CHENEY, Wash. – Seven members of the Western Washington University Track & Field program opened the indoor season competing in the multi-events competition at the Candy Cane XI Invitational hosted by Eastern Washington University at the Jim Thorpe Fieldhouse over the weekend.
 
Freshman Ian Rinefort (Ashland, OR) set the program record in the heptathlon, scoring 4,805 points to break the old record of 4,771 set by Tim Clendaniel in 2010. Rinefort, who qualified for the New Balance Nationals in the decathlon prior to starting his WWU career, scored 2,181 points over his last three events in Saturday's final day of competition to move from 5^th place into 2^nd place in the 11-athlete competition. Rinefort's score just missed entering the all-time top 10 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference history. 
 
Redshirt freshman Seren Dances (Port Townsend, WA) made his indoor debut finished 3^rd with 4,771 points, which also bettered the previous school record. Dances, who holds the No. 5 spot in the WWU outdoor record book with 6,151 points in the decathlon set last season at the Bryan Clay Invitational, had a strong first day scoring 2,867 points in the first four events.
 
"It was very exciting to see Ian and Seren get off to such great starts in their first career heptathlon," said WWU assistant coach Ben Stensland. "They have established a very nice baseline to build off of."
 
Also competing for the Viking men in the heptathlon was senior Nick Makrakis (Concord, CA/Northgate) who finished 8^th with 4,169 points and freshman Cooper Cummings (Lake Stevens, WA/Arlington) who was 9^thwith 4,101 points.
 
The women's team had three newcomers in the pentathlon, which had 21 student-athletes compete in the event that was completed on Friday. Freshman Aliyah Dawkins (North Mankato, MN/Mankato West) was the highest placing finisher for the Vikings in 14^th place with 2,704 points. The mark enters the WWU record book as 6^th-best in program history.
 
Sophomore transfer Maya McFadden (Snohomish, WA/Glacier Peak/Idaho) placed 15^th with 2,686 points and freshman Leanne Kibbee (Milford, MA) was 18^th with 2,497 points. 
 
"I'm really happy with what all of our athletes accomplished this weekend," added Stensland. "With such a young multi event squad we went over searching for a learning opportunity and to gain some experience. I am confident that all of them grew significantly from this meet and we're all looking forward to getting back to work and continuing to improve."
 
The Vikings are scheduled to resume the indoor season January 12, 2018 at the UW Preview at the Dempsey Indoor Center in Seattle.