SEATTLE, Wash. – The San Francisco women's track team began with a bang - starting off the indoor season with a new school record at the Washington Invitational Friday at Dempsey Indoor.
“We wanted to come here and get a good early gauge on where we stand individually,” assistant coach Chris Shane said of the distance medley relay. “This is the ideal race to see where we are heading into the season.”
USF finished the relay in 11:48.69, and shattered the school record by nearly 29 seconds. The previous record time of 12:17.62 was set by the foursome of Bowler, O'Neil, Mezei and Born on March 1, 2008.
Elena Burkard, running the 1200 meters and first leg of the race, passed off to
Hillary Harris, who took her turn while running the 400 meters. She was followed by an 800 meter leg from Katherine Jamboretz, with
Sophie Curl's mile anchoring the race.
The Dons finished their section in seventh place, as Oregon earned a 1-2 finish in the event. The Ducks return all four runners who finished second at the 2012 Indoor National Championships, and the women were split between two relay teams at the UW Invitational.
“It shows a lot about the character of our team. Even with a new school record this group isn't satisfied with the result and wants more,” Shane said. “They're capable of running even faster and I believe they will get an even better time as the season goes on. But this is a solid showing, leaving everyone motivated to improve.”
USF continues at the UW Invitational on Saturday, with
Alice Baker and Jamboretz competing in the mile race. Curl and Harris are scheduled to run the 800 meters to conclude the competition for the Dons.
Live stats at the UW Invitational are provided by gohuskies.com.
Race results:
Section 2 – Women's Distance Medley Relay
1.
Oregon 'A' - 11:02.18
Annie Leblanc, Phyllis Francis, Laura Roesler, Anne Kesselring
2.
Oregon 'B' - 11:24.02
Becca Friday, Chizoba Okodogbe, Claudia Francis, Sarah Penney
3.
Stanford 'A' - 11:24.90
Cami Chapus, Joy O'Hare, Claudia Saunders, Emilie Amaro
4.
Washington 'A' - 11:25.72
Joelle Amaral, Gianna Woodruff, Baylee Mires, Maddie Meyers
5.
BYU 'A' - 11:32.13
Kelsey Brown, Natalie Stewart, Ashleigh Warner, Candace Eddy-Carlisle
6.
Stanford 'B' - 11:45.76
Sophia Ginez, Amy Weissenbach, Molly McNamara, Julia Foster
7.
San Francisco 'A' - 11:48.69
Elena Burkard,
Hillary Harris, Katherine Jamboretz,
Sophie Curl
8.
Nevada 'A' - 12:05.97
Christina Works, Anne Underwood, Mariah Gramolini, Samantha Diaz
9.
UNLV 'A' - 12:07.37
Laura Affeld, Monay Meggs, Kelsey Williamson, Corey Honeycutt
--
UC Davis 'A' - DNF
Katie Fry, Shanie Landen, Lauren Wallace, Alycia Cridebring
