By ANARGHYA VARDHANA

The Stanford women’s track and field team captured a second place victory this weekend at the MPSF Championships in Seattle. The Cardinal men also followed with spectacular performances, finishing in third place. Stanford secured several spots for NCAA Championships, and Stanford and MPSF indoor track records were broken in a successful weekend for the Card.

The depth of the Cardinal women contributed to the squad’s close second place finish. ASU won the meet with 154.50 points, while Stanford followed with 141.

The distance medley relay team of senior Lauren Centrowitz, junior Idara Otu, junior Alicia Follmar and senior Arianna Lambie ran an automatic national qualifying time of 11:08.56 to win the MPSF title and set a new MPSF record.

Freshman Alexandra Gits won the women’s 5000-meter run with a provisional time of 16:29.14, directly followed by teammate junior Katie Harrington with a provisional time of 16:30.79, a close second place.

In the women’s 3000-meter run, Lambie ran a provisional time of 9:20.91 to win the event, followed by many of her teammates — Centrowitz placed third, Harrington sixth, Gits seventh and senior Lindsay Allen eighth.

In the jumps, senior Erica McLain dominated the arena, placing first in the triple jump with a mark of 44-02. However, despite the win, McLain hopes to offer a better performance next time.

“I was nowhere near my best or my full potential,” said McLain. “Although I was disappointed about my performance, it really opened my eyes to what I need to do to improve. This is an important competition season for me, so I need to do more than my best to learn from my mistakes, practice with no reserve, and trust my training in order to defend my title at indoor nationals.”

Stanford dominated in the long jump as well, as freshman Arantxa King led the Cardinal, tying for second with a mark of 21-01 3/4. McLain finished at fourth with an automatic qualifying jump.

Junior Lauren Stewart jumped, ran and threw with excellence, as she recorded a career best in the women’s pentathlon with a score of 3,924 points, winning the event. Freshman teammate Whitney Liehr followed with a third place win and a provisional score. Sophomore Kara Bennett followed with a season best in the event with a score of 3,344 points, along with a seventh place finish.

The Cardinal men had a strong meet, placing third behind Cal by just a point and a half. Oregon won with 90 points, followed by Cal at 84.50, and Stanford at 83.

The men were led by a time of 9:31.52 from the distance medley relay team, which set a new MPSF meet record. With the win, the relay team is second in the nation, right behind Texas.

“We went to Washington to compete well as a whole team,” said junior Hakon DeVries, who started the relay. “The four of us went up there to take care of business in the distance medley relay. Being the lead-off runner, I needed to get my team off to a good start and set up the race to go fast. Having our whole team there this weekend competing and cheering each other on I think really helped us run the way we did.”

In the mile, Stanford placed four in the top eight, led by junior Garrett Heath in first place with a time of 4:07.3. DeVries took second with a time of 4:07.83.

In the sprints, junior Myles Bradley led the Cardinal, beating his own all-time Stanford indoor record by running an NCAA provisional time of 7.78 seconds in the 60-meter hurdles. Freshman Andrew Dargie ran a collegiate best time of 46.98 seconds in the 400 meters to finish fourth in the event.

Senior Josh Hustedt offered his best performance this weekend, winning the men’s heptathlon by over 400 points with a score of 5,784, setting both a Dempsey indoor track record and an MPSF record.

“It means a lot to me because it represents four years of dedication and hard work,” said Hustedt. “I can’t wait to compete at indoor nationals for the last time with my wife and parents in the stands. I anticipate it being one of my greatest athletic moments.”

The men’s field events were led by senior Graeme Hoste, who won the vault with an automatic qualifying vault of 18-04 3/4. Hoste also set a new Stanford indoor record.

Some of the Cardinal Track and Field athletes will return to Seattle this coming weekend to participate in the UW Last Chance Meet with one last shot to get national standards. Then, it is straight to the NCAA Indoor Championships, which will be held on March 14 and 15 in Fayetteville, Ark.

Contact Anarghya Vardhana at vardhana@stanford.edu.