Simson Garcia | Sports Editor

The last rounds of NCAA final provisional qualifier marks, three in all, were picked up by Western’s track and field team on Feb. 24. Six personal records as well as a few changes to the school record books were also accomplished in the team’s visit to Dempsey Field in Seattle, Washington.
Two mile runners took advantage of the last chance qualifier as sophomore Justin Crosswhite and senior Nicole Maurmann reached provisional times. Crosswhite ran to a time of 4:08.79 in the men’s mile, while Maurmann finished the women’s mile with a 4:58.94 mark. Crosswhite’s run now places him fifth all-time among Western mile runners.
Senior Kennedy Rufener added more provisional qualifier times to her indoor season. After finishing first with a provisional qualifier in the 5k at Dempsey on Feb. 9, she returned to not only another provisional qualifier and win in the indoor 3k, but to a record breaking pace. Rufener broke her former school record with a new benchmark of 9:46.27.
Sprinting to the finish in the 200 meters, senior Aaron Whitaker took third for the men and attained a personal record of 22.49. And two more Wolves distanced the 200 as senior Sara Madden ran to her PR of 27.45 while first-year Michaela Yonkman passed the finish line in 27.7, also a PR.
Within the boundary that was the track, the field saw sophomore Mariah Gronbach weight throw to a career best of 16.72m (54.10ft), a measure that placed her second on the Wolf all-time list.
Ahead in track and field’s calendar is the Erik Anderson Memorial Icebreaker and the Willamette Opener, the first two outdoor events of the year, which will be ran from March 2-3.
The NCAA DII Indoor National Championships will be a week after, from March 10-11, and will take place in Pittsburg, Kansas.

Contact the author at journalsports@wou.edu

Photo by: wouwolves.com