UNIVERSITY PLACE, Wash. - Seattle U cross country ended their 2022 season at the NCAA West Regionals Championships, hosted by Washington, at Chambers Bay Golf Course in University Place, Washington. In a stacked field full of nationally ranked teams, the Redhawks came away with seasons bests from everyone and multiple top-20 all time performances.
"Today was one of those days where you can't complain about the efforts of any of them since they all ran personal bests." said Head Coach Kelly Sullivan "A couple of illnesses and aches came in the way, but that does not take away from the fact that this group and the others who didn't compete have made a big turn these past three months, and its shown by how much their times in cross country have improved."
For the women, Azalea Groleau (RS FR) continued to be the frontrunner for the Redhawks as she has been for the year and had a breakthrough performance at the race. Groleau finished the 6k race in 21:13.4, which was a massive PR of 52 seconds and is her first time breaking the 22 minute barrier.
Lilianne Hargreaves (SO) also broke the 22 minute barrier for the first time, as she completed the race in 21:52.6 seconds, which is a 41 second PR for her. Caitlyn O'Neil (FR) and Emily Harris (JR) round out the Redhawk women competing in the race, as they both set seasons bests of 22:03.9 and 22:05.6, respectively.
All four Redhawk women who competed at the NCAA West Regionals cracked the top-20 list for the 6k in school history. Groleau's time of 21:13 places her fourth all time, Hargreaves is now 15th all time, O'Neil is 17th all time, and Harris is 18th all time in school history.
On the men's side, Gus Harquail (RS SO) led the charge for the Redhawks. Harquail completed the 10k race in 31:23.6, which was an astonishing PR of over 3 minutes in the 10k. Hezekiah Goodwin (SR) the next finisher for the Redhawks, as the grad transfer would clock in a time of 31:38.6 in his first ever 10k.
Alex Franklin (RS JR) and Lance Mason (JR) would finish close to each other, as the pair would finish in 31:47.9 and 31:50.6 respectively. The effort by both Franklin and Mason would give them giant PR's of nearly 3 minutes, with Franklin PR'ing by 2 minutes and 54 seconds, and Mason beating his old personal best by 2 minutes and 43 seconds. Rounding out the top five for the men was true freshman Khalid Hirsi, as he would finish his first ever 10k in 32:53.9.
Similarly to the women, four of the five men mentioned above set top-20 marks in school history. Harquail's time from the race now places him fourth all time, Goodwin's effort puts him in a three-way tie for sixth all time, Franklin is now seventh all time, and Mason is now eight all time in school history. Freshman Khalid Hirsi missed the top-20 list by just one second.
"The performances from today leaves us all really excited to see what everyone can do this indoor and outdoor season since the majority of them are really talented in the middle distances (800-5k). Also, with the addition of graduate transfer Rajesh Gill (3k-10k), the next few months are going to be very exciting. I am also really excited to see the entire track and field teams competing starting in January as the sprints, jumps, hurdles, multi-eventers are having a fantastic fall training block"
The Redhawks will look to continue the improvements they made this season onto the track, as they will compete in indoor and outdoor track in the winter and spring.
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