SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – The Western Washington University Track & Field team had five competitors Friday at the Mike Fanelli Track Classic and recorded four program top-10 marks.
Mac Franks got the day started with a 3rd-place finish in the 1500m and was the top collegiate finisher in the 90-runner field with a time of 3:47.25. Franks improved his NCAA provisional qualifying mark that should rank in the top 10 nationally. His time moves up to No. 4 in the WWU all-time top-10 and is No. 9 in GNAC history. He finished just behind a pair of professional runners in Theodorakis Medrano of Team Boulder (3:46.57) and Carlos San Martin of Equipo Porvenir (3:46.72).
Drew Weber placed 6th in 3:51.88.
The Vikings had three entries in the 5000m with all three recording top-10 WWU marks.
Calahan Warren recorded a PR of 14:13.90 to finish 13th out of 164 competitors. His NCAA provisional qualifying time remained the No. 2 mark in WWU history and No. 7 in GNAC history.
Kevin McDermott ran the 5th-best time in program history in 14:30.22 and
Jeret Gillingham won his heat in 14:31.57 for the No. 6 time in WWU history.
On Thursday, Franks set the WWU steeplechase record in 8:52.50 with Gillingham placing 3rd in 8:59.80, Weber 7th in 9:12.25 and
Kaleb Korta 9th in 9:16.40.
The full squad will be in action Saturday at the WWU Team Invitational with the Vikings competing head-to-head against Trinity Western, Central Washington and the University of British Columbia. The meet will be held at Civic Stadium in Bellingham with field events starting at 11:30 am and running events at 12 pm.
