Stanford’s Baker races to finals in 800 meters

Stanford’s Olivia Baker tied a school record in the 800 meters while advancing to the women’s final at the U.S. outdoor track and field championships on Friday at Drake Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa.

Baker ran 2:00.63 to place third in her semifinal heat and finish in topfour qualifying position for Sunday’s final. Baker came in with a season best of 2:02.49 from Thursday’s first round and a 2016 lifetime best of 2:01.02. Baker matched the Stanford standard by Claudia Saunders in 2015.

Baker, who graduated with a degree in human biology last week, was a three-time NCAA outdoor 800 finalist and an 11-time All-America.

This is the second school record in as many days by Stanford women at this meet, following Valarie Allman’s winning discus throw of 208 feet, 6 inches.

In the semifinals, Baker and Oregon’s Sabrina Southerland became the only collegiate runners to reach the final.

In the decathlon, Harrison Williams placed third with 7,848 points. Zach Ziemek won the event with 8,294 points. Williams, the Pac-12 champion, won the 110 hurdles portion of the event in 14.13.

Stanford alum Kori Carter advanced to the semifinals in the women’s 100 hurdles. Carter is the world champion in the 400 hurdles but is competing only in the 100 hurdles at the year’s meet. Carter ran 12.78 to win Heat 3.

Soccer

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