* * *

After two years of runner-up relay finishes at big meets, Stanford broke out with a Penn Relays victory in the women’s 4x1500 meters on Friday at Franklin Field.The team of Rebecca Mehra, Jessica Tonn, Elise Cranny, and Claudia Saunders clocked 17:24.54 to outdistance runner-up North Carolina and earn the Cardinal a measure of redemption. It was Stanford’s first Penn Relays victory – and ownership of the massive circular trophy known as “the wheel” -- since 2006 in the same event.Stanford also was third in the men’s distance medley relay and seventh in the women’s sprint medley relay.Tonn, Cranny, and Saunders all had been on the distance medley relay teams that lost to Villanova on Thursday and to Arkansas at the NCAA Indoor Championships. In fact, Stanford had finished second in the DMR or 4x1500 races a combined five times in the past two seasons without a victory.But all that changed, with help from a strategic switch from Chris Miltenberg, Stanford’s Franklin P. Johnson Director of Track and Field. In all five of those runner-up finishes, Stanford had been outkicked by runners patiently waiting at the Cardinal heels.Rather than simply get to the lead around the final exchange and depend wholly on the anchor to outrun the opposition, Stanford changed the order to power to an insurmountable lead over the first three legs, and have the anchor manage the gap and push hard to the finish."We felt like we needed to change the order a bit and use Jess and Elise in the middle because we knew it would be windy and favor our more distance-oriented strength runners, and put Claudia on the end because she's a great finisher," Miltenberg said.That meant that Cranny, the fastest of the group and the anchor throughout the DMRs this year, would switch to the third leg. And Saunders, a half-miler and the least experienced miler of the four, was placed at anchor.“Going into this race we were just really excited to get another shot at the win,” Tonn said. “Yes, we really wanted to hold that wheel above our heads after the DMR yesterday, but we came into today just excited to execute our plan, and run for each other regardless of what other teams were on the starting line.”Though disappointed No. 1 seed and Penn Relays nemesis Villanova was not in the field, Stanford got out strong with Mehra, a second-team outdoor All-America at 1,500, opening with a 4:23.0 split, putting the Cardinal in front.“It was disappointing to not see them out there, but we were just doing us,” Mehra said. “It doesn't matter who is in the race. We’re doing our own thing regardless. Our strategy is not built around who is in the race."The Cardinal maintained the lead through Tonn’s 4:22.2 and extended it with Cranny’s 4:17.2, which tied for the fastest split of the day.“After yesterday's loss, I was just very excited to get another chance," Cranny said. “I love running relays because you always have teammates right there. It’s amazing to have the opportunity to come to this meet because it is so different than many of the meets we do throughout the season. We don’t have to worry about running times but we just get to compete together. I’m so glad I got to come and experience and that we were able to bring tack a wheel.”As expected, Saunders was tested. North Carolina’s Annie LeHardy, whose move in the DMR altered Cranny’s strategy Thursday and may have contributed to the loss, came up on Saunders. But the outdoor 800 first-team All-America answered with a strong final 150 to again gap the field, running a 4:25.1."It played out exactly as we envisioned," Miltenberg said.“After yesterday's loss, it made us want to win even more,” Saunders said. “I did my best to maintain the lead they put up for me. I figured there was a possibility of coming down to the end, but I was ready to put my foot down in the last 150 meters."With that, the wheel belonged to Stanford. The only question remaining was: Can you fit it in the overhead compartment on the flight home? The answer: Probably not.“It was the best feeling to hold the Penn Relays wheel above our heads after yesterday and last year,” Tonn said. “This was a team effort and we ran not only for those on the relay, but for the girls back at home. I don’t think we were going to head home without a wheel – we laid it all out there today. This team is awesome and I can’t wait to see how many wheels the Cardinal will bring home in the future.”



In the men’s DMR, sophomore Sean McGorty ran the fastest 1,600 split in the field – even faster than Oregon multiple NCAA champion Edward Cheserek – to key Stanford’s third-place finish, which matched the Cardinal’s 2014 performance.



McGorty ran 3:59.35, while Cheserek’s 3:59.55 anchored Oregon to the victory. McGorty got the baton from Luke Lefebure, who ran the 800 in 1:49.60, the third-fastest split of the day and got Stanford back in the pack after a difficult start. The Cardinal was led by Justin Brinkley (2:59.03 for 1,200) and Jackson Shumway (49.15).

"It shows the pieces are coming together," Miltenberg said. "We're trying to keep it going from here."



In the women’s sprint medley, Kristyn Williams ran 52.8 for 400 – the third-fastest split of the day – on Stanford’s ninth-place team. Michaela Crunkleton Wilson and Gaby Gayles led Stanford off and Olivia Baker, back at the Penn Relays after starring there in high school, anchored with an 800.



Stanford concludes competition Saturday in the men's 4xMile and men's and women's 4x800's.

* * *

1, Oregon 9:33.86; 2, Villanova 9:34.36; 3, Stanford (Justin Brinkley, Jackson Shumway, Luke Lefebure, Sean McGorty) 9:37.11.1, Stanford (Rebecca Mehra, Jessica Tonn, Elise Cranny, Claudia Saunders) 17:27.54; 2, North Carolina 17:30.22; 3, Georgetown 17:36.83.1, Oregon 3:44.59; 7, Stanford (Michaela Crunkleton Wilson, Gaby Gayles, Kristyn Williams, Olivia Baker) 3:58.02.