SPOKANE, Wash. – At the Duane Hartman Invitational hosted by the Spokane Falls CC, three Seattle University school records fell on the women’s side of competition, and many personal bests were set by both the men and women as the Redhawks prepped for the GWC Championships.
Rachel Purcell (Mission Viejo, Calif.) won her heat of the 200 meter dash and set a record of 26.29, beating the previous record set in 2009 of 26.37. Alyssa Lout (Tempe, Ariz.) came in behind her, also passing the previous record with a time of 26.31, and she was closely followed by Clare Obradovich (Tigard, Ore.) with a time of 26.44.
Emily Walters (Olympia, Wash.) continued her streak of record setting in the long jump, winning her flight with a distance of 5.56 meters (18-3) and passing her own record of 5.40 meters. She also competed in the 100 meter hurdles, finishing third with a time of 15.48.
The third Seattle U record came in the women’s 4x100 meter relay. Obradovich, Purcell, Meeghan Bergmann (Portland, Ore.), and Lout combined for a time of 49.00, beating the old record by .17 seconds. Lout also competed in the 100 meter dash, finishing fourth with a time of 12.96.
Bethany Richards (Shoreline, Wash.) also set a school record in the shot put with a throw of 11.74 meters (38-6.25), surpassing her own previous record of 11.70 meters.
"We use this meet primarily to continue down the path to conference," said head coach Trisha Steidl. "There were a lot of different focuses out there, from working on things that will help individuals reach their ultimate goals for teh season to setting PRs and school records."
In the men’s races, Taylor Fitch (Seattle, Wash.) finished third in the 100 meter dash with a time of 11.23. Jude Martinez (Hagatna, Guam) ran the 400 meter dash with a time of 52.90. In the 800 meter run, Keenan Clinch (Sammamish, Wash.) finished with a personal best time of 1:59.97, and in the 1500 meter run, Peter VanNuland (Newcastle, Wash.) and Jeff Baklund (Auburn, Wash.) also broke their personal records with times of 4:05.39 and 4:22.45, respectively.
Other Seattle U personal records came in the form of Katie Tougas’ (Edmonds, Wash.) leap of 5.27 (17-3.5) meters in the long jump, the second longest distance of the day, Amanda Luna (Beavercreek, Ore.) in the triple jump with a distance of 9.67 meters (31-8.75). Kaytie Bateman (Chehalis, Wash.) also beat her personal best in the 100 meter hurdles with a time of 17.13 and in the javelin throw, finishing second in her flight with a distance of 29.41 meters (96-6).
On Friday evening, five Seattle U distance runners competed in the 5000 meter run. Hans Heitzinger (Scottsdale, Ariz.) finished with a time of 15:36.81, followed by Kevin Kopetz (Derry, N.H.) with a personal best time of 15:52.11. In the women’s race, Hannah Mittelstaedt (Maple Valley, Wash.) finished in 18:46.74, Lauren Hammerle (Seattle, Wash.) in 19:18.98, and Ashley Dalton (Bellingham, Wash.) in a personal record time of 20:20.32.
In the field events, Dylan Burnett (Lynwood, Wash.) came close to his javelin record with a throw of 63.30 meters (207-8). Josh Walters (Sacramento, Calif.) competed in the hammer throw, finishing second in his flight with a distance of 41.16 meters (135-0), and Bo Anderson (Tacoma, Wash.) competed in the shot put (13.46m) and hammer throw (38.12).
For the women, Ariel Johnson (Moscow, Idaho) cleared 3.10 meters (10-2) in the pole vault. Richards came in second in her discus flight with a throw of 34.68 meters (113-9), followed by Sara Blakely (Spokane, Wash.) with a distance of 32.81 meters (107-8) and Emee Mathew (Redmond, Wash.) with a personal best throw of 29.88 meters (98-0). Blakely came in second in her flight in the shot put with a toss of 10.73 meters (35-2.5), followed by Mathew (9.78m) and Sara DeMartini (San Francisco, Calif.) with 9.57 meters (31-4.75).
"There were a lot of good performances today and this was one more stepping stone toward having peak performances at the end of our season," said Steidl. "From here on out the focus is to stay healthy and maintain the strength, speed, and confident, competitive mentality that each person on the team has worked so hard to gain this entire track season.
The Redhawks return home for one more meet before the GWC Championships, the Ken Shannon Invitational at Husky Stadium in Seattle, Wash. on May 7.