After eight months, the Seattle University track and field team was finally back at it.
Saturday, the Redhawks competed at the UW Indoor Preview at the University of Washington’s Dempsey Indoor in Seattle, Wash. As the first meet of the season, the coaches were anxious to see their team get back into the competition mindset after months away from their sport.
“I was very happy with the psyche of the team today,” assistant coach Chad Pharis said. “Everyone had the good nerves that helped push them to their best first-meet performances to date.”
Multiple personal records were broken, and a couple indoor track and field school records were even broken, too.
Not a bad way to start.
Head coach Trisha Steidl said she’s been talking to the team a lot about giving their best effort. She was happy to say she saw a lot of that on Saturday.
On the men’s side, Devon Walker broke the school record in the weight throw with a toss of 14.61m (47’-11.25”), and an 11th-place finish.
On the women’s side, Mandie Maddux broke the school record in the shot put with a throw of 11.75m (38’-6.75”), and a 19th-place finish. She took the school record away from…herself. It’s a record she tied last season, and it was decided on Saturday that she wouldn’t share it for long.
Maddux also broke her own personal record in the 60 meter hurdles with a time of 9.52.
“Both school records stand out, as those have been on the radar since last year,” Pharis said. “To rewrite those the first meet is a fantastic accomplishment for both Devon and Mandie.”
Other Redhawk student-athletes stood out, as well.
Gus Arroyo came close to breaking the school record in the 3,000 meter run, and did, in fact, break his personal record with a time of 8:26.96. That is now the second-fastest time in school history.
“Those individuals were focused, competed well, and clearly started their seasons off on an extremely strong note,” Steidl said. “It’s exciting to think about where they’ll go from here.”
Shaddye Melu set some pretty lofty records for himself – and the school – last season, and this season, he placed in the top 10 in two events. In this indoor season opener, Melu came in seventh place in both the high jump with a jump of 2.05m (6’-8.75”) and the 200 meter dash with a time of 22.57. He was first in his heat in the 200.
Matthew Seidel and Chay Weaver broke personal records in the 3,000 meter run, both with a time of 8:34.8.
Maia Sparkman broke her personal record in the long jump with a jump of 4.59m (15’-0.75”), Katie Fleming broke her personal record in the triple jump with a distance of 11.33m (37’-2.25”), Rebecca Lassere broke her personal record in the 3,000 meter run with a time of 10:37.46, and Alisa Poplawski took first place in her heat in the 600 meter run with a time of 1:39.34.
Moira O'Connor Lenth also came close to breaking her personal record in the mile run with a time of 5:07.47, just barely short of her career indoor best.
Even without the broken school records and new personal records, Steidl thinks the season is off to a great start. What she saw today could mean good things for future meets this season.
“If you can give your best effort every time, it doesn’t mean every competition will be a PR,” Steidl said. “It does mean you’ll get the most out of yourself every time you compete, and when you’re ready to pop a big one, it’ll happen and it’ll happen in big fashion. Today was a great first step in that process.”