Oregon State's Denfeld Sets School Record at Stanford Invitational

Denfeld, who placed 11th, beat her own school record of 11:08.67, set last season.

Salem-News.com SPORTS

STANFORD, Calif. - Lauren Denfeld set Oregon State’s school record in the women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase Friday at the Stanford Invitational track and field meet.

Denfeld’s time of 10 minutes, 46.54 seconds also qualifies her for the NCAA West Regional Championships.

The meet – one of the most prestigious distance gatherings in the country during the regular season – concludes Saturday.

Also earning their way onto the Beavers’ all-time top-10 lists with their performances Friday were Noelle Harer and Krista Stangel.

Both moved into ninth place, Harer in the 800 meters with a time of 2:1 4.20 and Stangel in the 5,000 meters with a time of 17:25.39.

“We had a really good first day,” OSU hed coach Kelly Sullivan said.

Denfeld beat the regional qualifying standard of 10:50.00 to become OSU’s second NCAA West Regional qualifier since the women’s cross country/track program was reinstated in the fall of 2004; Ashley Younce had qualified for the meet in the 5,000 last season.

Denfeld, who placed 11th, beat her own school record of 11:08.67, set last season.

“Considering she was a 300 hurdler in high school and came to OSU with no experience in the middle distances or distances, Lauren’s improvement has been awesome,” Sullivan said.

Harer ran her second-fastest time ever in the 800 to place sixth in the fastest section of a large overall field.

In another heat of the “B” sections, OSU’s Julie Garcia placed first in 2:15.22 to become the first Beaver to win a race at the Stanford Invitational; that was a personal record of nearly three seconds for Garcia.

Stangel and Hayley Oveson, both freshmen, were running their first 5,000. Stangel placed fifth in her section, while Oveson was 12th in 17:45.29.

“Krista’s time shows tremendous potential in that event; we’re really excited about here and Hayley,” Sullivan said. “And their section of the event was run at 8:45 a.m., which makes it even more impressive because that’s not the optimum time to run the 5K.”

Katelyn Van Brunt, a redshirt freshman, ran a season-best 2:19.40 in the 800, just her second race at that distance since high school.

“We expect her times to drop considerably the next three or four weeks,” Sullivan said.

Neoma Palmer finished the 5,000 in 18:28.17 and Ashley Francis in 18:37.20, but Sullivan noted, “They’ve both had injuries in the last month that have slowed them down, but they both have a history of bouncing back.”

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