This is no April Fool’s joke – the track and field school record book needs to be re-written yet again.
Friday, five members of the Seattle University track and field team traveled to San Francisco, Calif. and Cox Stadium to compete in the San Francisco State Distance Carnival. All of them – Elena Smith, Taylor de Laveaga, Matthew Seidel, Baxter Arguinchona, and Ben Monk – came with the focus of putting their all into the 10,000 meter run.
Smith went into the race head on, focused on tackling the longest distance in Division I track.
With a time of 36:17.49, Smith crushed the previous outdoor school record in the event by 32 seconds. It was a record previously set by herself last season. The time gave her a 12th place finish in a group of 52.
“Elena ran pretty much exactly what we talked about heading into the race,” head coach Trisha Steidl said. “She ran strong, but it wasn’t easy. She pushed hard to get this time.”
Smith has already been named the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Female Outdoor Track Athlete of the Week once this season, and she proved once again why her distance times deserve that honor.
The two women competing were the only Seattle U runners to have competed in this distance in their college careers. The men hadn’t yet conquered a race of that length in track until now.
But ever since the end of last season, Seidel and Steidl had talked about him moving up and trying out this distance.
“It’s been on his mind,” Steidl said. “He’s thorough with his preparations, so I was confident he’d be ready to go.”
Seidel came out like a seasoned 10,000 meter runner, and was the first Redhawk to cross the finish line.
His time of 30:45.04 came close to beating the current outdoor school record, and gave him a 31st place finish in a massive group of 93.
Steidl said that she’s not surprised with his time because of his fitness and performances in the 5,000 meter run. Because he got close to his “reach” goal Friday, though, Steidl said she thinks he can claim the school record in his career if he stays on pace.
Next, the track and field team travels to Spokane, Wash. to compete in WAR 9. That meet runs April 8-9.
Other Redhawk finishers:
Men – Arguinchona (31:10.01), Monk (32:19.04)
Women – de Laveaga (38:09.61)