Simon Fraser University distance runners Julia Howley and Rowan Doherty delivered individual stellar performances to capture their respective 3,000 metre races at the 2018 GNAC Indoor Track and Field Championships in Nampa, Idaho.
Those wins, combined with a Clan sweep in the distance medley relays and a four-peat by Vlad Tsygankov in the long jump on Friday, gave Simon Fraser five conference titles.
Howley and Reta Dobie, both seniors, locked up the top-two spots in the 3,000m women’s final, with Howley cruising across the finish line 10 seconds ahead of Dobie, 9:47.83 to 9:57.20.
Doherty, meanwhile, won the men’s 3,000m title in a time of 8:28.48. He was five seconds in front of the second place runner. The Clan men also won the distance medley relay on Friday with a time of 10:08.40.
The program also took home three second-place finishes. Senior Alana Mussatto ran a personal best to place second in the 800m, and then stepped in to run a crucial final leg of the women’s 4x400 with her final kick.
Mussatto crossed the line 4/100ths of a second behind Central Washington’s 3:50.64. The Clan foursome of Bryce West, Calli Charlton, Renate Bluschke and Mussatto were timed in 3:50.68. The top three teams, CWU, SFU and Alaska Anchorage were separated by less than one second.
“Alana ran an incredible leg to almost win it,” said Clan head coach Brit Townsend.
Freshman Meyer Quaynor also ran a personal best of 7.76 seconds to finish second in the women’s 60m. Junior Paige Nock came third in the mile in 5:02.84.
The lone setback of the weekend was when Moscow-native Vlad Tsygankov, who won his fourth long jump title with a leap of 23 feet, 11.5 inches on Friday night, was scratched from the 400m final after becoming ill overnight. He was the fastest qualifier in the heats.
“Unfortunately, the flu has hit several of our athletes making it difficult for them to perform at their best,” said Townsend.
The Simon Fraser men’s side placed seventh among the competing schools with 56 points.
On the women’s side, SFU stood sixth with 67 points.
