VANCOUVER – Highlighted by national championship qualifying marks both on the track and in the field, day one of the 2023 UBC Open saw some amazing results – and weather – at the Rashpal Dhillon Oval on Saturday.
Hundreds of athletes from across B.C. and Washington State competed on the newly resurfaced track which itself shone, even if the sun didn’t for much of the day which featured rain and hail providing for some added adversity along with the quality of competition.
“Overall I’m just really happy,” said UBC head coach Laurier Primeau. “And in some events where there weren’t top performances, we just competed well. We know where some of the athletes’ relative performances stand based on success they’ve had in the past and so if we’re coming top three or four against some high level competition, I’m comfortable knowing once we get to southern California that we can expect even faster times and further distances.”
One of the top T-Bird performances that did transpire Saturday was courtesy of sophomore Rachel Mortimer who took first place in the women’s 1500 metres with an outstanding time of 4:21.41, the top mark across the NAIA so far this season and nearly 15 seconds under ‘A’ Standard while shattering her previous personal best by 13 seconds.
“From 800 to 5K she’s going to be an impact,” Primeau said of Mortimer’s potential. “We’re fortunate to have her back with the team and looking forward to seeing what she can do across her spectrum of events.”
Traditionally one of UBC’s strongest disciplines, the women’s 5000 metres didn’t disappoint with all four T-Bird entrants securing ‘A’ Standard and a spot at May’s national championship in Indiana. Kiana Gibson finished second in the deep field with a time of 16:22.04. Katie Newlove, Marley Beckett, and Kyla Becker followed close behind as the pack of blue and gold took second through fifth.
Three T-Birds also earned their automatic qualification to nationals in the men’s 5000 metres with John Perrier leading the way with a first place finish time of 14:23.74. Fellow T-Bird Liam Dwyer finished fourth in 14:35.36 while Sasha Schimmelpenninck met ‘A’ standard without a fraction of a second to spare, coming across in exactly 14:40.00.
“It was great to see those 1500 and 5K standards, despite the fact we bookended this day with some pretty rough weather,” added Primeau. “We had a decent stretch during the middle part and it was great for us to see a good number of additional ‘A’ Standards and that’s what we want. I expect when we have opportunities with better conditions we’ll see even more.”
Earlier in the day UBC’s race walkers set the tone with a total of four automatic qualifying times. The women’s race saw the ‘Birds claim the top three spots, led by defending NAIA champion Olivia Lundman who completed the 5000 metre event in 23:03.90. Joean Lu finished second in 25:20.60 followed closely by Cassidy Cardle eight seconds later.
Tyler Wilson won the men’s race walk in 22:26.27 to claim ‘A’ Standard while rookie T-Bird Nikhil Hirani met ‘B’ standard in his first collegiate race with a time of 25:14.04.
Freshman pole vaulter Sonya Urbanowicz started her blue and gold career off with a bang, securing ‘A’ Standard on her first attempt, eventually clearing 3.80 metres.
Field events continued to rack up national championship qualifiers as Isabella Hall boosted last weekend’s ‘B’ Standard hammer throw to an ‘A’ as she managed 50.84 metres Saturday, finishing second at the meet.
The men’s hammer throw was dominated by freshman T-Bird Matthew Uliana who took first by nearly 10 metres, clearing 63.58, bettering his ‘A’ Standard achievement last weekend in California by over a metre and a half.
Day two of the UBC Open on Sunday will see the completion of decathlon and heptathlon events as well as the men’s and women’s 3000 metre steeplechase with still more national championship qualifiers up for grabs.
RESULTS