Simon Fraser University had a fast start to the indoor track season.
Nine Clan athletes registered provisional qualifying marks in the first meet of the indoor track and field season at the University of Washington on Saturday.
Senior Lindsey Butterworth, who red-shirted last season, posted the top time in the women's mile event in the NCAA Division II this season with a 4:44.80 time.
"This season, we are focused on qualifying athletes who can compete for and win, a national championship, and Lindsey is an athlete who will help us achieve that goal," said Clan head coach Brit Townsend in a press release.
Following her Div. II leading performance in the indoor mile Saturday, Butterworth was named a national athlete of the week.
The national athlete of the week is selected and presented by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association communications staff each week to a male and female athlete in each NCAA division.
It is Butterworth’s first such honour and she is also the Clan’s first national athlete of the week honouree in program history.
In her first indoor race since the 2013 NCAA national championships, Butterworth stormed out of the gates in the mile at the Dempsey indoor track, surpassing the NCAA automatic-qualifying standard by over four seconds.
The time marks the second-fastest performance in Great Northwest Athletic Conference history, and is the current conference and national leading time. It is also a 13.29 second improvement on her previous career best.
Butterworth, a North Vancouver native, is no stranger to national-level success, having earned three NCAA Division II All-American honours in 2013, before red-shirting the 2014 season.
She placed eighth in the nation in the 800 metres at the 2013 indoor championships, as well as third in the distance medley relay, before following up those performances with a fourth-place finish at the 2013 outdoor championships. She also is a three-time Great Northwest champion, including a victory in the indoor mile at the 2013 championships.
Middle-distance runner Paige Nock and long-distance teammates Jennifer Johnson and Peggy Noel, who all helped SFU's cross-country women's team to a first-ever conference title earlier this season, also qualified with provisional times at the Washington meet in the 800 metres and 3,000m, respectively.
Joel Webster turned in a conference-leading time in the men's 400m, with a 48.45 clocking at the meet.
Middle distance runners Oliver Jorgensen and Marc-Antoine Rouleau had provisional times in the 3,000m, while Travis Vugteveen and Cameron Proceviat of Burnaby both look forward to their first national championships with provisional times in the men's mile.
"It's really important to perform and show your ability to compete at this level right away so you have the opportunity to continue to compete against these top athletes from Division I schools," said Townsend. "Our athletes need to be at their best to get invited back to compete in the top heats that will have them achieve the qualifying standards for nationals."
Sophomore miler Rebecca Bassett and quarter-miler Chantal Besch were just off a provisional time in their races.
