Stanford Invitational Highlights
Let's face it - we've been looking forward to the Seeded races in Palo Alto for a long time. Not only are they the first major 5K races of the season, but they always bring together top teams and individuals from all over California, not to mention Oregon, Washington, and Nevada. The result is almost always fast times and great competition, and this year was no exception.
The most anticipated matchup of the meet was between Michael Vernau (Davis Senior) and Cooper Teare (St. Joseph Notre Dame). The pair did not disappoint, battling side-by-side for two miles before Teare began to pull away. Teare finished in 14:38.9, just six seconds slower than Philip Rocha ran last year, and the time moves him to US #3 this season. (NOTE: ordinarily I don't put much stock in comparing times from around the nation, but the two runners ahead of Teare ran in similar conditions on a similar course, so this one seems valid.) Vernau came through in 14:47.6, dropping 18 seconds off his 2015 time at the same meet, and he led two more runners under the 15-minute mark: Callum Bolger (San Luis Obispo) and Henry Weisberg (McQueen NV).
Stanford also usually produces breakout races, and this year's winner among boys competitors was Trad Berti (Paso Robles), who ran 14:57.7 in a solo effort, as he won the Division 3 race by 32 seconds over teammate Luis Armendariz. In team competition (combining all the races together), Great Oak's boys came out as champions, scoring 155 points to defeat Arcadia and Bellarmine Prep (those two teams finishing nearly equal). Dublin, who dominated the Division 2 race, finished 6th in combined team scoring, an indication that the Gaels are a state meet caliber team this year,
Speaking of breakout performances, did anyone expect Alexandra Beitia (Granite Bay) to be the top California finisher in the Seeded Girls race? She pushed eventual winner Eve Jensen (Boise ID) all the way to the line and clocked an astounding 17:16.90 - nearly TWO MINUTES faster than her time here last year and an 81-second PR over 5000 meters! In the process, Beitia defeated some of the best individuals in California: Meredith Corda (Monte Vista) finished 3rd in 17:29, while Sofia Castiglioni and Glennis Murphy were in the top 10. Two other 2016 breakout stars finished in the top 5 of the seeded race: Kiera Marshall (St. Joseph Notre Dame) was 4th, and Trinity Ruelas (Bishop Amat) came through in 5th.
The seeded race wasn't the only girls race with sub-18 performances, either. Mari Friedman (Santa Cruz) clocked 17:38.5 in the Division 4 race, holding off a 17:41.5 by Cassi Land (Sonora) as they pulled two more girls under 17:50. In the Division 3 race, it was Hannah Ruane (Campolindo) breaking the tape first with a time of 17:34.5, with teammate Isabella Chao seconds in 17:40.2
In overall team scoring, Great Oak used the meet as a tremendous show of force: the Wolfpack lived up to their mascot, putting their top 5 together in places 12 - 16, running between 17:45.9 and 17:50.5 to rack up a commanding win over Davis Senior. In the seeded race the tally was 55 - 78; the scores with all races combined were 84 - 144.5, with Arcadia the only other team in striking range at 206. We also got our first look at Aptos, who won the Division 3 race 74 - 89 over University City in what looked like a carefully controlled performance.