Four Seattle University women combined to break the school record in the distance medley relay, while four Redhawk men came close to doing the same, as action began Friday evening at the UW Invitational at Dempsey Indoor.
For the second consecutive year at this exact event, the women's distance medley relay school record fell, as the team of Becca Lassere (Boise, Idaho), Candice de Sauvage (Foster City, Calif.), Madison Davis (Camano Island, Wash.), and Hannah Mittelstaedt (Maple Valley, Wash.) posted a time of 12:16.51, 2.42 seconds faster than the mark set almost one full year ago. The quartet finished fifth in their heat and 14th overall.
"The ladies ran solid legs in the relay. I knew they could break it, but that it would be close," Seattle U head track and field coach Trisha Steidl said. "I'm excited for what this means as far as what we can achieve at conference."
The men's team of Gus Arroyo (Portland, Ore.), Zachary Schlachter (Tigard, Ore.), Nathan McLaughlin (Puyallup, Wash.), and Ryan Dennison (Pacifica, Calif.) came within 46/100ths of a school record of their own with a time of 10:25.87. The Redhawk men also finished fifth in their heat and ended up 11th overall in the event.
In other action, Zach Stanfield (Adna, Wash.) finished 10th overall in the 200 meter dash with a time of 22.29 seconds, with Austin Thummel-Gravitt (Puyallup, Wash.) finishing in 24th place in 22.82 seconds. On the women's side, Katie Tougas (Edmonds, Wash.) had the fastest time among Seattle U runners at 26.71 seconds, followed by Miriam Mboya (Shoreline, Wash.) at 26.81 seconds, Meeghan Bergmann (Portland, Ore.) at 27.11 seconds, and Kaytie Bateman (Chehalis, Wash.) at 27.14 seconds.
Jeff Baklund (Auburn, Wash.) posted a time of 15:38.65 in the men's 5000 meter run. In the women's 5000 meter run, Elena Smith (Seattle, Wash.) finished in 19:01.49, while Meghan Arigo (San Luis Obispo, Calif.) crossed the finish line with a time of 19:26.97.
The UW Invitational will continue Saturday, Feb. 26, at Dempsey Indoor, starting with the men's 3000 meter run at 8:40 a.m. The field events will start at 9 a.m. with the women's weight throw.