On February 15 and 16, the SFU track and field team travelled down to Nampa, Indiana for the GNAC Championships. Overall, it was a successful meet for the Clan, highlighted by a record-setting performance by the men’s team in the distance medley relay, and the individual performance of Rowan Doherty.
The last event of the competition’s first day was where the track team was at its best, as
Pierre-Louis Detourbe, Nate St Romain, Aaron Ahl and Rowan Doherty stepped up to race in the distance medley relay. They pulled away for the win with a time of 9:58.18, beating the previous meet record (also set by the Clan in 2012) of 10:04.58. This time also ensured that they met the NCAA DIV II provisional standard.
The SFU women’s team had an excellent performance in the 800 metre event, taking home the top four finishes in the preliminaries. Addy Townsend led the way, nearly beating the NCAA DIV II provisional standard, and was followed Paige Nock, Mairin Shields-Brown and Megan Roxby. In the final on the next day, Townsend would lead the way once again, this time winning the event officially with a time of 2:10.12. It was a tight finish, as she beat Olivia Woods from Western Oregon University by only a hundredth of a second.
Townsend was also a part of the 4×400 women’s team that finished first. Accompanied by Bryce West, Sophie Dodd, and Renate Bluschke, the team finished with a time of 3:49.99.
The star of the meet, however, was Doherty, who took home the Track Athlete of the Meet award. After anchoring the winning team in the distance medley relay, Doherty also won the 3000-metre individual event. He finished with a time of 8:31.30, barely beating Detourbe in the event.
Overall, the both the men and women’s team finished fifth at the event.
What’s next:
SFU will now prepare for the Seattle Pacific Final Qualifier on February 23. The event will provide the Clan athletes another chance to race under the NCAA DIV II provisional standards and qualify for the NCAA DIV II Championships.
