Photo: Randy Miyazaki, Track & Field Photo

Spring is officially here. As a native of Northern California, nothing exemplifies this fact for me more than the Friday evening distance carnival at the Stanford Invitational. With the bright lights of Cobb Track and Palo Alto’s cool, windless conditions come the same hopes that come with spring – new beginnings and renewed hopes for greater things to come.

A few takeaways from the meet:

Flanagan lights it up

There’s no doubt about it – Shalane Flanagan is in great shape. Flanagan stormed to the lead from the start of the 10,000 meters and proceeded to click off laps of 75 seconds with sheer ease. She ran a metronomic pace with unofficial mile meter splits of 4:57, 5:01, 5:01, 4:59, 5:01 and 4:56 before ratcheting things down for a 68 second final quarter, resulting in an impressive 31:04.85 victory.

To put things in perspective, Flanagan ran a similar solo 10k at the 2011 USATF Championships and managed to run 30:59.97, just a few ticks of the clock faster than she ran on Friday night. The difference? Two years ago, Flanagan was preparing for a summer track season while she’s now in the midst of marathon training for Boston in two weeks.

Speaking of Boston, how good are Flanagan’s chances of becoming the first American winner of the Patriot’s Day race since 1985? I’d say pretty decent. Most of the marathon’s heavy hitters (Tiki Gelana, Florence Kiplagat, Edna Kiplagat) have opted to run in London, leaving Boston with a relatively weaker field. I’ll give Shalane a 2-to-1 chance of finishing on the podium and 8-to-1 odds of taking home the title.

Good 10k debut for Hasay

Oregon senior Jordan Hasay ran a solid 32:46.68 10k debut on Friday, recording unofficial 5k splits of 16:45 and 16:01 for the two halves of the race. It was pretty entertaining watching Hasay communicate with coach Maurica Powell standing on the sidelines with a combination of smiles, winks and thumbs-up during the super conservative first half of the race.

Despite the relative success of her debut, there’s no guarantee that the 10k will go as swimmingly in the future. By dropping her focus the 1500 meters, Hasay won’t have to face speedy milers in pursuit of her first NCAA outdor title but will still have to endure stiff challenges from 10k specialists like Betsy Saina and Alphine Tuliamuk.

Alisha Williams just ran what??

That’s right, Alisha Williams, the Boulder Track Club harrier who we all previously thought was a marathoner, took down a stellar field to not only win the 5000 meters but also earn the World Championships ‘A’ standard with her time of 15:09.73. Williams stormed past the likes of Saina and Chelsea Reilly over the last 300 meters, closing her last 400 meters in 66 seconds.

Williams previously made a name for herself winning the Cal International Marathon in December but also had strong track credentials having finished fifth in the 10,000 meters and ninth in the 5000 meters at the U.S. Olympic Trials. Her previous 5k track best was 15:24.82.

Williams and Reilly, who finished third in 15:13.24, are the first two U.S. women to have run the 5000 meter ‘A’ standard of 15:18.00.

Williams’s race was reminiscent of Julia Lucas’s 5k at Payton Jordan last year. The two both had breakthrough performances to dip under the 15:10 barrier on the Stanford track and instantly put themselves in contention to be top three at nationals.

Jamaicans now run distance?

Kemoy Campbell, the Arkansas junior, continued the positive momentum from his second place finish in the NCAA indoor 3k by breaking current LSU distance coach Mark Elliot’s Jamaican 5000 meter national record with a time 13:32.82.

Campbell has stated his intention to change the perception of distance running in sprint-obsessed Jamaica. It’s a worthy goal, but the likes of Bolt and Blake might have something to say about that.

Speaking on Jamaicans, I can’t help but repost this tweet from Flotrack’s Mitch Kastoff:

I’m going to make a movie about a group of Canadians who fail to make the Olympic bobsled team and eventually become world-class sprinters.

— Mitch Kastoff (@mitchflotrack) March 25, 2013

John Gilbertson = Cam Levins of NAIA?

I first became aware of John Gilbertson from The Master’s College when he won the Stanford Cross Country Invitational in the fall. He’s continued an upward progression since then, winning the NAIA cross country title along with the fast section of the 10k on Friday in 28:30.35.

His improbably rise over the last six months resulted in a great tweet from SoCal club runner extraordinaire Nick Mosey:

@runliao John Gilbertson is like the NAIA Cam Levins

— Nick Mosey (@nmosey) March 30, 2013

Full results from the Stanford Invitational: http://www.rtspt.com/events/stanford/invite2013/compiled_res.htm

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KROEGER, HATTON LEAD CARDINAL VICTORY AT STANFORD INVITATIONAL

The Stanford women proved themselves as a bona fide podium contender on Saturday with a strong showing at their home Stanford Invitational. The team’s top four women – senior Kathy Kroeger, freshman Cayla Hatton, sophomore Aisling Cuffe and junior Jessica Tonn – ran as a pack for the first half of the race before Kroeger and Hatton started ratcheting up the pace past 3k. Kroeger pulled from her freshman teammate over the last kilometer to win her third straight Stanford Invite title in a time of 20:13. Hatton finished her first collegiate race in second place in 20:21 with Utah’s Amanda Mergaert third in 20:23.

“We went out really controlled and gradually picked it up throughout,” Hatton told Flotrack after the race. “I’m really excited to have my first college race under my belt.”

Hatton’s early success should not be surprising. The Andover, Mass. native ran 50-60 miles a week with long runs of 13-15 miles in high school and arrived on The Farm with unprecedented prep bests of 15:50.32 for 5000 meters and 33:17.28 for 10,000 meters.

Find full results from the women’s 6k at the Stanford Invitational here.

Interview with Cayla Hatton after her collegiate debut

DIVISION II POWERHOUSE ADAMS STATE NEARLY UPSETS STANFORD MEN

A rebuilding Stanford men’s team was nearly upset by number one ranked Division II team Adams State Saturday on their home course. The Cardinal, led by sophomore Joe Rosa in third place, scored 34 points ahead of 40 points for Adams State. The individual win was claimed by NAIA standout John Gilbertson of The Master’s College in Santa Clarita, Calif.

Find full results from the men’s 8k at the Stanford Invitational here.

PAPPAS DOMINATES IN OREGON DEBUT AT DELLINGER INVITATIONAL

Alexi Pappas dominated in her opening race as an Oregon Duck at the Bill Dellinger Invitational, running away from the field over the final mile to break the tape in 16:23. The Aladema, Calif. native was 36 seconds ahead of her closest collegiate competitor. Pappas arrived at Oregon as a fifth-year transfer from Dartmouth where she had a breakthrough track season last spring that culminated with a third place finish in the steeplechase at the NCAA championships.

“Being in a place where there’s so much support for the sport is incredible,” Pappas said about her debut in Eugene. “It makes it fun to race.”

Oregon star senior Jordan Hasay appeared to struggled in the latter stages of the race, finishing as the Ducks’ fifth runner in seventh place.

Oregon’s Trevor Dunbar won the men’s race while BYU edged the hosts in the team scoring, 32 to 49.

Full results from the Dellinger Invitational here.

Interview with Alexi Pappas after her win

PAC-12 PICTURE COMPLICATES IN LOUISVILLE

In a showdown of Pac-12 rivals, the number 12 ranked Arizona women upset top-ranked Washington at the Greater Louisville Cross Country Classic, 71 to 80. Junior Elvin Kibet led the way for the Wildcats with the individual win while top Husky Katie Flood was third. It is worth nothing Washington was without last year’s number two runner Megan Goethals, the NCAA outdoor 5k runner-up.

The men’s race in Louisville went to form as the Arizona duo of Lawi Lalang and Stephen Sambu dominated the field, finishing first and second, respectively, over 20 seconds ahead of their nearly competitor.

Full men’s and women’s results from the Greater Louisville Cross Country Classic.

UCLA BOLSTERS COACHING STAFF WITH OLYMPIANS GREENE, DAY

Mike Maynard, director of track and field at UCLA, announced a number of additions to the team’s coaching staff this week, notably volunteer assistants Maurice Greene and Sharon Day. Greene will bring his experience as a four-time Olympic medalist and former 100 meter world record holder to assist with the men’s short sprints while Day, heptathlon specialist, will work with the men’s and women’s jumpers and multi-event athletes.

GOV. JERRY BROWN SIGNS ‘STUDENT-ATHLETE BILL OF RIGHTS’ INTO LAW

Last week, California Gov. Jerry Brown signed Senate Bill 1525, known as the “Student-Athlete Bill of Rights,” into law. The bill, sponsored by State Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Pacoima) requires universities in the state that generate more than $10 million annually in media revenues to provide certain protections to student-athletes. The provisions include providing academic scholarships to those who lose athletic scholarships due to injury and paying health care premier for low-income students. The schools required to comply with the regulations are California’s four Pac-12 conference institutions – Stanford, Cal, UCLA and USC.

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For Hi-Def Photos. here.

The gallery will be updated soon with more pictures and athletes from the Stanford Invitational.  Check back for updates!

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