Shaddye Melu (Auburn, Wash.) cleared a significant height in the men’s high jump, while another school record fell along with several personal records as members of the Seattle University track and field team competed at the Bryan Clay Invitational, hosted by Azusa Pacific University at Cougar Stadium.
On his first attempt at the meet at a height of over seven feet, Melu cleared the bar set at 2.14 meters (7’ 0.25”) to win the men’s high jump and rewrite his own school record. He had already clinched the event victory by clearing 2.09 meters (6’ 10.25”), but he took the opportunity to reach a level never before attained by a Seattle U high jumper.
The other school record set at the Bryan Clay Invitational came in the women’s 400 meter hurdles, when Katie Fleming (Paradise Valley, Ariz.) broke her own mark by three seconds, winning her heat with a time of 64.46 seconds.
A third school record was broken at the Mt. SAC Relays at Hilmer Lodge Stadium in Walnut, Calif., as Sophie Curatilo (Honolulu, Hawaii) broke a 39-year-old school record in the women’s 1500 meter run with a time of 4:28.60. Curatilo finished second in her section and 23rd overall in the event as she set her fifth school record of the 2015 track and field season.
Back at the Bryan Clay Invitational, Mandie Maddux (Gresham, Ore.) went 4-for-4 in setting outdoor personal-best marks during the meet, starting with winning her heat of the 100 meter hurdles in 16.13 seconds. Maddux finished second in her flight of the long jump with a mark of 5.09 meters (16’ 8.5”), posted a career-best mark of 34.10 meters (111’ 10”) in the javelin throw, and ended the day with a mark of 11.44 meters (37’ 6.5”) in the shot put.
Madison Davis (Camano Island, Wash.) finished fourth in her heat of the 800 meter run with a personal-best time of 2:13.54, while Lila Rice (Redmond, Wash.) posted a personal-best time of 4:37.63 in the 1500 meter run, finishing third in her section of the event. Alisa Poplawski (Newcastle, Wash.) finished sixth in her section of the 800 meter run in 2:16.07, and Moira O’Connor Lenth (Seattle, Wash.) posted a time of 4:45.88 in the 1500 meter run.
Mariah Gibbs (Banks, Ore.) finished fifth in her heat of the 100 meter hurdles with a season-best time of 15.79 seconds, and then she finished 11th in her flight of the triple jump with a mark of 11.34 meters (37’ 2.5”). In the men’s javelin throw, Malaki Seanoa (Everett, Wash.) posted a season-best mark of 53.09 meters (174’ 2”) to finish in 22nd place overall.
In the women’s 400 meter run, Candice de Sauvage (Foster City, Calif.) finished fifth in her heat in 57.94 seconds, and Mandy Rusch (Redmond, Wash.) posted a season-best time of 58.91 seconds, finishing fourth in her heat. Zac Schlachter (Tigard, Ore.) crossed the finish line seventh in his heat of the 100 meter dash with a season-best time of 11.22 seconds, and Jason Cowan (Renton, Wash.) won his heat of the 200 meter dash in a season-best time of 22.71 seconds. Austin Thummel-Gravitt (Puyallup, Wash.), Schlachter, Cowan, and Melu combined to finish third in the 4x400 meter relay with a time of 3:15.84.
The Seattle University sprinters who competed Friday will remain in California to participate in the Beach Invitational, hosted by Long Beach State Saturday, April 18, at Cerritos College in Norwalk, Calif.