Sure, Stanford ran away with the team title at the Pacific-10 Conference Championships on Sunday, scoring 26 more points than second-place Oregon.
Sure, the finish line in the distance events looked like a Cardinal sea, as Stanford runner after Stanford runner crossed in succession, broken up by the occasional Duck on the water.“I think the whole meet went perfectly; it didn’t seem like there was any problem at all,” Stanford head coach Vin Lananna said. “I think it allowed the kids to just go out and compete. I’m proud of our guys and now it’s on to the NCAAs.”
But how good is Stanford in the national picture? Can the Cardinal distance corps match up with the sprinters from Tennessee and Texas Christian, or the throwers from Southern Methodist?
Those are the questions that will haunt Stanford and other Pac-10 teams during the next two weeks as they prepare for the NCAA Championships in Baton Rouge, La., starting May 29. At the 2001 NCAA Championships, Stanford was the highest-placed Pac-10 team, at fourth overall, followed by Oregon at No. 9.
Simply put, Stanford doesn’t have the individual talent to win national titles and contend with powerhouses like Tennessee. No Cardinal athlete ranks higher than fourth nationally in their event. Donald Sage is the only Stanford runner ranked at No. 4, in the 10,000-meter run.
The Cardinal won the conference meet by concentrating on a few events – Stanford scored 88 points in the four major distance races – but that won’t work at the NCAA Championships, which will feature much deeper fields.Despite the Cardinal’s easy victory over Oregon in the Pac-10 meet, the Ducks might have a better chance at finishing strong in the NCAA meet. Oregon has highly-placed athletes, including Simon Kimata, ranked second in the 800, Trevor Woods, ranked fifth in the pole vault and Micah Harris, ranked ninth in the 110 hurdles.
So how will the Pac-10 fare down on the bayou? Only time will tell.
The only Pac-10 athlete leading the nation in his event is USC’s Julien Kapek, and he is the main reason USC could make an impact at the NCAAs this year.
Kapek leads the nation by 0.09 meters in the triple jump, but if history is a guide, Kapek should fare well in the national final of the event. The sophomore from Houilles, France, is a two-time under-23 French champion. He has performed well at big meets this season, most recently winning the Pac-10 meet with a leap of 55 feet, 3 inches.
The fate of the Trojans at the NCAA meet may very well rest in the hands of a Frenchman.
Mooberry Track in Pullman, Wash., saw some thrilling finishes on Sunday that wowed the Pac-10 Championships crowd. The first came in the 110 hurdles, where Oregon’s Harris battled with USC’s Ryan Wilson right to the tape. Wilson edged Harris by a mere 0.01 seconds.
The second close race came in the 400, where two in-state rivals battled for the top spot. Arizona’s Mike Kenyon and Arizona State’s Seth Amoo went neck-and-neck until the final stretch, where Kenyon got to the finish line 0.50 seconds quicker.
“I had it stuck in my mind that no one is beating me this year,” Kenyon said. “I exit my senior year as a champion and that is awesome.”
E-mail sports reporter Peter Hockaday at [email protected]
