AZUSA, Calif. – Senior Haleigh Lloyd and sophomore Jamie Ashcroft highlighted the Alaska Anchorage's men's and women's track & field teams' performances Friday at the annual Bryan Clay Invitational at Cougar Athletic Stadium with NCAA qualifying times in their respective events.
A local of Ladysmith, B.C., Lloyd set a new Great Northwest Athletic Conference record in the 400-meter hurdles with a provisional NCAA qualifying time of 59.20. An All-American in the event from 2012, Lloyd bypassed her own league record of 59.62 from 2013, taking third in the race.
Collecting her second outdoor UAA record was Ashcroft in the 200 meters with a provisional NCAA qualifying time of 24.08. From Shawnigan Lake, B.C., Ashcroft finished seventh in the race, while besting the previous school record of 24.24, set by Grace Morgan in 2013. Ashcroft also holds the 100-meter record as well as the 60 meters and 200 meters from the indoor season.
Meanwhile, junior Jessica Pahkala posted a provisional time in the 1500 meters at 4:30.19. A Wasilla High standout, Pahkala down her career best of 4:38.14.
In addition to the British Columbian's successes, the Seawolves furnished a combined eight career highs and 13 season bests. The men's 1500-meter crew saw improvement with all three posting career bests. Sophomore Michael Mendenhall went 3:53.08, senior Kevin Rooke's time was 3:54.50, while sophomore Philip Messina crossed at 3:59.74.
Other career bests came from sophomores Mary-Kathleen Cross (400m, 57.94) and Alexandra Scott (400mH, 1:06.10).
The Seawolves will wrap up the four-day week of competition Saturday with the Beach Invitational.