The University of San Francisco track team set a program record for the second straight week and collected numerous personal bests and top regional marks, as the Dons were split between two elite meets in California and Oregon. Aoibhe Richardson and McKenzie Yanek CLOVIS, Calif. — Personal bests and top marks abounded for the Dons Friday at the West Coast Relays, hosted by Fresno State at Veterans Memorial Stadium.
Aoibhe Richardson lowered her 5,000 meters personal best by nine seconds, finishing ninth in the women's invitational 5,000 with a time of 15:43.58. That performance put her among the nation's top-25 in the event. McKenzie Yanek gave USF another strong long distance showing in the 10,000, dipping under the 34-minute barrier in a personal-best 33:58.12 and putting herself among the West Region's top-25.
"McKenzie's 10k opener was very impressive and really set the tone for the day," said San Francisco interim head cross country and track & field coach Tim Riley. "Sarah and Gabby kept it going through the afternoon with personal bests in their events. Aoibhe's late-night race under the Central Valley stars was a highlight in what ended up being the deepest 5k run this year in the NCAAs. Her nine-second personal best puts her at No. 21 in the NCAA."
Sarah Marske broke her own program record in the 100 hurdles for the second consecutive week, this time lowering her personal best to 14.57, after running 14.62 on Saturday. Gabriella Mace also turned in a personal best, running 1:04.46 in the 400 hurdles. CORVALLIS, Ore. —Ed Kiolbasa dropped a personal best in the men's invitational 10,000 meters at the OSU High Performance Meet, lowering his time to 29:43.28 at the Whyte Track and Field Center.
"The highlight was Ed's gutsy 10k, where he really put himself in out there through 5k and hung on for another personal best in the event," said Riley. I want to thank Jason Drake at Fresno State and Louie Quintana at OSU for having us!"
Eve Jensen set a personal best in the 5,000 to lead a trio of Dons in the event. She ran 16:21.39 to get herself in the top-50 of the West Region for the event. Baneet Bains also ran in the women's invitational 3,000 steeplechase, turning in a time of 10:41:34.
San Francisco heads back to Oregon next week for two twilight meets – the Oregon Twilight on Friday and the Portland Twilight on Saturday. Dons will also compete at the West Coast Conference Invitational on Saturday in Livermore, Calif.
