the men on our diving team qualify for the national meet is just amazing,” said diving coach Patrick Jeffrey. “We definitely have strength in numbers and we are probably the best-represented diving group in the country, with at least two divers in each of the three events.”
In the 3-meter, the top-five divers qualified for the A-final. Bradley Christensen (756.10) took fourth place with Tarek Abdelghany (732.85) right behind him in fifth. Connor Kuremsky (719.95) also finished seventh, good enough to make the B-cut.
Two more Cardinal made the A-cut in the 1-meter, in which the top eight qualified. Christensen (689.50) placed fourth, with Kuremsky (654.25) taking sixth. Abdelghany (645.70) also made the B-cut, finishing 11th.
On the Platform, the top eight divers qualified. The Cardinal was led by Ted Miclau (678.10), who made the A-cut in seventh place. Abdelghany (665.95) finished ninth and will compete in the B-field, while Kuremsky (599.95) was just one spot away from qualification in 13th place.
The Cardinal returns to action at the NCAA Championships March 24-26 in Atlanta, Ga.
Softball
Stanford returns home this weekend for its final regular-season tournament of the year when it plays host to three teams as part of the Louisville Slugger Classic.
The Cardinal (11-8) takes on Cal Poly (14-5), No. 11/11 Florida State (18-3) and Tulsa (15-4). It will be the second meeting this season against the Mustangs and first against the Seminoles and Golden Hurricane.
Stanford is coming off a 4-1 weekend at the Malihini Aloha Tournament in Honolulu, Hawaii, picking up two wins against Hawai’i and Coastal Carolina. The Cardinal dropped its first game of the tournament before reeling off four straight wins. Stanford’s offense exploded for 50 runs, 41 hits, 12 home runs and nine doubles over five games on the weekend.
Kayla Bonstrom paced Stanford offensively on the weekend, hitting .412 (7-for-17) with six RBI, four doubles, a home run and seven runs. Kylie Sorenson and Whitney Burks also had big weekends at the plate. Sorenson hit .389 (7-for-18) with three home runs, while Burks hit .385 (5-for-13) with a double and a home run.
Lauren Frost provided plenty of power for the Cardinal with three home runs and a 1.083 slugging percentage on the weekend.
Carolyn Lee went 3-0 in the circle to improve her record to 6-4 on the year, while Haley Snyder (5-5) picked up a victory against Hawai’i. Lee limited opponents to 15 runs on 26 hits and eight walks, and racked up 16 strikeouts.
By Stanford Athletics
By Stanford Athletics
By Stanford Athletics