Stoked by a new conference record and an individual personal best, things continue to look up for Simon Fraser University’s track and field team.
The women’s 4x100 metre relay team ran the fastest time in Great Northwest Athletic Conference history en route to second place at the Oxy Invitational in Los Angeles on the weekend.
The quartet of Valda Kabia, Chantel Desch, Kira Pederson and Katherine Lucas finished the event in 46.19 seconds, shaving 3/10ths of a second off their previous best result, and placing a close second behind the top NCAA team at the meet.
Meanwhile, sophomore runner Addy Townsend climbed to sixth overall in the NCAA national rankings in the women’s 800m event by registering a PB of 2:07.99, second behind UC-Santa Barbara’s Jenna Hinkle.
Townsend’s time was the ninth fastest in GNAC Div. 2 history, and the quickest this season in the conference.
“It was a great meet (Saturday) and I’m very excited about the possibilities that came from the performances,” Clan head coach – and proud mom – Brit Townsend said.
The Oxy Invitational attracted many of the top NCAA Div. 1 and 2 programs, along with various American clubs.
Moving her PB to a new level was junior Sophie Dodd, who clocked in at 2:09.11 in the 800m, her first-ever time under 2:10. It puts her within range of qualifying for the nationals. In 12th spot stands SFU’s Alana Mussatto, with a time of 2:08.79.
With all their rivals in the women’s 4x400m relay taking a pass due to unfavourable weather, the SFU squad of Mussatto, Town-send, Dodd and Desch pressed on and knocked two seconds off their best time, putting them at 18th in the NCAA.
For the second week in a row, Simon Fraser’s Miryam Bassett
ran a PB in the 1,500m, lowering her time from 4:30.44 to 4:30.01. Bassett’s performance lifted her to 22nd on the national charts and gives her a chance to earn an invitation to nationals.
In the 3,000m steeplechase, Chelsea Riberio ran a personal best of 11:16.05, placing her sixth in the GNAC.
The GNAC Outdoor Championships will be held at Western Oregon University on May 12 and 13 in Monmouth, Oregon.
