In the season-opening meet for Stanford cross country, the men and women each finished second at the John McNichols Invitational on Saturday.
“We had a successful first meet,” said Franklin P. Johnson Director of Track & Field J.J. Clark. “Both teams packed well and ran together, and both the men and women beat teams that were ranked in the top 5. Congrats to Thomas (Ratcliffe) and Fiona (O’Keeffe) for leading the team to second place finishes. Now we’ll head home to improve on our fitness and prepare the the Nuttycombe Invite.”
The Stanford women, ranked No. 8 in the nation entering the meet, were second in a tight race with Arkansas. The Cardinal placed three in the top 10, including a second-place finish from Fiona O’Keeffe (16:34) and finished with 54 points — just five behind the Razorbacks and ahead of No. 3 Washington and No. 4 Michigan.
Ella Donaghu was the second Cardinal across the finish line (6th, 16:45), followed by Jessica Lawson (9th, 16:51), Julia Heymach (17th, 17:18), Jordan Oakes (20th, 17:29), Kristin Fahy (31st, 17:39) and Hannah DeBalsi (47th, 18:13).
Meanwhile the Stanford men, ranked No. 7 in the nation, were second only to No. 1 Northern Arizona, which finished with 31 points. The Cardinal was led by Thomas Ratcliffe’s second-place finish (23:51) and finished with 51 points. Stanford was also boosted by a seventh-place showing from Alex Ostberg (24:05). He was followed by Alek Parsons (12th, 24:22), Callum Bolger(14th, 24:31), Clayton Mendez (16th, 24:39), D.J. Principe (22nd, 24:54) and Steven Fahy (23rd, 24:55).
Next up, Stanford heads to Wisconsin for the Nuttycombe Invite on Oct. 18.
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