This weekend, the Cardinal track and field team will head to Sun Angel Stadium in Tempe, Ariz. to compete in the Pac-10 Championships. In the latest national rankings, the women are ranked eighth, while the men are 42nd.

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Both the Stanford men and women will face difficult conference opponents when they compete in the track and field Pac-10 Championships this weekend in Arizona, but both squads have the personnel necessary to compete. #gallery http://daily.stanford.edu/image/full/9206
Alex Oppenheimer

Both the Stanford men and women will face difficult conference opponents when they compete in the track and field Pac-10 Championships this weekend in Arizona, but both squads have the personnel necessary to compete.

Six of the men’s teams at this weekend’s competition are ranked in the top 25 nationally; the women have five in the top-25, led by No. 1 Arizona State.

Last season, the women placed second at Pac-10 Championships — held at Stanford — while the men came in eighth. Arizona enters the meet as the defending women’s champions, while Oregon hopes to retain its champion title on the men’s side.

The Cardinal women are led by two defending Pac-10 champions: seniors Erica McLain in the triple jump and Teresa McWalters in the 10,000 meters. For the men, 1,500 meter champion senior Russell Brown will attempt to defend his title.

Stanford also has several other athletes who are in the top ten in the Pac-10 in several events. These athletes will have the opportunity to earn points for Stanford and improve upon their personal marks before heading to NCAA Championships. The men feature runners like senior Wopamo Osaisai, freshman Andrew Dargie and Brown, while the women have athletes such as sophomore Griffin Matthew, junior Alicia Follmar and senior Lauren Centrowitz.

Stanford’s top hurdler, Myles Bradley spoke of the competition; the junior will compete in both the hurdles and the long jump.

“Pac-10’s is a scored meet, so everything is about place and points. Everyone’s focus in the preliminary rounds is solely to make the finals,” he said. “I’ve only competed in the long jump one time this year, but I think if I can get some things together, then I will be in a great position to score some points.

“I have more experience in the hurdles, though the Pac-10 conference is very deep in the event with the top six hurdlers in the top 19 in the country. I am very excited to compete at this meet. I was hurt freshman year and did quite poorly and then was hurt and did not compete last year.”

Bradley went on: “The men have not done very well as a team the last couple years at this meet, so we definitely want to demonstrate our depth with a great showing here. I know everyone is very excited for this meet and ready [to] put down some great performances.”

The multi-event athletes got Stanford off to a great start last year, as they put the women in second place and the men in third. The leaders of last weekend for the Cardinal — Stewart and Hustedt — return to sunny Arizona this weekend to compete in individual events as they look to contribute to a Cardinal victory.