SFU ready to bring the heat at nationals
Women’s 800-metre runners make up half Clan’s contingent at Florida meet
The SFU Clan has eight competitors at the NCAA Division 2 track and field nationals in Bradenton, Fla., half of whom will vie for the women’s 800-metre crown when competition in that event begins Friday.
Four of the 22 runners in the 800-metre field will sport Clan colours. No other school had more than two qualify for the event.
Sophomore Addy Townsend leads the SFU contingent heading in with her personal-best time of two minutes 7.96 seconds from a Great Northwest Athletic Conference meet two weeks ago in Monmouth, Ore., seeding her sixth nationally. Junior Alana Mussatto (2:08.79) is ranked 14th, while junior Sophie Dodd (2:09.11) and junior Paige Nock (2:09.17) round out the SFU group.
The 800-metre heats Friday are slated for 3 p.m. Townsend, Dodd and Mussatto are together in one race, while Nock is in another qualifier. The final is scheduled Saturday for 3:55 p.m.
The women’s 800 metres could be considered SFU’s all-time signature event. Brit Townsend, the team’s longtime coach (and Addy’s mother), established a then-school record when she won an NAIA title in 1986 with a time of 2:03.89. Clan runners won the event at the NAIA national level seven times from 2003 to 2011 and Jessica Smith set a school record in 2011 with a 2:01.54 at the Harry Jerome meet that qualified her for London’s 2012 Olympics.
Lindsey Butterworth, then a senior, won the NCAA Division 2 outdoor crown in 2015 with a time of 2:02.88. She had won the indoor 800 earlier in the season, too.
“Historically, we have always been very strong in the 800 and middle distance, particularly on the women’s side,” Brit Townsend said in an SFU news release. “This year is no exception and this is the first time we have qualified four athletes, so we are really excited about that because it’s definitely not an easy task. To have four athletes that have ran under 2:10 is phenomenal.”
Juniors Julia Howley and Miryam Bassett are vying for the women’s 1,500 metres, while senior Chantel Desch is in the hunt for the women’s 400 metres. Junior Vladislav Tsygankov is the lone male competitor representing the Clan and is in the men’s 400-metre hurdles.
Eight qualifiers for outdoor nationals is a school high since joining the NCAA in 2010. The event began Thursday.
Seven of the eight competed at indoor nationals in March, including Addy Townsend, who was fourth overall in the 800 metres.
“Having the experience from indoor nationals always helps because just going through the entire process is extremely valuable and will help them a lot,” Brit Townsend said. “The biggest adjustment the team will have to make is for the heat in Florida and especially with the weather we have had here. But they are tough and they are great competitors, so I am very optimistic that they will perform well.
“The hard part, of course, will be making the finals and raising our level of expectation to know that it is not enough to just go to nationals. We now have to compete to our potential and be contenders for All-American status and eventually finishing top three.”