SEATTLE – Seattle U track and field put together a fantastic indoor season in 2020, raising the bar for the program once again in collecting five new school records over eight meets.
"Looking back, we had a lot of personal bests across all of the event areas this year," said Head Coach Kelly Sullivan. "Many of our freshmen and sophomores made huge contributions to the team, which bodes well for the future."
Assistant Coach Chad Pharis agreed. "This was a busy indoor season - the team competed in some capacity every weekend," he said. "Even the athletes who didn't compete in indoor track were heading in a great direction to be ready for outdoor track."
After kicking off the season at the UW Indoor Preview on Jan. 18, the Redhawks went on to set three facility records at Portland's Chiles Center on Jan. 26 at the University of Portland Indoor One. Sophomore Isaiah Payne took first place in the 200m dash with a time of 22.53, classmate Zach Gonzalez won the 400m dash at 50.35, and the women's 4x400m relay team (sophomore Nicole Golba, freshman Maya McCabe, senior Michelle Newblom and sophomore Regie Grady) posted a time of 4:03.11 to finish first in the field.
Next, Seattle U competed at the UW Invitational from Jan. 31-Feb.1 before heading out to Moscow, Idaho, for the Idaho Team Challenge on Feb. 7. At that meet, Newblom broke her own school record in the 60m hurdles, setting a new mark of 8.91, while Grady set a new program best of 25.59 in the indoor 200m dash. Two days later, senior Siobhan Rubio finished first in the 800m run at the University of Portland Indoor Two, setting a new Chiles Center record of 2:17.86. Sophomore Ansel Pendley-Griffin set a new personal best in that meet, finishing third in the mile run with a time of 4:16.96.
The Redhawks took on the Husky Classic on Feb. 14-15 before closing out the regular season at the Last Chance College Elite Meet on Feb. 21. There, Newblom broke her own record in the 60m hurdles for the second time this year, finishing the race in 8.86, while junior Nathan Pixler bested his own school record in the 800m run with a time of 1:52.39 - a time that was also second-best on the Western Athletic Conference 2020 performance list. Sophomore Tallia Sova etched her name into the Seattle U record books, finishing atop the Redhawks' shot put list with a heave of 11.98m (39-3.75). Both Newblom and Pixler received WAC Track Athlete of the Week (Feb. 17-23) awards for their performances.
On the first day of the WAC Indoor Track and Field Championships (Feb. 28-29), Seattle U's women's distance medley relay team of freshman Grace Much, sophomore Regie Grady, freshman Delaney Griffin and sophomore Marie-Therese Chahrouri won the bronze medal with their time of 12:19.11 in the race. The men's DMR team of freshman Gus Harquail, senior Jarod De Guzman, freshman Ryan O'Connor and sophomore Lance Slichko also scored, finishing in fifth place. Newblom improved her program record once more in the 60m hurdles, posting a time of 8.74, which was good for first in her heat and qualifying her for the next day's finals.
Two Redhawks qualified for the finals in the women's 800m run preliminaries: Rubio (2:15.90) took first in her heat (and second place overall), while McCabe (2:17.75) qualified in seventh place overall to move forward. Meanwhile, Gonzalez set a new personal best in the 400m dash preliminaries at 49.31, qualifying for the finals in fifth place overall. Pendley-Griffin moved on to the finals in the mile run after his third-place 4:20.61 in the prelims, while Pixler (1:54.55) took third place in the 800m prelims to qualify for the next day's finals.
The women's 4x400m relay team of Grady, McCabe, Rubio and Newblom headlined Day Two of the WAC Championships, passing the program indoor record in the event and bettering the outdoor mark with their fourth-place time of 3:52.62. Rubio also scored for the Redhawks in the 800m finals, finishing in fourth place at 2:17.43, while sophomore Rachel Van Liew scored with her high jump mark of 1.53m (5-00.25).
On the men's side, sophomore Lucas Milne set a school record in the heptathlon, scoring 4,212 total points over the seven events. Pixler took fourth place in the 800m finals with a time of 1:54.28, Pendley-Griffin finished seventh in the mile run at 4:21.60 and Gonzalez took seventh in the 400m finals in a time of 49.85. The men's 4x400m relay team of De Guzman, sophomore Stewart Keene, Pixler and Gonzalez closed out the day (and the season) by scoring for Seattle U.
"It was great to watch everyone come together at the WAC Indoor Championships," said Pharis. "And many of our athletes achieved personal bests in their events."
In all, the 2020 indoor track and field athletes found great success, with 34 individuals posting a total of 52 new personal records.
"I know that all of us would have loved to have seen how the 2020 outdoor track and field season would turn out," said Sullivan. "Multiple seniors were entering the last stages of record-breaking careers. We will definitely miss all 14 of our graduating student-athletes."
"I'm very proud of how the team has handled this transition," Pharis said. "We will miss our seniors, but the mark that they have left on this program won't be forgotten."
2020 Personal Records Achieved
WOMEN
-Marie-Therese Chahrouri: 3k run
-Megan Delorey: 5k run
-Courtney Gelmini: 3k run, 5k run
-Nicole Golba: 60m hurdles, Triple jump
-Regie Grady: 200m dash, 400m dash
-Delaney Griffin: Mile run, 3k run
-Emily Harris: 3k run
-Laurel Mack-Wilson: High jump
-Maya McCabe: 600m run, 800m run
-Grace Much: 3k run
-Michelle Newblom: 60m dash, 60m hurdles
-Fiona O'Leary: Mile run
-Siobhan Rubio: 400m dash
-Tallia Sova: Shot put
-Jami Tresselt: Weight throw
-Rachel Van Liew: High jump
-Tayla Weaver: 60m dash, Long jump
MEN
-Steve Brown: 600m run
-Stephen Crocker: Mile run, 3k run
-Zach Gonzalez: 200m dash, 400m dash
-Dominic Jacobs: 60m dash
-Stewart Keene: 400m dash
-Xavier Kelley: Triple jump, Long jump
-Kyle Kennedy: Mile run, 3k run
-Lance Mason: 800m run
-Lucas Milne: 200m dash, 60m hurdles, Long jump, Shot Put, Heptathlon
-Ryan O'Connor: 800m run
-Isaiah Payne: 60m dash
-Noah Payne: 60m dash
-Ansel Pendley-Griffin: 1k run, Mile run
-Nathan Pixler: 800m run
-William Sun: 60m hurdles
-Tom Topinka: 60m dash, 200m dash
-Brant Yamamoto: 60m dash, 200m dash
"Looking back, we had a lot of personal bests across all of the event areas this year," said Head Coach Kelly Sullivan. "Many of our freshmen and sophomores made huge contributions to the team, which bodes well for the future."
Assistant Coach Chad Pharis agreed. "This was a busy indoor season - the team competed in some capacity every weekend," he said. "Even the athletes who didn't compete in indoor track were heading in a great direction to be ready for outdoor track."
After kicking off the season at the UW Indoor Preview on Jan. 18, the Redhawks went on to set three facility records at Portland's Chiles Center on Jan. 26 at the University of Portland Indoor One. Sophomore Isaiah Payne took first place in the 200m dash with a time of 22.53, classmate Zach Gonzalez won the 400m dash at 50.35, and the women's 4x400m relay team (sophomore Nicole Golba, freshman Maya McCabe, senior Michelle Newblom and sophomore Regie Grady) posted a time of 4:03.11 to finish first in the field.
Next, Seattle U competed at the UW Invitational from Jan. 31-Feb.1 before heading out to Moscow, Idaho, for the Idaho Team Challenge on Feb. 7. At that meet, Newblom broke her own school record in the 60m hurdles, setting a new mark of 8.91, while Grady set a new program best of 25.59 in the indoor 200m dash. Two days later, senior Siobhan Rubio finished first in the 800m run at the University of Portland Indoor Two, setting a new Chiles Center record of 2:17.86. Sophomore Ansel Pendley-Griffin set a new personal best in that meet, finishing third in the mile run with a time of 4:16.96.
The Redhawks took on the Husky Classic on Feb. 14-15 before closing out the regular season at the Last Chance College Elite Meet on Feb. 21. There, Newblom broke her own record in the 60m hurdles for the second time this year, finishing the race in 8.86, while junior Nathan Pixler bested his own school record in the 800m run with a time of 1:52.39 - a time that was also second-best on the Western Athletic Conference 2020 performance list. Sophomore Tallia Sova etched her name into the Seattle U record books, finishing atop the Redhawks' shot put list with a heave of 11.98m (39-3.75). Both Newblom and Pixler received WAC Track Athlete of the Week (Feb. 17-23) awards for their performances.
On the first day of the WAC Indoor Track and Field Championships (Feb. 28-29), Seattle U's women's distance medley relay team of freshman Grace Much, sophomore Regie Grady, freshman Delaney Griffin and sophomore Marie-Therese Chahrouri won the bronze medal with their time of 12:19.11 in the race. The men's DMR team of freshman Gus Harquail, senior Jarod De Guzman, freshman Ryan O'Connor and sophomore Lance Slichko also scored, finishing in fifth place. Newblom improved her program record once more in the 60m hurdles, posting a time of 8.74, which was good for first in her heat and qualifying her for the next day's finals.
Two Redhawks qualified for the finals in the women's 800m run preliminaries: Rubio (2:15.90) took first in her heat (and second place overall), while McCabe (2:17.75) qualified in seventh place overall to move forward. Meanwhile, Gonzalez set a new personal best in the 400m dash preliminaries at 49.31, qualifying for the finals in fifth place overall. Pendley-Griffin moved on to the finals in the mile run after his third-place 4:20.61 in the prelims, while Pixler (1:54.55) took third place in the 800m prelims to qualify for the next day's finals.
The women's 4x400m relay team of Grady, McCabe, Rubio and Newblom headlined Day Two of the WAC Championships, passing the program indoor record in the event and bettering the outdoor mark with their fourth-place time of 3:52.62. Rubio also scored for the Redhawks in the 800m finals, finishing in fourth place at 2:17.43, while sophomore Rachel Van Liew scored with her high jump mark of 1.53m (5-00.25).
On the men's side, sophomore Lucas Milne set a school record in the heptathlon, scoring 4,212 total points over the seven events. Pixler took fourth place in the 800m finals with a time of 1:54.28, Pendley-Griffin finished seventh in the mile run at 4:21.60 and Gonzalez took seventh in the 400m finals in a time of 49.85. The men's 4x400m relay team of De Guzman, sophomore Stewart Keene, Pixler and Gonzalez closed out the day (and the season) by scoring for Seattle U.
"It was great to watch everyone come together at the WAC Indoor Championships," said Pharis. "And many of our athletes achieved personal bests in their events."
In all, the 2020 indoor track and field athletes found great success, with 34 individuals posting a total of 52 new personal records.
"I know that all of us would have loved to have seen how the 2020 outdoor track and field season would turn out," said Sullivan. "Multiple seniors were entering the last stages of record-breaking careers. We will definitely miss all 14 of our graduating student-athletes."
"I'm very proud of how the team has handled this transition," Pharis said. "We will miss our seniors, but the mark that they have left on this program won't be forgotten."
2020 Personal Records Achieved
WOMEN
-Marie-Therese Chahrouri: 3k run
-Megan Delorey: 5k run
-Courtney Gelmini: 3k run, 5k run
-Nicole Golba: 60m hurdles, Triple jump
-Regie Grady: 200m dash, 400m dash
-Delaney Griffin: Mile run, 3k run
-Emily Harris: 3k run
-Laurel Mack-Wilson: High jump
-Maya McCabe: 600m run, 800m run
-Grace Much: 3k run
-Michelle Newblom: 60m dash, 60m hurdles
-Fiona O'Leary: Mile run
-Siobhan Rubio: 400m dash
-Tallia Sova: Shot put
-Jami Tresselt: Weight throw
-Rachel Van Liew: High jump
-Tayla Weaver: 60m dash, Long jump
MEN
-Steve Brown: 600m run
-Stephen Crocker: Mile run, 3k run
-Zach Gonzalez: 200m dash, 400m dash
-Dominic Jacobs: 60m dash
-Stewart Keene: 400m dash
-Xavier Kelley: Triple jump, Long jump
-Kyle Kennedy: Mile run, 3k run
-Lance Mason: 800m run
-Lucas Milne: 200m dash, 60m hurdles, Long jump, Shot Put, Heptathlon
-Ryan O'Connor: 800m run
-Isaiah Payne: 60m dash
-Noah Payne: 60m dash
-Ansel Pendley-Griffin: 1k run, Mile run
-Nathan Pixler: 800m run
-William Sun: 60m hurdles
-Tom Topinka: 60m dash, 200m dash
-Brant Yamamoto: 60m dash, 200m dash