Portland, OR – SMU's Track & Field teams return to Lacey Washington, with pride. SMU once again had some great success due to their performances at the Portland Indoor on Sunday. The Saint's track & field teams have been pushing for success since the start of their season and they are not letting up, they end this meet with seven PR's from the team.

Coach Nate Carlson had this to say after the meet "The SMU Distance runners showed heart, determination, and great competitiveness at the Portland Indoor Invite #2.  Six of the 12 runners set new personal records. I was proud of how every one of them tried to beat as many of their competitors as they could and put themselves in position to win races and run personal bests. They raced with passion! Today was not about time but about racing for the pure joy of competing and trying to beat people. The goal of the meet was accomplished and helped to prepare us for the upcoming GNAC championship races 19-20 February in Spokane."

Sunday was highlighted by the Women's 3000m which included: Cassidy Walchak-Sloan dominating, winning by 14 seconds, setting a new personal record of 9:59.10 (which ranks her 48th in NCAA DII and 4th in the conference). Sara Sabra battled hard for 3rd in a new personal record of 10:18.74, ranking her 9th in the conference. Kya Ramirez, had the best personal performance of the meet, running a huge 40 second personal record on the way to placing 8th overall and moving into 19th in the conference rankings. The other women's athletes who competed were, Ali Saucedo ran to win a very physical and crowded Mile and competed very aggressively, but unfortunately got boxed in and was unable to be in position to kick to overtake the winner. She still ended up placing well, getting 6th out of 29 runners. Maddy Vu ran about a 3 second collegiate PR in the 400 meters and Cree Bell ran a season's best in the 400 meters.

On the men's team Sunday was highlighted by these events. Kainalu Pagente ran his second best 800m ever throwing down a blazing kick to finish the last 400m in 56 seconds to finish 2nd overall and run 1:56.67. It was an impressive finish and very promising going into championship racing in two weeks. Kainalu's time ranks him 9th in the conference. Aric Jacklin ran one of the most competitive races of his career ran an overall 800m personal record by 4.5 seconds. Jaskaran Dhatt ran one of his best track races of his SMU career, running a personal record in the 3000m by over 11 seconds. Michael Harwell, ran his best race of the season and one of his best races in years in the 3000m, placing third in his heat. Timmy Higgins, ran a great 800m, placing 9th out of 22 runners, negative-spilling the second half of the race, and showing he has a lot left in the tank. He looks primed for a big personal record at the GNAC championships in 2 weeks.. Eli Dale and Jaydon Blackburn went with the leaders in the first 1200m of the fastest heat of the 3000m, but unfortunately were not able to keep the pace. They have had their hardest training week of the season and will be ready to run their best at the conference championships. Eli ended up still placing 13th out of 34 runners. Noe Ortega, running on tired legs, after recovering from illness and hard week of training, competed hard in the Mile placing 11th out of 34 runners.

Next up is the Husky Classic on 10 February at the University of Washington Dempsy Indoor Track. Come cheer on the Saints as Cassidy Walchak-Sloan, Alisha Saucedo, and Kainalu Pagente compete against some of the best runners in the nation.