The 2012 indoor track season got off to a solid start for Seattle University, as three school records were set along with several personal bests at the UW Indoor Preview Saturday at Dempsey Indoor.
In her first collegiate competition, freshman Miriam Mboya (Shoreline, Wash.) set a new school record in the 60 meter dash, finishing third in her heat and 27th overall with a time of 8.03 seconds. She also finished second in her heat and 22nd overall in the 200 meter dash with a time of 27.12 seconds, plus she competed in the long jump with a top effort of 4.67 meters (15' 4").
One of the longest standing school records was the men's pole vault mark, set back in 2007. Stephen Squatrito (Phoenix, Ariz.) smashed the record by clearing 4.21 meters (13' 9.75"), a quarter of a meter higher than the previous standard. Colton Misono (Newcastle, Calif.) set a new school record in the men's 600 meter run, posting a time of 1:22.98, over two seconds faster than the previous mark.
Zach Stanfield (Adna, Wash.) ran unattached, as he is redshirting during the indoor season in order to be able to compete during the 2013 season, when Seattle U is eligible for NCAA competition. Stanfield finished third overall in both the 60 meter dash and the 200 meter dash, posting marks in both events (6.90 seconds in 60 meter dash, 22.06 seconds in 200 meter dash) that were lower than the current school records.
Another solid performance in the men's 200 meter dash came from Austin Thummel-Gravitt (Puyallup, Wash.), who won his heat and finished seventh overall with a time of 22.57 seconds. Teammate Zachary Schlachter (Tigard, Ore.) finished second in that heat and 22nd overall with a time of 23.50 seconds, and the two of them joined with Duncan MacKay (Renton, Wash.) and Samuel Engle (Portland, Ore.) to finish sixth overall in the 4x400 meter relay with a time of 3:27.31.
In the distance events, Hannah Mittelstaedt (Maple Valley, Wash.) continued her extraordinary running year with a personal best in the 3000 meter run, finishing 14th overall with a time of 10:13.50. Sarah Bolce (Sacramento, Calif.) finished 14th overall in the one mile run in 5:13.21, followed closely by Sophie Curatilo (Honolulu, Hawaii) with a time of 5:14.01.
On the men's side, Collin Overbay (Spokane, Wash.) earned a personal best time in the one mile run after crossing the finish line in 19th place in 4:17.71. Erik Barkhaus (Whitefish Bay, Wis.) finished 21st overall in the men's 3000 meter run after posting a time of 8:39.23, with Kelton Sears (Maple Valley, Wash.) finishing in 25th place in 8:42.48.
"I was impressed with the drive many of our student-athletes showed today. It's the first meet of the season and we have a lot of freshmen who are new to the indoor experience. A lot of people were nervous and excited for this first meet and were able to focus that energy into solid results. I was overall pleased with the results. This is a solid start to our season," Seattle U head coach Trisha Steidl said.
The Seattle University track and field team will next be in action Friday and Saturday, Jan. 27-28, at the UW Invitational at Dempsey Indoor. Everything leads to the Great West Conference Championships Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 25-26, in Chicago, Ill.