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Scot, Sarah Inglis, who trains in Langley, BC (Greater Vancouver), with the Langley Mustangs Endurance Group will be looking for a 32-minute-low 10,000-metre performance coming up on Feb. 17 in San Diego.
She ran a new 5,000-metre indoor best on Jan. 26 finishing in the time of 15:35.89 at the Dempsey Indoors meet at the University of Washington. Her previous best was 15:41.29 outdoors in Portland, OR in June of 2017.
“It was nice to pb last week,” Said Inglis. “I’d love to get 32:20 range if all goes well in the 10k! The field I’m racing in has 12 girls who have run sub-32:20 so if the weather is good it should be a fun race.”
“She led most of the race,” said Coach Mark Bomba, when asked about the Dempsey event. “She finished in second, it was a strong performance,”
The only runner to beat her was Caroline Kurgat of Anchorage, Alaska. She won in the time of 15:28.46.
Rachel Cliff, who trains with the BC Endurance Project, finished in third place clocking in at 15:53.39. She was representing Miles2Marathon, as was Erica Digby who finished fourth in the time of 16:06.75 while teammate Kirsten Lee finished in ninth.
Cliff currently owns the national half-marathon record of 1:10:08 and has run an outdoors 5,000-metre best of 15:20.66.
Cliff ran a 1:10:28 in the Murugame Half Marathon on Sunday, her second-best performance, just a day after learning that she won the BC Athletics 2018 Road Runner of the Year award.
Women
1.Saina/KEN 67:49
2.Suzuki/JPN 67:55
3.Diver/AUS 68:55
4.Purdue/GBR 69:46
5.Cliff/CAN 70:28
6.Ichiyama/JPN 70:49
🏆Awards Announcement🏆 Congratulations to BC Athletics 2018 Road Runners of the Year Rachel Cliff (@Dangerous_Cliff) of Vancouver, BC and Cam Levins (@CamLevins) of Black Creek, BC. pic.twitter.com/67oqqGDNK3
— BC Athletics (@BC_Athletics) February 3, 2019
Lucas Bruchet 29:34, Justin Kent 29:54 and Kirsten Lee 34:31 all set new personal bests at the Cardiff Kook 10K in San Diego on Sunday. All three train with BCEP. Bruchet and Kent went 1-2, while Lee was the first female.
Also at Dempsey, Regan Yee finished second in the 3,000-metre event in the time of 9:04.63. The winner was Shuangshuang Xu from China. She finished in the time of 9:01.91. Their performances were the two fastest out of all four sections. The third fastest time was run by Mariah Kelly who trains with Athletics Canada’s West Hub in Victoria, BC. She crossed the line in the time of 9:05.54. Kelly is a 1500-metre specialist.
Bruchet, 2016 Rio Olympian (BCEP/ Miles2Marathon) won the faster section of the two men’s 5,000-metre races, finishing in the time of 13:49.28; a strong performance for an early-season solo effort. Kent, representing Coastal Track Club finished second clocking at 14:04.22.
On Friday, Prairie Inn Harrier Youth Team member Alisa Lyesina finished fifth in the second section of the 800-metre race crossing the finish line in the time of 2:11:03.
Cam Levins was announced as the male winner of the 2018 BC Road Runner of the Year on the heels of his national record in the marathon. The Black Creek, BC native who now makes Portland, OR home ran 2:09:25 to surpass Jerome Drayton’s 1975 record of 2:10:09 from the Fukuoka Marathon.
University of Victoria Vikes
The Vikes track team had the performances they were looking for to open their season at the Bison Classic, Feb. 1-2, in Winnipeg, Man. First-year Vikes Caitlin Mann and Vaughn Taylor opened with new personal bests.
Mann, a Saskatchewan native, picked up two third-place finishes in both the 1500-metre and 3000-metre events. Not far behind her was Georgia Ginther who crossed in sixth place in the 1500-metre and fourth place in the 3000-metre.
”Caitlin had a great weekend with some good aggressive running in of both her races,” said Coach Brent Fougner. “It’s good to see this from a rookie this early in the season.”
On the men’s side, the veterans and rookie Taylor had strong performances. Third-year Vike Josh Kozelj topped the podium in the 3000-metre and had teammate Jonny Toombs right behind him with a bronze medal. Kozelj set the pace with a 8:45.48 finish. First year Gabe van Hezewijk was not far behind with a fourth place finish (9:00.87). Timothy Longley was second overall in the 1500-m teammates Mirchell Basher (5th) and Jonny Toombs (7th) were closed behind.
“We had solid performances from veterans Josh Kozelj and Tim Longley with medal-earning races,” said Fougner. “With better competition, their times will definitely drop.”
Taylor didn’t top the podium but had a personal best in the 600-m event crossing in 1:21.91 for ninth place overall.
“Vaughn has all the potential dominate the 600 in the next few years as a Vike,” highlighted Fougner. “This opener really shows me the potential he has going forward. I am looking forward to his next race.”
Up next the Vikes will head to the Gary Reed Open this weekend, Feb. 8-9, in Kamloops. This will be the last meet for preparation ahead of the Canada West Track and Field Championships hosted in Edmonton on Feb. 22-23. Qualified athletes will then prepare for the U SPORTS National Championship hosted Mar. 7-9 in Winnipeg.
WOMEN’S RESULTS
1000-m
5th – Sophie Sigfstead (3:04.38)
1500-m
3rd – Caitlin Mann (4:53.13) BRONZE
6th – Georgia Ginther (4:59.85)
3000-m
3rd – Caitlin Mann (10:18.58) BRONZE
4th – Georgia Ginther (10:47.87)
MEN’S RESULTS
600-m
9th – Taylor Vaughn (1:21.91)
1500-m
2nd Timothy Longley (3:56.66) SILVER
5th – Mitchell Basher (4:01.58)
7th – Jonny Toombs (4:05.53)
3000-m
1st – Josh Kozelj (8:45.48)
3rd – Jonny Toombs (8:51.68)
4th – Gabe Van Hezewijk (9:00.87)
