The Seattle University track and field team combined for six new school records during the second day of the 2013 Western Athletic Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships Friday at the Albuquerque Convention Center.
It was a busy day for Zach Stanfield (Adna, Wash.), starting with his qualification for the finals of the 400 meter dash after finishing eighth in the preliminaries with a time of 49.15 seconds. Just over an hour later, Stanfield, while placing 11th, finished the 200 meter dash in 21.71 seconds, 36/100ths of a second faster than the previous school record.
One day after smashing the school mark in the pentathlon, Kaytie Bateman (Chehalis, Wash.) set a new standard in the 60 meter hurdles, posting a time of 9.26 seconds to finish 14th in the preliminaries. She also competed in the high jump, finishing in 18th place after clearing 1.54 meters (5' 0.5").
Miriam Mboya (Shoreline, Wash.) cut 1/100th of a second off her own school record in the 60 meter dash, finishing in 22nd place in 7.82 seconds, followed by Katie Tougas (Edmonds, Wash.) in 23rd place in 7.88 seconds. In the 200 meter dash, it was Tougas's turn to rewrite the SU record book, setting a new standard with a time of 25.89 seconds, while Mboya also came in under the old record at 26.25 seconds. Tougas also competed in the long jump, finishing in 25th place with a top jump of 5.06 meters (16' 7.25").
Bethany Richards (Shoreline, Wash.) improved on her own school record in the weight throw, posting a top effort of 15.06 meters (49' 5") to finish in 13th place. Amanda Luna (Beavercreek, Ore.) finished in 18th place with a best throw of 12.86 meters (42' 2.25"). Also in the throws, Bo Anderson (Tacoma, Wash.) broke his own school record in the shot put with a toss of 14.32 meters (46' 11.75") to finish in 15th place.
Matthew McClement (Bellingham, Wash.) scored the first points for the Seattle U men's track and field team after crossing the finish line third in the 5000 meter run with a time of 15:17.11. Graham Kinzel-Grubbs (Portland, Ore.) finished in 10th place in 15:51.33, followed by Baxter Arguinchona (Spokane, Wash.) in 11th place in 15:59.34, Jeff Baklund (Auburn, Wash.) in 12th place in 16:05.86, and Chris Davis (Centennial, Colo.) in 13th place in 16:08.37.
The men's distance medley relay quartet of Collin Overbay (Spokane, Wash.), Austin Thummel-Gravitt (Puyallup, Wash.), Nathan McLaughlin (Puyallup, Wash.), and Ryan Dennison (Pacifica, Calif.) finished in fifth place in 10:27.35. The women's distance medley relay picked up the first points for the Redhawk women by finishing fifth, as Sophie Curatilo (Honolulu, Hawaii), Candice de Sauvage (Foster City, Calif.), Madison Davis (Camano Island, Wash.), and Hannah Mittelstaedt (Maple Valley, Wash.) combined for a time of 12:30.41.
In the men's mile run preliminaries, Overbay finished in 11th place in 4:23.08, followed by McLaughlin in 14th place in 4:27.63. On the women's side, Curatilo finished in 13th place with a time of 5:11.31, and Jennifer Stolle (Seattle, Wash.) posted a time of 5:19.15 to finish in 16th place.
Zachary Schlachter (Tigard, Ore.) also competed in the men's 400 meter dash, finishing in 19th place with a time of 49.92 seconds. Meeghan Bergmann (Portland, Ore.) finished 21st in the women's 400 meter dash with a mark of 59.55 seconds. Thummel-Gravitt finished in 20th place in the preliminaries of the men's 200 meter dash with a time of 22.39 seconds.
In the women's 800 meter run, Davis posted a time of 2:18.20 to finish in ninth place, while Becca Lassere (Boise, Idaho) finished in 16th place with a time of 2:27.58. Elena Smith (Seattle, Wash.) competed in the women's 5000 meter run, crossing the finish line in 14th place with a time of 19:15.21.
The Seattle U men's team is in sixth place with 10 points, while the women's squad currently sits in eighth place with four points. UT Arlington leads the standings on the men's side with 61 points, while Texas State holds the lead in the women's standings with 74 points.
"The team came out with their game faces on and have put together some great performances so far," Seattle U head track and field coach Trisha Steidl said. "Altitude helps all the athletes except the distance runners, but there have been some really solid performances from them as well. I'm looking forward to what we are going to see tomorrow. I know our athletes are ready to continue to compete in a gutsy manner, and that is what I really want to see from them."
Seattle University will conclude its participation in the 2013 WAC Indoor Track and Field Championships Saturday, Feb. 23, starting at 11 a.m. local time with Shaddye Melu (Auburn, Wash.) competing in the men's high jump. Other Redhawk competitors include Cali Cull (Marysville, Wash.) in the women's triple jump, Nick Bever (Seattle, Wash.) in the men's triple jump, Stanfield in the finals of the men's 400 meter dash, Mittelstaedt in the women's 3000 meter run, and Arguinchona, Davis, Dennison, and Kinzel-Grubbs in the men's 3000 meter run.