With provisional times for the NCAA Indoor track and field championships in the bank, a trio of Simon Fraser University relay teams and two individuals will target the next few weeks as a chance to put those spots in writing.
The SFU distance medley relay quartet of Paige Nock, Renate Bluschke, Sophie Dodd and Addy Townsend ran a Div. 2 season-best time of 11:35.62 at last week's University of Washington Invitational, just three-tenths of a second shy of meeting the automatic qualifying standard, but likely enough to earn the team a trip to Pittsburg, Kan., for the March championships.
Despite missing the services of junior Rowan Doherty, the men’s foursome of Aaron Ahl, Nate St. Romain, Carlos Vargas and Pierre-Lous Detourbe posted a time of 9:58.86 for a provisional mark. They are currently ranked seventh in the event.
"Overall, I'm happy with the performance of our athletes this weekend,” remarked SFU coach Brit Townsend. “We came to the UW Invite for the purpose of booking our tickets to the Championships in the DMR. The ladies stepped up and ran strong throughout the race. I know we can take more time off, which is going to put us in a great spot at nationals.
“The men also ran well and I really believe they can get to nationals as well but will need to be in a race with other runners around them and for everyone in be in top form.”
Also earning a provisional standard was the women’s 4x400-metre relay, featuring Bryce West, Dodd, Townsend and Bluschke. They combined to post the 10th quickest time in the NCAA, at 3:50.03.
Both Townsend and Detourbe notched their own provisional times. In his first-ever indoor track meet, Detourbe followed up his distance medley time in the 3000m event. His time of 8:16.19 was the eighth fastest in Div. 2 this season. Townsend topped her 800m race, winning it in 2:08.70, just a tenth of a second from the automatic qualifying mark.
Burnaby’s Nathan Mah ran 7.14 in the 60m and 22.61 in the 200m.
