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HAYWARD, Calif. – Call Kaylee Mitchell a fast learner. Or better yet …
 
… just call her fast.
  The Seattle Pacific freshman, running the 3000-meter steeplechase for just the second time in her life, ran right into the school record book on Thursday afternoon. Mitchell completed the breath-sapping 7½ laps around the Chabot College track in 10 minutes, 37.53 seconds on the first day of the Mike Fanelli Track Classic.
 
Mitchell's time wiped out the standard of 10:45.54, set in 2008 by Suzie Strickler.
 
It also put her into the No. 2 spot in the NCAA Division II national rankings. She came into the meet at No. 4. Simon Fraser senior Chelsea Ribeiro started the day on top at 10:38.40. Running in the same top-ranked flight, Riberio was right behind Mitchell at the finish in 10\;38.78. But finishing ahead of both was Chico State senior Nicole Anthony in 10:32.30.
 
 "I think it went really well," Mitchell said. "I was nervous going into it, because in my first race (on March 9 at the PLU Open in Tacoma), there was no one else going over the barriers with me. (Fellow Falcons freshman Kelsey Washenberger was the only other competitor.) Now, I'm being thrown into a top field of 19 girls, and it made me a little nervous. So I just kind of focused on one barrier at a time."
 
Even though that PLU steeple was her first one, Mitchell came close to the school record on that day, finishing in 10:51.22.
 
But she was quick to say the experience she gained of just getting through it that day was beneficial on Thursday.
 
"The first time, I wasn't sure what it was going to feel like," she said. "Going into this one, I had a better idea of how to deal with the tiredness. And I had a little more confidence going over the water barriers."
 
 

SPU assistant / distance coach Chris Reed was naturally delighted with the school record, but was just as pleased with Mitchell's mental approach.
 
"The thing she was most focused on today was staying positive and showing confidence – not just inwardly, but also showing outward confidence when things started to get pretty tough in the last third (of the race)," he said. "Several times, she refocused and gave herself some positive affirmation, and I think that made a big difference for her.
 
"She came in with a lot of confidence and with a lot of belief in herself in what she was capable of doing."
 
Mitchell's time placed her sixth among the 50 finishers on Thursday, and placed her ahead of 24 Division I runners. It very likely will earn her a ticket to the NCAA meet on May 23-25 in Kingsville, Texas. Last year's final accepted entry (the 20^th of 20) made it with a 10:48.96.
 
This marked the second straight week the Falcons have set a school record. Last Friday at the Aztec Invitational in San Diego, the 4-by-100 relay of Peace Igbonagwam, Jenna Bouyer, Grace Bley, and Julia Stepper finished in 46.23 seconds, erasing the old mark of 46.33. That same foursome will run again on Saturday at the Stanford Invitational.

A HEAT WIN FOR McNERNEY
SPU junior Sedona McNerney had the race of her college career, winning her heat of the women's 10,000 meters in 37 minutes, 9.10 seconds.
 
 

That was personal best by a whopping 1 minute, 42 seconds from the 38:51.04 she ran as a freshman at this same meet when it was known as the San Francisco State Distance Carnival.
 
McNerney, racing in front of family and friends from her nearby hometown of Fair Oaks, won her heat by six seconds and placed 31^st overall among the 61 finishers in the three heats combined.
 
Her time would have been fast enough for second place at last year's Great Northwest Athletic Conference meet. On Thursday, it was the second-fastest time among the six GNAC runners in the race. The only one ahead of her was Western Washington junior Sophia Galvez (24^th overall in 36:28.86).

"What a special race!" assistant coach Reed said. "She has been racing well lately: more intent, more competitiveness, and a lot more awareness. We saw it indoors, but this was the first time she got to use it in her primary race. When she employed her new sharpened racing skills added to a perfect night, that's when these kinds of breakthroughs happen. It was a combination of conditions, competition, confidence, and training."
 
AND THAT'S NOT ALL
-- SPU freshmen Colby Otero and Jared Putney set PRs in the men's steeple. Otero ran 9:32.36, eclipsing his previous best of 9:32.51 at PLU. Putney finished in 9:39.88, seven-plus second faster than the 9:47.13 he recorded at the season-opening Ed Boitano / Puget Sound Invitational on March 2.
-- Sophomore Colin Boutin ran a PR of 32:47 in his heat of the men's 10,000. His previous best was 32:55.21 at last year's GNAC meet.
-- That made it a 5-for-5 day in terms of PRs: all three steeplechasers (Mitchell, Otero, and Putney) and both 10K runners (McNerney and Boutin).
 
UP NEXT
SPU will have runners in the 1500 and 5000 meters on Friday at the Fanelli Classic. On the other side of San Francisco Bay, a group of sprinters and jumpers will begin the first of two days at the Stanford Invitational.
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S TRACK & FIELD
Mike Fanelli Track Classic
Thursday, March 28, 2018
Chabot College / Hayward, Calif.
 
SPU EVENTS ONLY
10,000 – 1, Carrie Verden (Boulder Track Club) 34:07.62. SPU – 31, Sedona McNerney 37:09.10.
3000 steeplechase – 1, Tania Chavez-Moser (Bolivia) 10:20.14. SPU – 6, Kaylee Mitchell 10:37.53 (school record, breaks old record of 10:45.54 set by Suzie Strickler in 2008).
 
 
NCAA MEN'S TRACK & FIELD
Mike Fanelli Track Classic
Thursday, March 28, 2018
Chabot College / Hayward, Calif.
 
SPU EVENTS ONLY
3000 steeplechase – 1, David Goodman (Unattached) 8:31.36. SPU – 45, Colby Otero 9:32.36; 50, Jared Putney 9:39.88.