d'Andre Benjamin (Mililani, Hawaii) set school records in winning two events and Travis Glover (SeaTac, Wash.) set a new meet record in the 100 meter dash as Seattle University opened the outdoor track and field season at the Joe Peyton Invitational hosted by the University of Puget Sound Saturday at Baker Stadium.
Benjamin won the 110 meter hurdles in 15.72 seconds and the long jump with a top leap of 6.51 meters (21’ 4.25”). Meanwhile, Glover broke the old meet record by almost three-tenths of a second by finishing the 100 meter dash in 11.06 seconds, ahead of teammates Daniel Sullivan (Tukwila, Wash.), who finished third in 11.21 seconds, and Christopher Fussell (Las Vegas, Nev.), who finished fourth in 11.26 seconds.
Sullivan and Glover joined with Fussell and Loyal Allen, Jr. (), to win the 4x100 meter relay in 43.14 seconds. Sullivan, Glover, Allen, and Jude Anthony Martinez (Hagatna, ) finished second in the 4x400 meter relay with a time of 3:26.02. Glover also finished second in the 200 meter dash in 22.60, followed by Fussell in third place in 23.23 seconds and in sixth place in 23.67 seconds. Allen finished third in the 400 meter dash with a time of 51.91 seconds.
Rachael Johnson (, ) was the other event winner, finishing first in the 1500 meter run in a time of 4:54.30, just 16/100ths of a second ahead of teammate Katie Hansen (). Hansen also finished sixth in the 800 meter run in 2:27.95. Other women distance runners pulling double duty included Greta Stickney (Poulsbo, Wash.), who finished fifth in the 1500 meter run (5:07.71) and 12th in the 800 meter run (2:37.82), and Jen Hamann (Colorado Spring, Colo.), who placed eighth in both the 800 meter run (2:31.07) and 1500 meter run (5:16.07).
School records were set by Elizabeth Wolf (, ) in the 100 meter dash (13.32) and Rachel Purcell () in the 200 meter dash (27.28) and 400 meter dash (1:00.87). Wolf was also part of both record-setting relays, joining Purcell, Courtney Cabebe (Kihei, Hawaii), and Erin Moon (Honolulu, Hawaii) in posting a time of 51.81 seconds in the 4x100 meter relay and earning a time of 4:14.8 along with Moon, Cabebe, and Johnson in the 4x400 meter relay.
Other top performances from the women include Tiffany Hunter (Longview, Wash.) finishing third in the 5000 meter run (18:28.64), Mara Becker (Fairbanks, Alaska) earning a second place finish in the high jump (1.53 meters), Kamala Squires (Ventura, Calif.) finishing fifth in the triple jump (30’ 8.5”) and sixth in the long jump (14’ 3.25”), Lindsay Currier (Beaverton, Ore.) finishing fourth in the shot put (35’ 6”) and fifth in the discus throw (110’ 2”), and Hali Bellisario (Newberry, Ore.) earning a seventh place finish in the javelin throw (116’ 8”).
On the men’s side, Graham Miller (Spokane, Wash.) finished seventh in the 800 meter run (2:02.37), Nicholas Alvarado (San Francisco, Calif.) earned a sixth place finish in the 1500 meter run (4:12.04), and Robert Poshusta (Bremerton, Wash.) finished fifth in the 110 meter hurdles (17.27 seconds) and sixth in the 400 meter hurdles (1:02.40).
In the team standings, the men finished in fourth place with 106 points while the women finished in fifth place with 84.5 points. won the men’s competition, but finished six points behind Seattle Pacific for the women’s team title.
The track and field team will have two weeks to prepare for the Club Northwest Spring Break Open, to take place Saturday, March 22, at Kings High School Stadium in Shoreline.