By: Steve Frost - Associate Director Marketing & Communications (sfrost@sfu.ca)
SPOKANE –
Callum Robinson ran the fastest indoor 200 metres in Great Northwest Athletic Conference history Saturday when he won the Whitworth Invitational at The Podium, one of several SFU track and field athletes to enter their names in the GNAC record book.
Robinson completed the 200m race in 21.40 seconds to beat the record of 21.47 seconds held by SFU's
Jeremiah Lauzon and set in 2020. Robinson's time ranks 12
th this season in NCAA Division II. Robinson also won the 400m in 48.54 seconds but that time falls short of the provisional standard and outside the top 25 in NCAA D2.
Marie-Eloise Leclair
Marie-Eloise Leclair won the women's 200 metres in 24.75 seconds, eighth fastest all-time in the GNAC. She beat the NCAA Division II provisional standard required to attend nationals and now ranks 21
st overall. Leclair also finished second in the 60m in 7.6 seconds, the fifth fastest time in GNAC history. She beat the provisional standard (7.67) to rank 18
th nationally. Skyler Walton of Washington State won the 60m race in 7.55 seconds.
Emily Lindsay
SFU's
Emily Lindsay won the women's 400m in 56.38 seconds to beat the provisional mark and rank 19
th overall in NCAA D2. Lindsay edged Franziska Stoehr of Idaho (56.76) in the race for first.
North Vancouver's
Charlie Dannatt ran his first mile race of the season and didn't disappoint. Dannatt finished second to teammate
Aaron Ahl, who is enjoying an incredible break-out indoor season. Ahl beat Dannatt 4:05.34 to 4:07.28. Ahl owns the GNAC record of 3:57.95 set this season and his time Saturday ranks fifth all-time in the GNAC. Dannatt ran the 9th fastest race ever in the GNAC. Ahl owns the fastest mile time in NCAA D2 this year while Dannatt ranks 24
th. The provisional standard is 4:10.99 and 63 runners have eclipsed that mark, including
Henry Ruckman-Utting (4:10.60) who was fourth Saturday.
Scott Arndt placed sixth (4:12.81) and
Ephrem Mekonnen (4:13.13) was seventh.
SFU's middle distance runners looked strong and impressive.
Alison Andrews-Paul, who was the U.S. Track and Field & Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Division II Women's Athlete of the Week back in January after running a 2:08.61 in the her first 800m in nearly two years, ran the second fastest 800m in GNAC history at Whitworth on Saturday. Andrews-Paul won in 2:05.75, taking nearly three seconds off her previous time (2:08.61). Andrews-Paul ranks second in NCAA D2 behind only Berenice Cleyet-Merle (Indianapolis), first at 2:03.89. There is a three second gap between Andrews-Paul and the No. 3 ranked runner.
Andrews-Paul's time in the GNAC sits behind only former SFU runner Helen Crofts, who set the indoor record 2:04.94 in 2011.
Paul Buckingham
SFU entered four men in the 800m and two of them ran personal bests indoors.
Paul Buckingham PBed with a run of 1:52.23 to finish third. Clayton VanDyke of Lewis-Clark won the race in 1:50.29 but Buckingham's time ranks seventh overall in NCAA and beat the provisional standard of 1:52.85.
Aiden Good finished seventh (1:53.16),
Jordan Schmidt was 12
th (1:54.71) and
Tomas Chapman was 13
th (1:54.72), with a personal best.
In the field events,
Sydney Kania won the high jump with a leap of 1.64m, just missing the provisional standard of 1.67m.
Kennedy Primrose jumped 11.26m in winning the triple jump and
Dominique Ronse went 5.01m in the long jump to claim seventh.
Zackary Kuzyk was second in the men's long jump (6.93m) and fourth in the high jump (1.91m). The provisional standard in the long jump is 7.12m and 2.04 in the high jump.
SFU will compete in the conference championships in two weeks. The NCAA Division II Indoor Championships are March 11 and 12 in Pittsburg, Kansas.
--@SFU_Athletics--