Junior Hannah Mittelstaedt (Maple Valley, Wash.) stretched at the finish line to come out ahead by 6/100ths of a second, winning the 3000 meter steeplechase conference title as the Western Athletic Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships continued Friday at Maverick Stadium.
Coming into the meet with the second-fastest steeplechase time in the conference during the season, Mittelstaedt engaged in a duel with UT Arlington’s Katelyn Hayward, the top seed entering the race. Mittelstaedt was able to hold off a final charge by Hayward, posting a final time of 10:45.84 to win Seattle U’s first WAC title in track and field.
“Hannah really dug in deep and found another gear when she had to in order to nip (Hayward) at the line,” Seattle U head track and field coach Trisha Steidl said. “It's strange to say and probably hard to believe, but I knew Hannah had that extra gear and could get the win.”
The Seattle U men picked up points in two events during the day. In the men’s javelin throw, Dylan Burnett (Lynnwood, Wash.) finished in fifth place with a mark of 64.57 meters (211’ 10”). Thanks to his throw at last week’s Ken Shannon Invitational, Burnett is in position to qualify for the NCAA West Regionals.
“Dylan threw very close to his season's best today to get some points on the board on the men's side. He is making great strides as the season progresses and I'm excited to see what he can do by the time regionals is upon us, as currently he's in a qualifying place to continue his season after conference,” said Steidl.
In the final event of the day, the men’s 10,000 meter run, Matthew McClement (Bellingham, Wash.) finished in third place with a time of 31:53.72, while Erik Barkhaus (Whitefish Bay, Wis.) took sixth place after crossing the finish line at 32:33.20.
“Matthew ran an incredibly gutsy last mile in what we knew would be a race that came down to strength and speed at the end. I'm nothing other than extremely proud of what he put out there today. He truly left it all on the track. This is one he can walk away from with his head held high. What an incredible way to cap off his final conference meet,” said Steidl. “Barkhaus ran tough despite what he's been going through this season to earn points for the team.”
Two school records fell during the track preliminaries, starting in the women’s 1500 meter run, where both Madison Davis (Camano Island, Wash.) and Sophie Curatilo (Honolulu, Hawaii) finished under the previous record set by Curatilo earlier this season. Davis posted a time of 4:35.32, just ahead of Curatilo’s time of 4:35.48, but both runners were able to qualify for Saturday’s finals.
Although she did not qualify for the finals, Katie Tougas (Edmonds, Wash.) did set a school record in the 100 meter dash, posting a time of 12.42 seconds, one-tenth of a second faster than the previous record she set two years ago. Tougas’s day was busy, starting with an 11th-place finish in the long jump with a personal-best mark of 5.60 meters (18’ 4.5”), and also posting a time of 26.10 seconds to finish 17th in the 200 meter dash preliminaries.
Collin Overbay (Spokane, Wash.) qualified for the finals in the men’s 1500 meter run with a preliminary time of 3:59.95. In the men’s 400 meter dash, Austin Thummel-Gravitt (Puyallup, Wash.) moved on to the finals after posting a time of 48.12 seconds in the preliminary heats.
There were some close calls in other preliminary events, none closer than Samuel Engle (Portland, Ore.) in the men’s 400 meter hurdles, as he missed qualifying for the finals by 1/100th of a second, finishing in ninth place with a time of 54.53 seconds. Davis also finished in ninth place in the women’s 800 meter run in 2:14.88, just 67/100ths of a second off the final qualifying spot.
It was a tough day for senior Zach Stanfield (Adna, Wash.), as he failed to qualify for the finals in both events he competed in. He first finished 14th overall in the 400 meter dash in 49.35 seconds, and then he was 6/100ths off a qualifying spot in the 200 meter dash with a time of 21.55 seconds.
Zachary Schlachter (Tigard, Ore.) also pulled double duty in the preliminaries, finishing 12th in the 100 meter dash in 10.88 seconds and 10th in the 200 meter dash in 21.70 seconds. In other track action on the men’s side, Gus Arroyo (Portland, Ore.) finished in 14th place in the 1500 meter run in 4:05.12, and Graham Kinzel-Grubbs (Portland, Ore.) finished ninth in the 10,000 meter run with a time of 33:02.70.
Elsewhere on the track for the women, Kaytie Bateman (Chehalis, Wash.) finished 16th in the 100 meter hurdles with a time of 15.72 seconds, and Candice de Sauvage (Foster City, Calif.) finished 16th in the 400 meter dash in 58.65 seconds. Meeghan Bergmann (Portland, Ore.) pulled double duty Friday, finishing 20th in the 400 meter dash in 60.60 seconds and 18th in the 200 meter dash in 27.03 seconds.
In the distance events, Becca Lassere (Boise, Idaho) finished 15th in the 1500 meter run in 4:53.59 and 16th in the 800 meter run in 2:28.43. Lauren Hammerle (Seattle, Wash.) posted a time of 38:46.57 to finish 10th in the 10,000 meter run, and Meghan Arigo (San Luis Obispo, Calif.) finished in 15th place with a time of 40:46.55.
In other field events, Bateman cleared 1.57 meters (5’ 1.75”) to finish in 13th place in the high jump, while Amanda Maddux (Gresham, Ore.) finished 14th after clearing 1.47 meters (4’ 9.75”). Bethany Richards (Shoreline, Wash.) finished 11th in the women’s hammer throw with a mark of 47.20 meters (154’ 10”), and Amanda Luna (Beavercreek, Ore.) ended her collegiate career with a personal best mark of 45.76 meters (150’ 1”) to finish in 12th place.
Sara Blakely (Spokane, Wash.) finished in 15th place in the women’s discus throw after posting a mark of 37.93 meters (124’ 5”). Devon Walker (Ventura, Calif.) finished in 14th place in the men’s shot put with a top effort of 12.57 meters (41’ 3”).
“The team is doing a great job of being focused and motivated going into our first WAC outdoor conference meet and that showed today in the results,” said Steidl. “There were a lot of terrific things about today’s performances, including two school records and many personal bests.”
After the third day of the conference championships, the Seattle U men are in sixth place with 13 points, while the Redhawk women are in eighth place with 11 points. Texas State leads the women’s standings with 74 points, while UT Arlington is on top of the men’s standings with 76 points, with Idaho in second place in both rankings.
The WAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships enters its final day Saturday, May 11, with the field events starting at 11 a.m. local time with the men’s hammer throw. The first track event of the day, the 4x100 meter relay, is scheduled for 5 p.m. Central Time.