STANFORD, Calif./SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – April 4 – The Thunderbird distance squad spent a busy day in California on Friday as the athletes split between the Stanford Invitational and San Francisco State Distance Carnival. Several runners recorded top-ranking Big Sky performances, posting a total of seven conference-qualifying times.
“This is why we come out to meets like this,” head coach Eric Houle said. “We go in hoping that the challenge will be enough to give the athletes an opportunity to really rise, and I think they accomplished that this weekend. It was a great set of meets for us.”
Three men and three women represented Southern Utah at the Stanford meet, including senior Ryan Barrus, who posted a first-place Big Sky time of 14:01.24 in the 5,000-meter run and qualified for a spot at the championship. Barrus' time currently ranks fifth in NCAA Division I and also improves his second-place Southern Utah record. Nate Jewkes also raced in the 5,000-meters and posted a 14:47.03 finish, while Mike Tate recorded a first-place finish in his section of the 1,500-meter run with a time of 3:48.17.
Ashley Hawks led the Thunderbirds on the women's side with a fifth-place finish in her section of the 1,500-meters, posting a time of 4:33.26. Hawks' time currently ranks fourth in the conference performance list, as well as 10th in Southern Utah's all-time records. Sierra Malm and Aubrey Bryson also raced in the 1,500-meters, recording respective times of 4:37.65 and 4:41.61. Malm now ranks seventh in the conference, while Bryson ranks 11th.
The rest of the traveling Thunderbirds spent Friday chasing qualifying marks at the San Francisco State meet, led by Eric Sandall with a first-place overall finish in the 800-meter run. Sandall's time of 1:50.10 improves his first-place ranking in the Big Sky, as well as placing him 14th in NCAA Division I. It also ranks second in the Southern Utah's all-time best records and sets a new meet record for San Francisco State.
Ibrahim Ahmed and Clinton Rhoton posted top-conference times at SF State with a pair of qualifying marks in the 5,000-meter run. Ahmed's seventh-place time of 14:25.72 ranks first in the Big Sky and 10th in Southern Utah's records, while Rhoton's ninth-place time of 14:28.71 ranks second in the conference.
Anthony Brown represented the men's squad in the steeplechase and posted a top-Big Sky time of 9:13.40. Brown's time qualifies him for a place at the championship and also ranks 10th in the school's all-time records.
The women's squad was led by Jasmyn Hildebrandt with a Big Sky-qualifying finish in the 10,000-meters. Hildebrandt's 16th-place time of 37:59.44 also ranks 10th in the Thunderbirds' all-time records.
Morgan Vorwaller and Shelli Mogensen also posted conference-qualifying times in their respective events at San Francisco State. Vorwaller earned a berth at the championship with a 12th-place time of 11:16.53 in the steeplechase, while Mogensen recorded her qualifying mark in the 5,000-meter run with a sixth-place finish in her section and a time of 17:27.88.
The distance squad will be back in action next weekend, joined by the sprinters, jumpers and throwers, when the Thunderbirds return to California for the Pomona-Pitzer Invitational. The meet is set to take place April 12 in Pomona.
