SEATTLE, Wash. – Junior middle distance runner Marc-Antoine Rouleau booked his ticket to the NCAA national championships, and a handful of other Simon Fraser University athletes turned in nationally ranked performances, at the Ken Shannon Invitational in Seattle, Wash., on Saturday.
Running in the top heat, Rouleau shaved more than two seconds off his personal best in the 1,500 metres, finishing second to Travis Burkstrand of Brooks ID, a club team. Rouleau was clocked in 3:45.45, the third fastest 1500 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference history. More importantly, he eclipsed the NCAA Division II automatic qualifying standard of 3:45.65 in the event. Rouleau has now assured himself a place at the national championships in Bradenton, Florida beginning May 26.
Rouleau currently ranks seventh in NCAA D2. The top-ranked 800 runner nationally is Western Oregon's David Ribich.
Burkstrand won the race Saturday in 3:42.82.
Simon Fraser middle distance runner Cameron Proceviat moved up to ninth in the national rankings in the 800 metres after he broke 1:50 for the first time this season on Saturday. The senior from Burnaby won the 800 by edging Washington Huskies runner Derrick Daigre, 1:49.96 to 1:50.41.
Proceviat's PR in the 800 set last year is 1:49.64. He will need to beat 1:49.00 to automatically qualify for nationals. Proceviat is also ranked ninth nationally in the 1,500 although he did not compete in that event on Saturday.
Two Clan female middle distance runners put their names on the provisional qualifying list in the 1,500. Junior Julia Howley wiped out her previous PR of 4:40.00 from the Emilie Mondor Invitational on April 9 and beat the NCAA provisional standard of 4:34.00.
Howley ran 4:31.99 to finish second in the race at the Ken Shannon meet. She lost to Mary Charleson of Seattle Pacific. Charleson led for the last two laps, coming through the wire in 4:30.80. Clan junior Rebecca Bassett finished in 4:33.48.
Howley is currently ranked 29th nationally while Bassett is 37th. Howley and Bassett rank 8th and 10th, respectively, in the conference.
SFU's Rowan Doherty won the 5,000 metres Saturday in a time of 15:19.38 and Braeden Charlton won the 3000 metres steeplechase in 9:34.43. Charlton ranks seventh in the conference.
In other highlights, freshman Valda Kabia now ranks third in the conference in the 200 metres after finishing fourth on Saturday. She finished in 24.58 leaving her just short of the national provisional standard of 24.53. Her time is the fourth best in GNAC history.
The Clan has two more regular-season meets, Sunday at the Payton Jordan, and May 7 at the Oxy Invitational, before turning their attention toward the GNAC Championships, set for May 13-14 at Western Oregon University in Monmouth.
Follow the SFU Clan track and field team on the team's official Twitter account at Twitter.com/SFUTrack.
--@SFUClan--
