PHILADELPHIA, Penn. – In a terrific showing of UBC’s race walking excellence, Tyler Wilson and Olivia Lundman both earned silver medals Saturday morning at the Penn Relays meet in Philadelphia.
Hosted by the University of Pennsylvania, both T-Birds found themselves on the podium amongst a field of Olympic hopefuls while also posting season best times with the NAIA National Championship meet now less than a month away.
Wilson completed the five kilometre race in 21:34.25, 52 seconds faster than his previous season best time as he continues to hold the second place ranking in the NAIA this year. Freshman T-Bird Nikhil Hirani also posted a season best finish of 24:23.36, bettering his previous ‘B’ Standard time by 50 seconds.
Lundman led the ‘Birds’ women’s race walking trio with a 22:53.68, little over a second back of the winner from Venezuela. The defending NAIA champion from Vancouver Island crossed the five kilometre finish line ten seconds faster than her previous season best which was already the number one ranked time in the NAIA this year.
Junior Thunderbird Joean Lu finished fifth at the Penn Relays in 24:53.01, 27 seconds faster than her previous season best. Cassidy Cardle’s 25:30.76 was good for a seventh place finish Saturday as all three T-Birds continue to ramp up in fine form towards next month’s national meet in Indiana.