As spring begins to dawn on the mountain, the SFU track and field teams hit the track running this past weekend, competing in their first outdoor track and field competition of the year.
The majority of the team travelled crosstown for the UBC Open, while several athletes competed south of the border at the CNW Spring Break Open. Thirteen Clan athletes earned at least provisional qualification to the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) meet, while five earned automatic standards. Twelve additional athletes sit top-10 in their GNAC event rankings, and will be looking for those qualifying standards in the upcoming weeks.
The Clan were led by freshman Joel Webster, whose 200m time of 22.02s puts him second in the conference standings. Jumpers Mercedes Rhode and Ella Brown also sit second in the GNAC in the long jump and triple jump events, with leaps of 5.27m and 11.57m respectively. Robyn Broomfield followed Brown with a lead of 11.08m in the triple jump, good for fourth in the conference standings, while Charlotte Crombeen and Kye Fedor sit sixth and eighth in the long jump.
Cameron Proceviat’s time of 3:53.48 in the 1500m was good enough for third in the conference rankings with Oliver Jorgensen close behind in fourth, while Kirsten Allen and Rebecca Bassett sit in fourth and fifth on the women’s side. The pair ran times of 4:37.41 and 4:38.21, leading a large Clan contingent at the UBC Open, that saw Emma Chadsey and Peggy Noel finish outside qualifying standard, but eighth and ninth in the rankings.
Hammer throwers Peter Behncke and Ryley Carr earned automatic qualifying standards to the GNAC meet at the CWN Open, with tosses of 48.95m and 46.47m respectively. Behncke sits in fourth on the men’s side, ahead of Luca Molinari in eighth, while Carr’s throw put her in sixth spot on the women’s side. Selina Byer and Michelle Stuart sit in seventh and eighth in the conference javelin rankings after their first competition of 2014, despite both coming off injuries.
Men’s long jumpers Alex Wu and Dkay Ayivor earned provisional qualifying marks with jumps of 6.66m and 6.59m, just ahead of Jerry He and Daniel Voloshin who sit seventh and eighth in the GNAC.
Chantel Desch’s 400m run of 59.59s at the CNW Open was good enough for an eighth place ranking, while Stuart Ellenwood’s time of 50.82s on the men’s side puts him in ninth. Taylor Blue sits in ninth in the women’s triple jump event while Natasha Kianipour is tenth in the women’s 100m standings as the Clan head into their second weekend of the outdoor season. The team will soon travel to California and Washington as they attempt to improve on their inaugural marks of the season, and earn more spots in the GNAC meet.
