Shaddye Melu (Auburn, Wash.) earned Seattle University’s first indoor track and field conference title since the Redhawks joined the Western Athletic Conference, highlighting the second day of the 2015 WAC Indoor Track and Field Championships Friday at the Cadet Field House on the campus of the U.S. Air Force Academy.
Melu clinched the conference title by clearing 2.05 meters (6’ 8.75”) on his third attempt, but he continued on, raising the bar to 2.11 meters (6’ 11”) and clearing that height on his third attempt to set a new school record.
“Shaddye did a good job of refocusing from jump to jump, making the slight changes he needed to in order to get the most out of himself, which resulted in a personal record, a school record, and a WAC championship!,” Seattle U head track and field coach Trisha Steidl said.
Matthew Seidel (Santa Clara, Calif.) and Joe Charbonneau (Bellingham, Wash.) earned Second Team All-WAC honors in the men’s 5000 meter run, as Seidel finished in fifth place in 16:11.48, just ahead of Charbonneau in sixth place in 16:11.62. Tyler Flannery (Auburn, Wash.) also picked up a point for the Redhawks by finishing eighth in 16:21.32, followed by Ben Monk (Olympia, Wash.) in ninth place in 16:25.90.
In the women’s 5000 meter run, Elena Smith (Seattle, Wash.) crossed the finish line in sixth place for Second Team All-WAC honors with a time of 19:17.98. Emily Hedberg (Phoenix, Ariz.) added a point to the Redhawk total with an eighth place finish in 19:44.53.
The men’s distance medley relay squad of Baxter Arguinchona (Spokane, Wash.), Janzen Aguilar-Nelson (Salem, Ore.), Chay Weaver (Louisville, Colo.), and Louis Rodrigues (Alameda, Calif.) finished fifth with a time of 10:27.55, a mark based on an event that was one lap short, as discovered after the fact by the meet officials. The women followed with a fifth place finish, as Madison Davis (Camano Island, Wash.), Katie Fleming (Paradise Valley, Ariz.), Rebecca Lassere (Boise, Idaho), and Moira O’Connor Lenth (Seattle, Wash.) combined for a time of 13:15.25.
In the track preliminaries, Weaver and Gus Arroyo (Portland, Ore.) both qualified for the finals of the men’s one mile run, with Weaver posting a time of 4:35.56, followed by Arroyo in 4:35.64. In the women’s one mile run, Lila Rice (Redmond, Wash.) advanced to the final after posting a time of 5:22.70, as did Sophie Curatilo (Honolulu, Hawaii) after she finished in 5:23.00. Rodrigues finished 11th overall in the men’s one mile run prelims in 4:37.99, while O’Connor Lenth completed the women’s one mile run in 5:38.77, followed by Lassere in 5:41.00.
Austin Thummel-Gravitt (Puyallup, Wash.) posted the fifth-fastest time in the men’s 400 meter dash at 49.86 seconds to move onto Saturday’s final. In the women’s 800 meter run, Davis won her heat in 2:23.37 to qualify for the Saturday finals, while Alisa Poplawski (Newcastle, Wash.) posted a time of 2:23.72, good enough to advance.
Melu did not qualify for the finals in the men’s 400 meter dash after running 50.23 seconds, just ahead of teammate Jason Cowan (Renton, Wash.) in 50.25 seconds. In the women’s 400 meter dash, Candice de Sauvage (Foster City, Calif.) finished 10th in the preliminaries with a time of 58.41 seconds, while Mandy Rusch (Redmond, Wash.) posted a time of 59.49 seconds to finish in 13th place overall.
In the sprints, Madison Lichter (Snohomish, Wash.) finished 12th overall in the 60 meter dash preliminaries in 7.91 seconds and 19th overall in the 200 meter dash preliminaries in 26.15 seconds. Mariah Gibbs (Banks, Ore.) finished 13th in the preliminaries of the 60 meter hurdles with a time of 9.29 seconds.
Cam Peters (Santa Clara, Calif.) finished ninth in the men’s high jump after clearing 1.91 meters (6’ 3.25”), a personal best mark for the freshman. Nick Redlew (Honolulu, Hawaii) finished in 10th place with a top effort of 13.23 meters (43’ 5”).
The Seattle U men are in fourth place heading into the final day of the meet with 22 points, while the Redhawk women are in fifth place in the team standings with 16 points. Grand Canyon leads the women’s standings with 73 points, while Utah Valley has taken a commanding lead on the men’s side with 99 points.
“The team as a whole competed well today,” added Steidl. “If they’re confident in themselves and tenacious, they can finish things off very well tomorrow.”
The WAC Indoor Track and Field Championships conclude Saturday, Feb. 28, with finals in eight track events and three field events for each gender. The link to live results is available from the track and field schedule page of GoSeattleU.com.