Another indoor track and field meet down, another school record broken.
Friday and Saturday, the Seattle University track team went back to Dempsey Indoor at the University of Washington to compete in the UW Invitational – the same site they competed at two weeks ago at the UW Indoor Preview where two school records and multiple personal records were broken.
At that meet two weeks ago, Gus Arroyo almost put his name on the list with Devon Walker and Mandie Maddux of Redhawks to break school records, missing the mark by just a few seconds, however setting his own personal record.
“Gus has had his eye on school records going into this season,” head coach Trisha Steidl said. “That (UW Indoor) race started off slow, so we knew all he had to do was start faster for the first couple of laps and then do exactly what he did two weeks ago. Of course that sounds easier than it really is.”
But, Saturday, Arroyo did it. He broke the four-year-old indoor school record by a matter of milliseconds in the 3,000 meter run with a time of 8:21.38.
“He ran a gutsy race today, taking the lead when I told him he needed to go faster,” Steidl said. She went on to say how cool it was for him to set that record, and that “it’s even cooler because, as he and I talked about, he ran just faster than his high school 1,500 meter time back-to-back…How many people can say that? His is a great story of hard work and determination.”
Other distance runners were able to set indoor personal records, too.
On the men’s side, Matthew Seidel broke his personal record in the 5,000 meter run with a time of 14:54.48, seconds faster than his previous outdoor best. Steidl said that for him to be running faster than that time at this point in the year is “fantastic.”
Louis Rodrigues and Jacques Hebert, both competing in the one mile run, set their own new personal records – Rodrigues with a time of 4:19.43 and Hebert with a time of 4:20.93.
“Jacques ran a great race today,” Steidl said. “He ran with confidence and looked very strong. This was a fantastic start for him.”
Steidl also mentioned Collin Olson’s 15:21.76 time in the 5,000 as being a big personal feat for him. His previous 5,000 meter time came in the outdoor season last year, and this weekend, he was able to run a strong race, taking off almost 20 seconds from his previous outdoor time.
On the women’s side, Elena Smith set her new indoor personal record in the 5,000 meter run at 17:45.64.
Mandie Maddux, the only female from Seattle U to compete in the pentathlon, finished just a few points shy of her personal record. On Friday, Maddux finished the pentathlon 60 meter hurdles with a time of 9.41, a personal record.
Maddux “showed some great signs of what is around the corner, and should showcase that come Conference,” assistant coach Chad Pharis said.
Jaimi Gotro tied her personal record in the high jump with a height of 1.4m (4’-7”).
Shaddye Melu ran the 400 meter dash for the first time this indoor season, and opened near his personal record. Melu ran during the middle of his high jump competition, so Pharis said he expects both marks to improve when he is given the opportunity to focus on them individually.
“Our focus this season is to give your best effort every time you compete, and I saw that out there with everyone over the past two days,” Steidl said. “We will continue to learn, grow, and build off of each competitive experience.”