Simon Fraser University junior Addy Townsend ran a personal best and clocked an NCAA automatic qualifying time of 2:06.83 in the women’s 800-metre event Saturday at the Triton Invitational track and field meet at La Jolla, California.
Teammate and senior Vladislav Tsygankov also ran a season best and improved on his national ranking in the 400m hurdles, while the women’s 4x400m relay team improved on its time and climbed higher in the national rankings.
Townsend ran her fastest time ever in the 800m to finish second overall in a crowded field of 68 Div. 1 and 2 runners, coming-from-behind to break the 2:07 barrier for the first time ever.
Townsend’s time was the eighth fastest time in Great Northwest Athletic Conference history. She ranks fifth nationally.
Danielle McCormick of Alaska Anchorage, the 2018 NCAA Div. 2 indoor 800m champion, finished first in a time of 2:06.17.
Competing in the 400m hurdles on Saturday, Tsygankov moved to seventh in the national rankings after finishing second in 52.15 seconds. It was the fourth fastest time in GNAC history for Tsygankov, who holds the conference record of 51.48, set last year.
The women’s 4x400m shaved another 10th of a second off their time to break the NCAA provisional mark and put the team in the rankings at No. 14. Runners Bryce West, Sophie Dodd, Renate Bluschke and Townsend, who ran third and used her long stride to take the lead, carried off the invitational section title with a time of 3:47.82.
Burnaby’s Nathan Mah broke the 22-second barrier in the 200m for the first time, finishing in 21.98. He ran 10.91 in the 100m.
Senior Joel Webster ran his fastest 400m in two years, coming second in 48.04. It was also the ninth fastest time in GNAC history. Webster already holds the eighth fastest mark of 47.99.
