Senior Sophie Curatilo (Honolulu, Hawaii) picked up Seattle University’s second conference title of the weekend as several Redhawks earned All-WAC honors Saturday on the final day of the 2015 Western Athletic Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships held at the Cadet Field House on the campus of the U.S. Air Force Academy.
Curatilo won the one mile run by four seconds with a time of 5:09.52, while Lila Rice (Redmond, Wash.) finished in fourth place for Second Team All-WAC honors with a time of 5:17.42. Curatilo would later earn another First Team All-WAC award by finishing second in the 3000 meter run in 10:41.67, with Elena Smith (Seattle, Wash.) crossing the finish line in ninth place in 10:56.30 and Rice finishing 10th in 11:00.05.
"We knew Sophie had a good chance of winning the mile, but you can't count on anything, especially at high altitude," Seattle U head coach Trisha Steidl said. "She executed her race very well and left everything she had on the track."
Madison Davis (Camano Island, Wash.) also earned a First Team All-WAC award as she finished second in the 800 meter run in 2:19.09, while Alisa Poplawski (Newcastle, Wash.) finished in sixth place for Second Team All-WAC honors with a time of 2:21.95.
Mariah Gibbs (Banks, Ore.) smashed the triple jump school record by over 6/10ths of a meter, finishing fourth for Second-Team All-WAC honors with a mark of 11.96 meters (39’ 3”). Mandie Maddux (Gresham, Ore.) collected another First Team All-WAC award for herself and scored more points for the Redhawks by finishing third in the high jump after clearing 1.64 meters (5’ 4.5”), and she also tied the school record in the shot put with a top throw of 11.54 meters (37’ 10.5”), finishing ninth in that event.
Austin Thummel-Gravitt (Puyallup, Wash.) earned Second Team All-WAC recognition by finishing sixth in the 400 meter dash in 50.07 seconds. Another Second Team All-WAC award went to Devon Walker (Ventura, Calif.) in the weight throw, as he finished in fourth place with a top mark of 14.12 meters (46’ 4”).
In Saturday’s distance events, Gus Arroyo (Portland, Ore.) finished seventh in the one mile run in 4:29.83, followed by Chay Weaver (Louisville, Colo.) in ninth place in 4:36.83. Baxter Arguinchona (Spokane, Wash.) finished sixth in the 3000 meter run in 9:02.40, just ahead of teammate Joe Charbonneau (Bellingham, Wash.) in seventh place in 9:05.30. Matthew Seidel (Santa Clara, Calif.) started a run of four straight Redhawks by finishing in 12th place in 9:18.75, followed by Tyler Flannery (Auburn, Wash.) in 9:21.24, Ben Monk (Olympia, Wash.) in 9:28.32, and Weaver in 9:32.54, with Arroyo posting a time of 9:52.07.
Also in the women’s 3000 meter run, Taylor de Laveaga (Gilbert, Ariz.) finished in 16th place in 11:09.94, just ahead of Emily Hedberg (Phoenix, Ariz.) in 17th place in 11:10.76. Moira O’Connor Lenth (Seattle, Wash.) finished in 21st place in 11:22.77, and Rebecca Lassere (Boise, Idaho) earned a 23rd-place finish with a time of 11:36.79.
Also competing in the women’s triple jump, Katie Fleming (Paradise Valley, Ariz.) finished in 12th place with a top mark of 11.15 meters (36’ 7”), and Sandy Dasalla Good (Mountlake Terrace, Wash.) ended up in 13th place with a mark of 10.92 meters (35’ 10”). Malaki Seanoa (Everett, Wash.) participated in the weight throw.
The women’s 4x400 meter relay of Madison Lichter (Snohomish, Wash.), Mandy Rusch (Redmond, Wash.), Fleming, and Candice de Sauvage (Foster City, Calif.) finished in sixth place with a time of 4:00.50. The Redhawk women finished in fifth place in the team standings with 64 points, as did the Seattle U men with 37 points. Grand Canyon earned the women’s conference title with 172 points, while Utah Valley picked up the men’s WAC title with 231 points.
"There were a lot of really good performances over the past three days. This is the best indoor conference meet we've had in my time at SU. This is a great springboard to the upcoming outdoor track season," added Steidl.
The Seattle University track and field team now moves to the outdoor season, starting with a meet co-hosted by Portland and Portland State Saturday, March 21. The 2015 WAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships take place May 13-16 and will once again be hosted by Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah.