The 10,000m at the Stanford Invite and Payton Jordan Invites were the two places and times, on the West Coast, for most of the past two decades that one could find a good 25 lapper to test oneself over the distance.
Last night, the magic of Palo Alto did its trick once again. Wonderful weather, a fast track, and solid competition gave Lauren Gregory a chance to test herself, and she did. Lauren won and ran a college leader of 32:34.21.
Lauren Gregory, photo courtesy of University of Arkansas Track & Field
Lauren Gregory wins 10,000m at Stanford Invitational with collegiate-leading time
STANFORD, Calif. – Razorback Lauren Gregory produced a winning debut of 32 minutes, 34.21 seconds in the 10,000m Invitational on a cool Friday evening at the Stanford Invitational held at Cobb Track and Angell Field.
Gregory’s time is the current collegiate leader for the 2022 season and ranks No. 4 on the Arkansas all-time list. Gregory only trails Dominique Scott (31:56.84), Taylor Werner (32:26.38), and Katie Izzo (32:34.16).
“The 3k-5k double at indoor nationals helped me feel confident that I had the strength to do a 10k,” said Gregory of her decision to race at 10,000m this season. “I just wanted to see what it was all about. This felt like a perfect place to try it.
“If it didn’t work, we have the whole season, and if it did work, then we can look at the whole season differently. Now, I’d like to try it again, for sure. I think everyone kind of gets hooked on the 10k. It was a good time, but we’ll see what Coach Harter thinks. I’m into trying that one again.”
Temperatures in the mid-50s during the evening portion of the racing schedule greeted the field of 20 runners in the women’s 10,000m. New Mexico’s Amelia Mazza-Downie finished second in 32:55.26 while Beth Kidger of Brighton Phoenix placed third in 33:01.14.
The previous collegiate leading time of 33:00.89 was established last weekend during the Raleigh Relays.
“I didn’t know what I was looking for tonight, time-wise, to be honest,” noted Gregory. “I would stare at Coach Harter and Rick Elliott halfway through and I was like, ‘tell me anything, help me out.’
“I was just out here to see what it was all about, to see what the hype was about in the 10k. I felt, hopefully, how I was supposed to feel with two miles to go. Then I decided to rock it from there, but that slow burn is something.”
Racing at 5,000m, Logan Jolly set a career best of 15:52.05 in placing 11th in the Invitational section. Razorback freshman Sydney Thorvaldson established an outdoor PR of 16:09.34 to finish 11th in her section of the 5,000m.
Arkansas had a crew of four racing in the 1,500m Invite. Krissy Gear led the group in finishing fifth at 4:14.18. Isabel Van Camp clocked a career best of 4:16.98 to place ninth, while Kennedy Thomson finished 11th in 4:22.16.
In earlier section included Carmie Prinsloo placing fifth with a time of 4:30.15.
