Jack Keelan became the 17th runner in Stanford history and the 479th American to break four minutes in the mile.
Keelan ran 3:59.62 on Saturday night to earn a dramatic victory at the Penn State National Open indoor track and field meet on the 200-meter Horace Ashenfelter III Indoor Track. Keelan’s fastest previous mile was 4:06.25, run indoors in 2015.
A specialist at the longer distances – he was fourth in the Pac-12 10,000 meters last spring – Keelan proved he has speed. He ran a sub-4 1,600 split to anchor the distance medley relay on Friday and returned 20 hours later to run the invitational mile.
Keelan tucked into fourth place on the opening laps as Penn State’s Brad Rivera acted as a pacesetter, and slipped into third when Rivera stepped off the track.
With the pace even at about 30 seconds per lap, Keelan passed Binghamton’s Eric Holt with just over two laps to go and crept onto the heels of Penn State alum Robbie Creese, the 2015 Big Ten indoor mile champ.
Keelan tried to make a move on the penultimate backstretch and went outside on the final turn. Though Creese held him off briefly, Keelan continued to grind and passed Creese in the final 10 meters to win.
Keelan becomes the fourth on the Stanford team to run sub-4, joining Sean McGorty, Tom Coyle, and Grant Fisher. He also is No. 4 on Stanford’s all-time indoor performer’s list for a regulation, or non-oversized, track.
Stanford also was involved in another close race, in the women’s 4×400 relay. The Cardinal team of Gaby Gayles, Michaela Crunkleton Wilson, Hannah Labrie-Smith, and Olivia Baker was second to Maryland, 3:40.17 to 3:40.29.
Gayles staked Stanford to a lead and Crunkleton Wilson extended it. On the final exchange, Labrie-Smith handed off to Baker with about three meters.
However, Maryland was closing and Terrapin anchor Micha Powell, a Canadian Olympian, passed Baker early. However, Baker stayed tough and moved alongside Powell down the stretch before the Maryland runner edged her at the line. Both ran splits in the 53-second range.
In the women’s 800, Cardinal junior Elise Cranny was second in 2:05.51 and teammates Rebecca Mehra (2:05.81) and Malika Waschmann (2:08.22) were third and fourth.
Cranny set an indoor personal record and it was the first 800 for Mehra since she ran 2:16.87 as a freshman outdoors in 2013. Now, Cranny and Mehra are Nos. 6-7 on Stanford’s all-time indoor performers’ list, just behind Waschmann, who ran 2:05.47 last year.
UW Invitational
Amber Lewis broke two personal records in the same event and finished the day at No. 8 on Stanford’s all-time indoor performers’ list in the 60-meter hurdles after her performance at the UW Invitational.
Lewis, a junior, came in with an 8.89 best and nearly equaled it with a qualifying round 8.90. She surpassed that with each round, running 8.77 in the prelims and 8.70 to finish sixth in the final.
Stanford junior Tristen Newman set his second PR in as many meets in the 35-pound weight throw. His toss of 60-10 (18.54 meters) was good for second and broke his two-week old PR of 60-0 ½ (18.30), set on the same Dempsey Indoor ring.
Newman has improved by two feet this season and moved up a spot to No. 8 on Stanford’s all-time performers’ list.
On the 307-meter track, several Stanford freshmen excelled while running unattached during redshirt seasons.
Christina Aragon and Fiona O’Keeffe, cross country All-Americans for the Cardinal last fall, placed second and fifth in the 3,000, running 9:12.58 and 9:15.51.
They would have been the Nos. 4-5 in Stanford freshman history if wearing Cardinal uniforms. In the mile, Ella Donaghu was sixth in a strong field in 4:42.81.
In the men’s 3,000, Pac-12 Cross Country Freshman of the Year Thomas Ratcliffe placed fifth in 7:53.23 while also running unattached.
By Stanford Athletics
By Stanford Athletics
By Stanford Athletics