After a successful performance at the Arizona State Invitational, Arizona track and field is off to Palo Alto, Calif., to compete in the Stanford Invitational this coming Friday and Saturday.

The meet will consist of long-distance track events, ranging from 1500-meter events to as high as 10K events. Over 100 schools from around the country will be competing in the meet, and 18 athletes will represent the UA.

Sophomore Collins Kibet will go into Palo Alto coming off a record setting weekend at ASU. In the 800-meter race, he set a personal record of 1:46.87, good enough to be the second best time in UA history and the best time in the country this year.

“It’s great to see the results come,” Kibet said, after putting in a lot of work toward accomplishing such a record-setting time.

Arizona coach Fred Harvey said Kibet has set a very high standard early in the year, but plans on the sophomore running even faster as the season goes on.

“This early in the season, to run the second best time in UA history and the best time in the country is a feather in his cap,” Harvey said.

This weekend, Kibet will be competing in the 1500-meter race, a race Harvey believes suits him well, and he looks forward to the challenge of competing against schools all over the nation. 

“It’s going to be a fast race,” Kibet said. “The best schools will be there, and it’s going to be very competitive.”

With the meet this weekend consisting of only long-distance track events and no field events, Harvey is allowing the athletes that are not competing to have a little bit of a recovery period. The athletes that will be participating have continued to train throughout the week and have done many track sessions.

Harvey feels good going into the Stanford Invitational after seeing strong performances from his competitors at ASU. He is excited for the opportunity to compete against the long-distance athletes racing this weekend.

“They’ll be put in an atmosphere where they can compete at the highest level,” Harvey said. “I’m looking forward to continue our growth this season.”

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