In its final competition before spring break, Stanford track and field dominated the NCAA Indoor Championship this past weekend in Fayetteville, Ark. Always one of the favorites, the Cardinal proved why it is one of the best teams in the nation. Junior Erica McLain completed her season on top by winning the triple jump title and junior Josh Hustedt broke a Stanford record in the heptathlon.

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Benjamin Dickens / JR / Pole Vault / at Stanfod Track and Field Quad Meet vs. UC Davis, USF, Fresno State on 3.3.07. #gallery http://daily.stanford.org/image/full/7099
Masaru Oka

Benjamin Dickens / JR / Pole Vault / at Stanfod Track and Field Quad Meet vs. UC Davis, USF, Fresno State on 3.3.07.

On the women’s side, McLain also broke the school record with her winning jump of 13.91 meters. She herself had set the previous record of 13.90 meters in 2005. Her personal best was especially impressive, as it came on her first jump of the competition. McLain is currently ranked No. 1 in the nation by more than a foot, and is among the top 40 jumpers in the world.

Stanford’s lone female runner in the competition, redshirt junior Arianna Lambie, took third place in the 3000-meter run with a time of 9:04.81. She was also second in the 5000 with a time of 15:37.97 — a new Stanford record — which makes her No. 2 in the U.S. She is currently ranked seventh in the world. Her time in the 5000 was one of the top 50 ever recorded in the world. She ran a total of 40 laps at the meet and singlehandedly scored 14 of Stanford’s 24 points.

For the men, Hustedt’s school record in the heptathlon helped him finish fourth. His impressive score of 5837 currently ranks him 15th in the world. Hustedt also matched the school record in the 60-meter hurdles, finishing with a time of 8.03 seconds. All together, Hustedt tied his personal best in six of the seven events and was an All-American for the first time.

On the track, redshirt junior Russell Brown placed second in the mile finals with a 4:00.84 run. It was his third four-minute mile in 24 hours, following the event preliminaries in which he posted the fastest qualifying time, and his leg of the distance medley relay. Brown scored eight points for the team after leading the relay team to the win.

Redshirt sophomore Garrett Heath finished close behind Brown in the mile for fourth place with a time of 4:00.99. Heath also ran three times in 24 hours.

Freshman Zach Chandy, redshirt junior Michael Garcia, Brown and Heath brought home Stanford’s first national title at the 2007 NCAA Indoor Championships in the distance medley relay. They finished with a time of 9:33.64 in an extremely competitive race, in which they beat Cal by only .13 seconds. Heath’s 400-meter run was especially impressive, bringing the Cardinal up from 10th to fourth.

“I kind of hung back, but in the end I had a strong kick,” Heath said. “I felt I could have moved up a little more, but I’m really happy with the performance.”

“I couldn’t believe it — a national championship in the winter quarter of my freshman year,” Chandy added. “It’s just kind of crazy. I’m lucky to be on a team with such great guys. They’re really good guys. They’re older than me, and they helped me through the process. I’m really happy to be on the team.”

Other notable performers for the Cardinal were junior Graeme Hoste, who is an All-American in the pole vault, and Griffin Matthew, who was the only freshman to qualify for the Indoor Championship in the long jump.

Overall, it was an impressive performance. Only two women competed for the Cardinal, and yet they beat many teams from other colleges. It had been a long time since a Stanford athlete had won an NCAA title as an individual, but this past weekend changed everything.

At the end of the 2007 NCAA Indoor Championships, Stanford boasted two national champions, broke three school records and finished the championship on a high note.

“I couldn’t have been more proud of what our athletes accomplished at the Indoor National Championship,” head coach Edrick Floreal said. “The women finished as the sixth-best team in the nation and the men left with a fourth-place trophy, making Stanford tied for the top combined program in the nation.”

The team’s performance showed promise for the upcoming outdoor season. For the next few weeks, the team will continue to practice despite final exams. The Cardinal will compete again on Mar. 28 at the Cal Multis in Berkeley, Calif.