WPU Knights Track and Field Group Posts Big Marks at Meet in Michigan
R.D.
Warner Pacific's Amelia Pullen, Brittany Coleman, and Lindsay MacKenzie traveled across the nation to a large indoor track meet at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Michigan and came away with some big marks. Pullen, a freshman from Washougal, Washington who had just become Warner's first women's cross country All-American at the NAIA National Cross Country Championships two weeks earlier, had a big day in the 5000m, running 17:24. The result is an automatic national qualifying mark, a new school record and a personal best for her. It was almost a minute faster than was needed for an automatic berth to the NAIA National Indoor Championships later this winter in Brookings, South Dakota.
"We knew if we could get Amelia to a good meet in the weeks following cross country season, she would be able to run a good indoor 5000m race and she definitely did," said Head Coach Randy Dalzell.
"That mark is not only an automatic national mark, but is one of the top marks in the nation for NAIA and makes her a contender in that event for the national meet."
Not be to left out of the national qualifying fun, Junior jumper Brittany Coleman, coming off a big outdoor national meet last spring where she finished fourth for All-American honors, jumped a new indoor personal best of 37' 6.5" to also get an automatic national qualifying mark.
"Brittany usually wouldn't be jumping in December, but Assistant Coach Moreland Anderson felt she was ready to go get her national qualifier out of the way, so we took her and it paid off well as she got the mark she needed," said Coach Dalzell. "For her to be able to jump that well right now shows that by the time we get to indoor nationals, she will be a contender for a triple jump title. That is a great mark for the middle of December!"
Lindsay MacKenzie also ran a personal best of 20:10 in the 5K to cap off the meet for the lady Knights.
The Knights will take some time off for finals and Christmas break, then start competing again in January.