After a highly successful indoor season, SFU’s track and field team is poised to impress in the outdoor portion of their 2012 season as well. In their first event of the season, the Clan did just that, continuing their success from their indoor season at the Ralph Vernacchia Open, hosted by Western Washington University.
Ryan Brockerville’s season got off to a fantastic start, as he continued his strong year. For the third straight year, he won the 3000-metre steeplechase competition, and his first-place finish earned him an automatic qualification into the GNAC championship meet. Brockerville has dominated the event, and as he finished in 9:03.95, he not only broke the record for the event, but broke his own.
Brockerville was no doubt the star of the men’s side at the event, but that’s not to take anything away from his teammates. It was freshman Stuart Ellenwood who led a strong Clan contingent in the 800-metre race. He finished the event in second place, just ahead of teammates Adam Reid and Yubai Liu, who finished close behind in third and fourth, respectively. The trio didn’t gain an automatic qualification, but all three earned provisional ones. Two others, Anton Hemeniuk in the steeplechase and Travis Vugteveen in the 1500-metre, did as well, rounding out the men’s provisional qualifications in the individual races. The quartet of Ellenwood, Liu, Vugteveen, and Zach Conard ran to a third-place finish in the 4×400-metre relay, capping an impressive outing for the men.
Not to be outdone, the women’s side turned in an equally impressive performance. Sophomores Sarah Sawatzky and Lindsey Butterworth, who both finished first in their respective races, led the Clan. Butterworth is no stranger to the top of the podium, and ran her way there again in the 1,500-metre race, but Swatzky’s win in the 800-metre event was the first win of her collegiate career. Fittingly, Sawatzky (as well as Butterworth) earned provisional qualifications to the GNAC championship.
Michaela Kane joined Butterworth in meeting the 1500-metre standard, as she too earned a provisional qualification; Andrea Abrams and Charlotte Crombeen accomplished the same feat in the 100-metre hurdles.
The women’s side also had a great day off the track. Jade Richardson had another first-place finish for the Clan, winning the discus with a throw of 42.06 metres, putting her straight into the GNAC championships. Crombeen had another impressive showing in the long jump, as did Mercedes Rhodes, as the duo earned provisional qualifications. Aisha Klippenstein in the triple jump, Michelle Stuart in javelin, and Ryley Carr in the hammer throw joined them in that regard, rounding out a fantastic start to the season.
The Clan’s record is impressive enough, but one must remember the Clan are in their outdoor season now, and are at the mercy of Mother Nature. She tried her best to slow the Clan down, but she couldn’t — and that didn’t go unnoticed by the team’s head coach.
“I was very happy with our first meet,” said head coach Brit Townsend. “It poured rain the whole day and was unseasonably cold. The athletes kicked off the season with several GNAC qualifying performances and some individual titles.”
Those finishes speak for themselves, and it’s clear the Clan are ready to pick up right where they left off from their podium-topping indoor season.
