The Seattle University track and field team hopes to carry the momentum from its past successes into this week’s Western Athletic Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships, taking place Wednesday through Saturday, May 13-16, at the Hal Wing Track and Field Complex on the campus of Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah.
So far during the outdoor track and field season, 13 school records have been broken, and Seattle U competitors have received weekly awards from the Western Athletic Conference six times over the past two months. The Redhawks are represented in the top 10 of several events within the WAC performance list heading into the meet, giving the team numerous opportunities to score points over the four-day span.
The meet begins Wednesday with the first day of the heptathlon, with junior Mandie Maddux (Gresham, Ore.) competing in the multi-event contest. Maddux finished second in the pentathlon during this year’s WAC Indoor Track and Field Championships, and she has been preparing for this week’s meet by competing in several events in every competition she has entered during the outdoor season.
Besides the second day of the heptathlon, the 10,000 meter run will be contested on Thursday. Tyler Flannery (Auburn, Wash.) is entered to run the race on the men’s side. For the women, school record holder Elena Smith (Seattle, Wash.) and Taylor de Laveaga (Gilbert, Ariz.) will be expected to compete in the long-distance event.
The meet kicks into full gear Friday, starting with the men’s hammer throw at 9 a.m. local time, featuring new school record holder Chris Scaffa (Lake Oswego, Ore.). Maddux is entered in both the javelin throw and the shot put, while Devon Walker (Ventura, Calif.) will look to improve upon his new school record in the discus throw. The Friday field events conclude with the men’s high jump, where Shaddye Melu (Auburn, Wash.) will look to add the outdoor title to the indoor high jump conference crown he won in late February.
On the track Friday, the schedule begins at 1 p.m. Mountain time with the 3000 meter steeplechase, where Nathan McLaughlin (Puyallup, Wash.) and Rebecca Lassere (Boise, Idaho) will look to contend for valuable points. The rest of the track events will be preliminaries, as several Redhawks will look to qualify for the Saturday finals in the 100 meter dash, 200 meter dash, 400 meter dash, 800 meter run, 1500 meter run, 100/110 meter hurdles, and 400 meter hurdles.
Most of the field events Saturday will be completed before the start of the track schedule, featuring Mariah Gibbs (Banks, Ore.) in the women’s triple jump, Malaki Seanoa (Everett, Wash.) in the men’s javelin throw, and Maddux in the women’s high jump.
On the track, Seattle U will see its first action at 2:35 p.m. local time with the women’s 4x100 meter relay, followed by the finals of the events that held preliminaries the previous day. In the 5000 meter run, Joe Charbonneau (Bellingham, Wash.) and Gus Arroyo (Portland, Ore.) will lead the men, while Sophie Curatilo (Honolulu, Hawaii) looks to add another conference title to the championship she won in the one mile run at the indoor championships.
The meet will conclude with the 4x400 meter relay, with the men’s relay squad comprised of Zac Schlachter (Tigard, Ore.), Jason Cowan (Renton, Wash.), Austin Thummel-Gravitt (Puyallup, Wash.), and Melu. The women’s quartet is scheduled to include Katie Fleming (Paradise Valley, Ariz.), Mandy Rusch (Redmond, Wash.), Madison Lichter (Snohomish, Wash.), and Candice de Sauvage (Foster City, Calif.).
At last year’s WAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships held at the same site, the men finished in sixth place with 56 points, while the women claimed seventh place with 41 points. Both squads finished in fifth place at the WAC Indoor Track and Field Championships in late February.
The conference has set up a Tournament Central page, which will include links to live results once the meet begins, here: http://www.wacsports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=210030014&DB_OEM_ID=10100.