MAPLEWOOD (updated Sunday June 12, 9:50 a.m.) – Stanford University sophomore track and field star Olivia Baker finished second in the women’s 800-meter run at the NCAA Division 1 Championships held at Hayward Field on the campus of the University of Oregon in Eugene, Ore. on Saturday, June 11.
In the 800, Baker shotgunned around the final turn to pass three runners, including Stanford teammate Claudia Saunders, in pursuit of Oregon’s Raevyn Rogers, who finished in 2:00.75 to win her second consecutive NCAA outdoor title. Baker ran 2:02.65 and Saunders, the runner-up the past two years, was fourth in 2:02.99.
Saunders and Baker were fourth and fifth with 200 to go when Rogers made her move. Saunders tried to respond, but was unable. Meanwhile, Baker went wide off the turn with the best kick of any competitor not named Rogers, to earn her highest NCAA individual finish.
Baker enjoyed an illustrious career at Columbia High School. A 2014 CHS graduate, Baker went undefeated in her career in the 400-meter run against New Jersey competition, including sweeping the 400 titles at the state indoor Meet of Champions and outdoor Meet of Champions all four years. In the 2013 state outdoor Meet of Champions as a junior, Baker became the first athlete in meet history to win four gold medals (100, 200, 400 and 4×400 relay). She was a two-time Gatorade New Jersey Track and Field Athlete of the Year. She left CHS as the state 400 record-holder in indoors and outdoors. She broke her own 400 indoor record when she won her first New Balance National title in 53.49 at the New York City Armory Track Center in 2014. She set the 400 outdoor record in 52.46 when she finished second at the 2014 USA Junior Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore.
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