Monday, April 8, 2019

PORTLAND, Ore. – Getting the second month of the outdoor season started in style, the Simon Fraser track and field team is starting to hit its stride at just the right time. 

Headlined by a winning time in the women's 800-meters by senior Miryam Bassett, the Clan shined over the weekend at the Emilie Mondor Invitational in Surrey, B.C. The showing earned SFU the selection as GNAC Team of the Week.

Head coach Brit Townsend's team was led by Bassett, who took first and now ranks 22nd on the NCAA Division II leaderboard with a time of 2:13.14 in the women's 800 meters. Sophomore Emily Chilton was right behind her teammate, finishing with a mark of 2:14.44. That moved Chilton up to No. 33 on the Division II leaderboard. 

Townsend thought the favorable conditions near their home in Burnaby will be beneficial down the road for the team.

"We had a lot of great performances across the different event areas this past weekend," Townsend said. "The decent weather we've had in Vancouver lately really helps us as we prepare for our road trip to California next week."

Those great performances included multiple first-place times on the men's side, led by Canada natives Sean Miller and Aaron Ahl. Miller placed first in the 1,500 meters with a time of 3:56.43, while Ahl won the 2,000-meters steeplechase with a mark of 5:58.90.

In addition, sophomore Meyer Quaynor won the women's 100 meter with a time of 12.38 seconds. She was just ahead of teammate Emily Lindsay (12.49), who in turn placed first in the 200 meters at 25.30 seconds.

The impressive marks and wide-ranging success across the board are just what Townsend was looking for as the track and field teams start to enter the home stretch of the outdoor campaign.

"We hope to continue the strong season we've had thus far while getting even more athletes to achieve qualifying marks for the NCAA Championships," said Townsend.

Simon Fraser will look to carry its momentum into its next event, coming on April 12-13 at the UCSD Triton Classic in La Jolla, California. The Clan and the rest of the conference are now just a month away from the GNAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships, which will be held May 10-11 in Monmouth, Oregon.