Stanford Invitational

WOW!

Not to hype Stanford (cos its still early), but DAMN they ran well today. Props!

How are the hills & turns on this course?

It's a fast course, although there are some tighter turns and rolling ups and downs (it's a golf course). But the ground and footing is usually superb. That's usually what makes it "fast."

For reference, Chris Derrick ran 23:45 or so last year. Bauhs ran 23:20-ish. Both early season times, so obviously a fast course, but those were relatively honest efforts. So, it's probably only 15-30 seconds faster than an "average" course over 8k.

That said, the manner of the victory today was just phenominal. I still don't think they can do better than 3rd at nationals... but I need less to convince me otherwise now.

Footlocker finalist Claire Durkin still hasn't come out for the cross country team.

2008 Stanford Invitational Results:

Men’s Individual Results

(28 Teams, 234 runners)

1. Scotty Bauhs, Chico State 23:45

2. Aron Rono, Azusa Pacific 23:53

3. Chris Derrick, Stanford 24:18

4. Scott MacPherson, Arkansas 24:23

5. Garrett Heath, Stanford 24:25

2009 Stanford Invitational Results:

1 Chris Derrick, SO STANFORD 23:54 4:49

2 Benjamin Johnson, FR STANFORD 23:54 4:49

3 Jacob Riley, SO STANFORD 23:54 4:49

4 Brendan Gregg, JR STANFORD 23:54 4:49

5 Miles Unterreiner, FR STANFORD 24:10 4:52

6 Robbie Knorr, JR BAYLOR 24:15 4:53

7 Justin Marpole-Bird, JR STANFORD 24:19 4:54

12 Elliott Heath, JR STANFORD 24:32 4:56

13 Waleed Totari, SR UC SANTA BARBARA 24:38 4:58

14 Brian McDonald, SR LOYOLA MARYMOUNT 24 38 4:58

15 Steve Sodaro, JR CALIFORNIA 24:43 4:59

17 J.T. Sullivan, SO STANFORD 24:47 5:00

18 Tyler Stutzman, FR UNATTACHED (Stanford) 24:48 5:00

Stanford Men Impress

I watched the race this year and was impressed by the Stanford men. They're young, they run together, and they behave like a tight-knit group before, during, and after the race. Soph Chris Derrick ran was the vocal leader on the course today cheering his teammates to maintain a pack up front. Six Stanford runners made up the front pack at 5k (passed in roughly 14:52) before slightly splintering. Derrick, Ben Johnson, and Jacob Riley looked like they were running a tempo workout all the way through the finish. Derrick, in particular, seemed to be running a controlled effort, looking around and cheering on his teammates as they approached the homestretch.

A few notes about the race: Today's race was unusually hot with temperatures in the upper 80s. The course is more condensed and flatter than it used to be when it included the backside of the golf course. It has several turns but no hairpins. The collegiate races have shrunk in competition and size in recent years. Today's top 5 comprised Stanford (15 points), Cal (101), UC Davis (102), Chico St (158), and Long Beach (168). It appears most national caliber teams are gearing up for the Dellinger Meet in Eugene next weekend. Altogether this makes the Stanford Invite mostly an impressive display of "The Machine," the storied nickname for the Stanford distance teams. Judging by this year's young Stanford talent they will live up to that nickname this season and for a few years to come. Expect Stanford to live up to their no. 3 pre-season ranking.

Damn i was impressed by Cal. they had 3 freshmen on their team and had 36 second pack time for 1-7

I'd say they're gonna move up into the rankings

Last Years course was long.

. . . . Elliot Heath, #3 returner from last year's NCAA 3rd place team, was only the 7th man today and quite a ways behind the top 4.

Still, very impressive 38 second 1-7 spread, especially since #1 was Chris Derrick, albeit not running all out.

Agree with above poster, Stanford confirmed it's #3 ranking. However, unlikely to catch Oregon unless the Ducks have injury problems and can't run people like Wheating or Centro. OK State, with everyone healthy, looks out of reach with -- on paper, anyway -- one of the best college teams I've ever seen.

Any comments on the women's race? How does Stanford look, now without Chetelat but with Gits back and true frosh Kroeger and Dunne looking like the star FootLocker gals they were in high school?

Thank you!

Stan Ford Jr.

Course is obviously short!!

Oklahoma State has a great team on paper, and Oregon is always going to be favored to be close to the top, but this is why we run the race. Stanford recruited one of the best classes ever last year, and under the guidance of coach Dunn they'll improve a ton through the season (and through the years... They're shaping up to be a #1 team the next few seasons). Now I'm not saying its likely for them to overtake OK State or Oregon, but they looked great today and I'll be excited to see what they can do at Pac-10's AND Regionals against Oregon before NCAA's. Good luck guys.

What happened to Chetelat?

Transferred

A lot of high school action there as well. I regret not running XC in High school. Any mens open XC races in California happen on a golf course? I would like to try it.

does anyone know where and why she transfered?

Atom wrote:

Course is obviously short!!

I just did some math on the 2008 vs 2009 Stanford Invitational results.

Of this year's top 100, 63 didn't run last year. 35 ran faster than last year and only 2 ran slower than last year(Scanlon from Chico and Havel from Stanford).

The average improvement was 47 seconds. Of course you would expect people to improve from one year to the next, but to have 35 of 37 returners run an average of 47 seconds faster would indicate to me the course was significantly faster (or shorter) than last year.

Likewise, comparing places from last years race to this years race (which is definitely a less stacked field):

10th place this year was 10sec faster

20th place this year was 21sec faster

30th place this year was 23sec faster

40th place this year was 35sec faster

50th place this year was 23sec faster

80th place this year was 34sec faster

100th place this year was 24sec faster

I would guess an equivalent effort last year would yield a time between 30-40sec faster.

The field is week. This used to be a quality meet but times have changed. Now's it's pre nats, Conf, regionals and NCCA. Outside of Pre Nats meets like this mean very litte anymore.

Did you race the course both years? I did...and it is exactly the same. It might have been a little more slippery around the turns last year, but other than that, no change.

i would say that davis was impressive too, almost beating cal. i'd say they move up in the rankings too.