Now that's getting it out of the way in quick fashion.
Competing against some of the very best track athletes in the NCAA, Julia Howley put together an incredible performance in the women's 3000-metre steeplechase at the 2019 Stanford Invitational, not only breaking a Simon Fraser University program record, but putting herself in the top position in all of NCAA Div. 2.
Racing in the third section of the event last Friday, Howley took first place and was fourth overall behind top runners from Div. I universities, with a time of 10:03.19. The result also shattered Meredith MacGregor's SFU best varsity time of 10:26.83, set in 2007.
The St. John's, NF native's time also eclipsed the Great Northwest Athletic Conference record of 10:13.01 set in 2014 by Western Washington University’s Katelyn Steen.
Now at the top of the Div. 2 leaderboard and earning the automatic qualifying standard for the NCAA national championships, she joins teammates Chelsea Ribeiro (sixth) and Olivia Willett (11th) who earned the provisional qualifying standard in races earlier this season.
Both Ribeiro and Willett competed at the Mike Fanelli Track Classic over the weekend, placing eight and 17th respectively, with Willett setting a new personal best of 10:49.17.
The SFU men also had success in the steeplechase event at the San Francisco meet, with Pierre-Louis Detourbe (9:02.73) and Aaron Ahl (9:07.73) earning the provisional standard, finishing in sixth and eighth positions, respectively, in the NCAA rankings.
SFU freshman Chris Sobczak, of Milwaukee, earned a personal best in the race as well, with a time of 9:29.24.
Simon Fraser had a strong showing in the women's 800-metre with Sophie Dodd, Alana Mussatto and Paige Nock capturing provisional standards. Dodd's time of 2:07.44 put her in third at both the meet and the national rankings, while Mussatto (2:09.86) and Nock (2:11.67) are both in the top ten alongside her.
On the men's side, first-year athlete Nick Bauernschmitt put up a personal best time of 1:53.82 and came in 13th place.
In the men's 1500-metre run, Rowan Doherty earned the provisional standard with a time of 3:50.90, while teammate Carlos Vargas, still ranked 10th nationally, just missed the cut at 3:52.14. On the women's side, Miryam Bassett placed third with a time of 4:30.53 and earned the provisional standard, now sitting in eighth-place overall. Freshman Megan Roxby had a breakout performance with a 4:40.47.
Sean Miller, meanwhile, earned the provisional standard in the 5000-metre with the 13th best national time this season, coming in at 14:26.45.
While Howley is SFU's only automatic or provisional standard earner at Stanford, the team also had their pair of 4x100 teams put up season bests and Burnaby’s Nathan Mah placed 25th in the 200-metre dash with a time of exactly 22 seconds, less than a half second off the standard.
At the University of British Columbia-SFU meet over the weekend. New West’s Emily Chilton won the women's 800-metre in a time of 2:15.89, while Holly Taylor set a new season high in shot put with a 12.7 metre throw. Lauren Fridman had a new high in javelin with a 38.07 metre toss.
"I am so happy with the start of our season. It has been exciting to see how people have transitioned from indoors right into outdoors with fantastic performances. Our freshman stepped up and showed that they are truly going to be our future," remarked head coach Brit Townsend.
Former SFU standout and reigning Canadian 800m champion Lindsay Butterworth, meanwhile, won both the open women's 800- and 1500m events, with times of 2:03.39 and 4:13.05.
University of California's Zion Corrales Nelson posted the 12th best time in the 200m women's event, and finished 25th in the 400m. The St. Thomas More alumna and Burnaby native is looking at building onto her solid sophomore season as a junior with the Golden Bears.
