SEATTLE, Wash. – The Western Washington University Track & Field program closed out the indoor schedule at the SPU Final Qualifier on Saturday at Dempsey Indoor, with two school records broken during the meet.
Sophomore Ethan Sterkel gave another stellar performance in the long jump, winning the competition with a top jump of 7.25m/23-9.5 to increase his school-record mark. Sterkel won the GNAC Championships title last week with a jump of 7.23m/23-8.75, but passed that mark on his first jump on Saturday. Sterkel's mark is now 4th-best in GNAC indoor history. His NCAA II provisional qualifying mark is in the top 25 in NCAA Division II, but will likely fall short of qualifying for nationals.
Junior Ed Kiolbasa also broke the school record in the 3,000m winning the event that featured 38 competitors. His time of 8:16.73 clipped the previous WWU best of 8:16.85 set by Anthony Tomasich, who placed 102nd in the U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon today finishing in 2:25.16. Kiolbasa's time will likely rank in the top 25 in NCAA Division II this season as a provisional qualifying mark.
WEBER RECORDS TOP FIVE MILE TIME
Freshman Drew Weber recorded the 5th-fastest mile time in program history, placing 2nd out of 26 runners. His time of 4:15.15 trailed only Thomas Broatach of the University of British Columbia and moved into 5th in WWU indoor history. Weber now owns the 5th-fastest mile and 800m (1:55.15) in WWU indoor history.
LEHMAN CRACKS TOP 10 IN 3,000m
Sophomore Rebecca Lehman finished 12th out of 30 runners in the 3,000m and recorded the 6th-fastest time in WWU history clocking 10:11.06.
DAWKINS PLACES 2ND IN WOMEN'S HIGH JUMP
Sophomore Aliyah Dawkins placed 2nd out of 11 competitors in the women's high jump clearing 1.63m/5-4.25. The mark is well below her season-best jump of 1.72m/5-7.75 that entered the week tied for 11th in the nation. She is in good position to qualify for the NCAA II Championships that will be held March 13-14 in Birmingham, Alabama.
WICKLIFF WINS HIGH JUMP, FALLS SHORT OF PROGRAM RECORD
Senior Tupre Wickliff had his sights set on setting a school record in the high jump, but missed on all three of his attempts at 2.11m/6-11 that would have passed the program indoor record of 2.09m/6-10 set by Brett Watson in 2014. Wickliff won the competition that featured four competitors.
The Vikings have now made 51 entries (Women – 26, Men – 25) into the program's all-time top-10 indoor record book and set six school records during the 2020 season.
OUTDOOR SEASON OPENS NEXT WEEK IN TACOMA
The 2020 outdoor season is one week away with the season-opening Ed Boitano Invitational on Saturday, March 7 hosted by the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma. The complete 2020 WWU Outdoor Track & Field scheduled can be viewed online at WWUVikings.com/TF.
