VANCOUVER, BC & SAN DIEGO, Calif. – For the first time in three years, the Western Washington University Track & Field team crossed the border for what has become a tradition competing in the UBC Open over spring break.
Competition at the UBC Open spanned Saturday and Sunday with the men's decathlon and women's heptathlon finishing competition on Sunday at the Rasphal Dhillon Oval on the UBC's Point Grey campus. Four women's middle distance runners also traveled to San Diego to compete in the 43rd Aztec Invitational on Saturday with a pair of top-10 program performances in the 1500m.
The highlight of the two-day competition for the Vikings was the quartet placing 1-2-3-4 in the 36-runner 1500m with
Calahan Warren (3:46.14),
Drew Weber (3:47.76),
Mac Franks (3:48.13) and
Kevin McDermott (3:48.46) all recording NCAA Division II provisional qualifying marks in the event.
Warren, a first-team All-American in 2021 in the event and the school record holder in 3:44.82, made his season debut in his final collegiate season with his time ranking No. 6 in NCAA II this season. Weber (No. 5), Franks (No. 6) and McDermott (No. 7) all set PRs in the event while ranking in the top 10 in program history. All four also placed in the top eight in the 800m, with Franks (2nd, 1:52.65) and Weber (3rd, 1:53.10) in the top five.
WWU also had the top three finishers in the 110m Hurdles and three of the top four in the 400m Hurdles.
Hunter Flick won the 110m event in 14.95 and
Koby Okezie placed 2nd in the 400m Hurdles in 55.79.
WWU had four student-athletes compete in the multis, with three in the men's decathlon and one in the women's heptathlon.
Cooper Cummings placed 2nd in the decathlon with 5,565 points and
Leanne Kibbee was 4th in the heptathlon with 3,687 points.
Additional highlights at the UBC open included the following:
The full results from the
UBC Open can be found online at the following link.
SPRING BREAK TRIP TO SAN DIEGO
Four WWU women's middle distance runners compete in the 43rd Aztec Invitational on Saturday in San Diego. Freshmen
Mia Crocker and
Sophie Wright both recorded program top-10 times in the 1500m, with Crocker placing 8th out of 40 runners in 4:35.38 for the No. 7 mark in WWU history. Wright placed 11th in 4:36.38 to crack WWU's top-10. Crocker (14th, 2:18.11) and Wright (10th, 2:15.17) also had strong showings in the 800m. Freshmen
Ila Davis also competed in the 800m (20th, 2:22.38) and the 1500m (19th, 4:43.75). San Diego area native
Delphine Maurer ran the 1500m placing 33rd in 4:59.11.
NEXT UP FOR THE VIKINGS
Western will host the first of two home meets on Saturday, April 2 with the
WWU Invitational at Civic Stadium in Bellingham. A group of student-athletes will also travel to the Bay Area to compete in the Mike Fanelli Track Classic at Cox Stadium in San Francisco March 31-April 1.
