SPOKANE, Wash.- The Concordia University Irvine track and field teams wrapped up three days of competition at The Podium up north in Spokane Washington this weekend. After 3 school records went down in the first two days, the women's team only stepped harder on the gas. Two more records went down in the final day of competition including the women's 60m dash and the women's 4x400m relay. 3 Golden Eagle women now own 2 school records on the season. 
 
Jasmyn Crawford, who broke the 200m dash record only a day prior, surpassed CUI's 60m dash record twice in one day. In the qualifying round she ran a 7.63, and less than an hour later, she ran 7.60 in the prelims. Two weeks ago, in Albuquerque, Crawford ran a 7.67 which was within .06 seconds of the DII provisional mark (7.65), Concordia's school record (7.64), and her own personal best (7.61), so this week she was determined to blow all three out of the water, and she did.
 
Crawford shared some insights into her mindset throughout the weekend "I had a goal; I wanted to PR in one of my racing events. After competing in NM, I wanted to change my mental approach to my races for Spokane. I focused on factors I can control which was my attitude, anxiety, blocking out negative thoughts, and the effort I put before, during, and after racing. I prayed the night before my 200 race to ask God for guidance and the release of any self doubts that were holding me back from competing at my best. I was still anxious but I didn't let it control me that day. I never thought I would PR in both the 60 and 200m dash so I was very excited and proud of the progress I was making. I'm definitely looking forward to the rest of the indoor season as well as the start of outdoor soon."
 
Next came the distance races. Jori Paradis bounced back from her Friday 5000m race to run a five second PR in the mile. Paradis was the fastest Golden Eagle in the event, but her teammate Maddie Jahshan was only 10 seconds behind her for a twenty-second PR of her own. They ran 5:05.19 and 5:15.62 respectively. Porshe Eismann took 10^th overall in the 3,000m run joined by teammates Hayley Killion and Emily Littlefield who made her debut in the event.
 
Finally, women's sprints closed out the day with a record-breaking 4x400m relay. The group managed three splits between 57 and 58 seconds by Maria Sartin, Giovana Pelascini, and Bethany Schmidt. Ruby Bishop also broke the 60-second barrier for the first time this season. The team (in order) of Sartin, Pelascini, Bishop, and Schmidt ran a 3:52.78 which was almost three seconds faster than the previous record from 2019, and good for a DII national provisional. Pelascini cashed in this performance for her second school record of the weekend. Sartin (who also ran a mere .01 seconds off her personal best and school record in the 400m only a few hours earlier) now has a second indoor school record on the season and three overall (DMR from 2023). Last but not least, Riley Norris also had a day, setting two more PRs in the 60mH and 400m after completing a pentathlon on Thursday.
 
On the mens side, standout performances came from freshman Lucas Grunden and junior Owen Beam in the 3000m. Grunden was the fastest Golden Eagle in the event taking fourth overall with an 8:34.58 while Beam managed a near 14 second PR in the same race, earning his second personal best of the weekend. Junior, Bryce Tondryk, ran the mile and managed an eight-second PR coming off an 800m race the day before.
 
The men's sprinters also managed a couple of personal bests. Sophomore Mason Mizuta set a new lifetime PR in the 400m by half a second, and grad student Donovan Wilson matched his 60m PR from two weeks ago in New Mexico.
 
Overall, 5 school records went down across three days of competition. The women topped the pentathlon (Pelascini), 60m (Crawford), 200m (Crawford), and the 4x400m Relay (Sartin, Pelascini, Bishop, and Schmidt) records, and the men's program now has a new heptathlon record (Tyler Denes). Coach John Brunk (sprints, jumps, hurdles, multis, relays) is the primary coach responsible for training all of these athletes, so he could not contain his excitement.
 
These were Brunk's first multi-events coached at CUI, and as a former multi himself, these events hold a special place in his heart. About them he said "All three of the Multis who competed were able to stay consistent and get points on the board throughout their events! Consistency was the theme. For Gio, executing the 800 within her ability is what we needed. And she handled it great! Bright future ahead for the young Golden Eagle. For Tyler, we needed to run 8 seconds faster in the 1K to achieve a time.of 2:55, which would break the school record. His PR (3:02) at the time. He went out very ambitious and continued to push, he ran that race beautifully and ended up hitting a PR by 15 seconds in the 1k and smashing the old school record by nearly 100 points."
 
Brunk also mentioned Crawford's results saying "She executed! It was nice to see her with a big smile after her time was up on the screen." Finally, he praised the 4x400m ladies, "The women's 4 x 4 was a big highlight! They ran well, all of them. We know we could do it, and we did! The whole team was and still is excited."
 
The Golden Eagles take a two-day hiatus in Irvine to tune up before leaving on Wednesday for Grand Valley State's Big Meets on Friday and Saturday.
 
For the Riverfront Invitational and Multis results CLICK HERE
For the entire track and field schedule CLICK HERE