The Seattle University men’s and women’s track and field team closed out the indoor season this weekend (Feb. 12-13) at the Husky Classic at Dempsey Indoor on the University of Washington campus in Seattle, Wash.
Once again, the competing Redhawks decided to rewrite some school records.
The team broke two school records during the first meet of the regular indoor season, and they bookmarked their season with breaking two more school records at the end, not to mention the other two broken right in the middle.
Friday, the women’s distance medley relay team (consisting of Moira O’Connor Lenth, Mandie Maddux, Kyla Danforth, and Lila Rice) broke the indoor school record in the event with a time of 12:08.32, finishing in second place in their section.
“The women who had the record previously were a strong group,” head coach Trisha Steidl said. “For this group of ladies to sneak past that record shows how strong this team has become…Even with ladies who were running distances that aren’t their focus, they got the record. That says a lot about each of these ladies and their tenacity and determination. It was fun to watch them push hard for one another and to go after the record.”
Then, just minutes later, the men’s distance medley relay team (consisting of Joe Charbonneau, Shaddye Melu, Jacques Hebert, and Louis Rodrigues) broke the indoor school record with a time of 10:06.23.
Steidl said Charbonneau and Rodrigues had been talking with her about this event since cross country season.
“They’ve had their eyes on this for awhile and wanted to take it down, so I know they are very excited about this,” Steidl said. “They chopped off a lot of time, which was exciting to see.”
Melu also competed in the high jump, tying the school record in the event with a height of 2.11m (6’-11”). That school record was set by none other than Melu himself almost exactly one year ago. His height on Saturday put him in second place overall based on jumps, a great achievement in the field of 26.
Steidl also gave a shout-out to Gus Arroyo, who ran a strong race in the 5,000 meter run on Friday. With a time of 14:44.82, Arroyo was just seconds shy of the school record.
But, now he holds the second-fastest time in school history in the event, and that is a big accomplishment, Steidl said.
The Redhawks cap off their season at the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Indoor Championships in Nampa, Idaho on Feb. 25-27.
“I’m confident we will be bringing people who are fully ready to compete at a high level and ready to give their best effort,” Steidl said.”