This past weekend the Cardinal headed off to Cal State Northridge for the 2008 NCAA West Regional Championships, the stepping stone towards qualifying for NCAAs in two weeks. The hard training throughout the year proved fruitful for Stanford, as several members of the men’s and women’s track and field squads achieved national qualifying marks and top finishes.

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Courtesy of Spencer Allen

Stanford qualified ten female athletes and five male competitors this past weekend at the NCAA West Regionals held in Northridge, Calif. The team will now prepare for the NCAA Outdoor Championships next week in Des Moines, Iowa.

The first day of competition was dominated by the Cardinal women. Senior Erica McLain ceased to let up against her competition, continuing her recent winning streak. However, this time through, McLain did offer her fans and competitors something new, winning the long jump at West Regionals for the first time. Her leap of 20-9 1/4 gave her the title.

Additionally, McLain defended her two-time title of West Regional champ in the triple jump, winning the event once more with a mark of 43-2 1/2. McLain will compete for the Cardinal for the last time at the upcoming NCAAs, where she will look to reach a new personal best before heading off to the Olympic Trials.

Also faring well for the women on the first day was sophomore Griffin Matthew, who finished fifth in the long jump with a personal best outdoor leap of 20-5. Freshman Arantxa King followed Matthew, finishing in sixth place with a season best jump of 20-3; fortunately, she narrowly missed a qualifying mark for NCAA Championships. Lastly, in the field events, sophomore Jaynie Goodbody finished fifth in the hammer throw with a toss of 196-10 to qualify for her first-ever national championship.

In the running events, senior Teresa McWalters took home the title in the 5,000 meters, winning the event with a season-best time of 16:17.30.

Day two proved even more successful for Stanford, as the team ended up with a total of 12 national qualifying performances. The women ended the meet in fourth place with 74 points, while the men finished in ninth place with 39 points.

The Stanford women really stepped up and proved their prowess this past weekend. This was marked by the fact that at the upcoming NCAA Championships, Cardinal women will compete in ten of the 12 events. On day two, the women were led by the distance runners, with junior Alicia Follmar finishing in fourth place in the 1,500 meters with a personal best time of 4:17.24, followed by teammate senior Lauren Centrowitz who finished fifth with a time of 4:19.15.

Keep in mind, the top five individuals from each event qualify for nationals, and the top three teams from the relay events proceed on as well. The last distance runner to qualify was senior Lindsay Allen in the 3,000 meter steeplechase, where she finished in fourth place with a time of 10:06.92. Freshman Alexandra Gits, who already qualified in the 10,000 meters, will be joining these other women in two weeks to once more run the grueling and long event.

The female throwers had an incredibly successful day, qualifying two more women to join Goodbody. Senior Melissa Yunghans placed second in the shot put with a personal best throw of 53-10 1/4, while junior Michaela Wallerstedt finished in fifth place in the shot put with a personal best toss of 51-10.

Griffin Matthew joined McLain as the only person with two qualifying events for NCAA Championships, placing fifth in the 100 meters with a personal best time of 11.55 seconds.

After a rough day of not having a single team member qualify for nationals, the Stanford men were determined to come back and make an impact on day two. And indeed, they did just that. Junior Garrett Heath added the title of West Regional Champion in the 1,500 meters to his already illustrious running career, winning the event with a time of 3:42.17. Joining him at NCAA Championships will be teammate and close friend, senior Russell Brown, who finished in fifth place with a time of 3:44.29.

In the sprints, senior Wopamo Osaisai finished in second place in the 100 meter dash with a season-best time of 10.44 seconds, his second appearance at nationals since 2005. Also advancing to nationals in the sprints will be Myles Bradley, who set a new school record with his time of 13.78 seconds. The final male qualifier for the Cardinal was also in the sprints, freshman Andrew Dargie, who placed fifth in the 400 meter dash with a time of 47.21 seconds.

The NCAA Outdoor Championships will take place in Des Moines, Iowa from June 11 to 14, when the Stanford athletes will hope to offer their best performances yet of the year.