BELLINGHAM, Wash. - The Seattle University track and field team combined for four school records and several more personal bests as competition concluded at the 2007 GNAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships Saturday at Civic Stadium.
Daniel Sullivan (Tukwila, Wash.) earned the best finish among Seattle University athletes, finishing second in the 400 meter hurdles with a time of 53.89 seconds. Garrett Brown (Edmonds, Wash.) also performed well in the finals of the 400 meter hurdles, finishing in fifth place in 56.32 seconds.
Sullivan led off the 4x100 relay that finished third in a school-record time of 42.83 seconds, with Loyal Allen, Jr. (Seattle, Wash.), Tomi Keah (Austin, Texas), and Travis Glover (SeaTac, Wash.) running the other three legs. Sullivan was the anchor of the 4x400 relay quartet, also comprised of Allen, Brown, and Nicholas Dols (Portland, Ore.), that crossed the finish line in third with a time of 3:21.93.
Dols picked up the other top three finish for the Seattle men's team, finishing third in the 800 meter run final with a time of 1:55.48. Keah finished fifth in the 100 meter dash (11.36 seconds) and sixth in the 200 meter dash (23.21), while Glover crossed the finish line eighth in both the 100 meter final (12.22 seconds) and 200 meter final (24.88 seconds).
Brock Jahner (Kalispell, Mont.) set two new school records in field events, finishing sixth in the pole vault by clearing a height of 13' 8.25", and placing ninth in the javelin throw with a top effort of 164' 4". Nicholas Alvarado (San Francisco, Calif.) posted a personal best of 15:36.56 in the 5000 meter run, finishing in tenth place in the event.
On the women's side, Lindsay Currier (Beaverton, Ore.) rebounded from a tough performance Friday night to nearly match her school record in the discus throw, finishing third with a top effort of 137' 3", just one inch off her own school record. Mara Becker (Fairbanks, Alaska) did set a new school record in the high jump, clearing 5' 2.25" to finish sixth in the event.
The top Seattle University female running performance came from Rachel Yorkston (Bellingham, Wash.), who finished fifth in the 5000 meter run with a personal best time of 19:29.02. Rhiannon Cadelinia (San Francisco, Calif.) finished 13th in the same event in a time of 20:15.95.
Charisse Arce (Seattle, Wash.) notched a personal best in the 3000 meter run with a time of 10:48.84, good enough for ninth place, and also earned a 12th place finish in the 1500 meter run in 5:05.98. She then led off the 4x400 meter relay, combining with Natalie Martinez (San Francisco, Calif.), Yorkston, and Courtney Cabebe (Kihei, Hawaii) for an eighth place finish in a time of 4:38.50.
In the team standings, the Seattle University men finished in sixth place with 54 points, the best-ever finish for the SU men's track and field team in six years at the GNAC Championships. The Redhawk women earned 14 points to finish in eighth place.
The Seattle University track and field team concludes the 2007 season by competing in the Ken Foreman Invitational next Saturday, May 12, beginning at 11 a.m. at West Seattle Stadium.