SEATTLE, WA — The Saint Martin's Track and Field team wasted no time making waves as they kicked off their season at the University of Washington Invitational. With great performances across multiple events, the Saints are poised for a strong campaign during the indoor and outdoor seasons.

Transfer standout Samuel Gray turned heads and broke records in his Saint Martin's debut. The 6'2" sprinter stole the show in the 60m dash, smashing the school record with a personal best of 6.91 seconds in the preliminaries, only to break it again in the finals with an incredible 6.86. Gray finished sixth overall in a highly competitive field. Gray's speed carried over to the 200m, where he set another personal best, clocking 22.13 seconds. This time not only earned him seventh place but vaulted him to third on the Saints' all-time top-10 list, just 0.21 seconds shy of the school record set in 2019 by Jackson Hand. Gray's performance puts him fourth in the GNAC rankings, a mere 0.3 seconds from the top spot.

Junior pole vaulter Ryan Doidge, a local talent from Rainier, Washington, showcased his prowess by clearing a personal best of 4.62m (15'-1"). This performance earned him third place in the meet and vaulted him to number five on the Saints' all-time list. Doidge now sits atop the GNAC leaderboard and is laser-focused on raising the bar even higher this season.

Senior Jocelyn Saribay delivered a stellar performance in the weight throw, hurling the 20 lb weight an impressive 16.14m to claim fourth place. Competing against Division I athletes, Saribay held her own, outperforming seven of them. Her throw currently leads the GNAC, setting the stage for a standout season. Freshman Taryn Wochnick would have a memorable debut, throwing 13.35m in the weight throw to secure the fourth spot on Saint Martin's all-time list. With such a promising start, the future looks bright for Wochnick and the Saints' throwing squad.

In the middle-distance events, Kainalu Pagente led the charge in the 800m, clocking a personal best of 1:55.21. His teammates, Noe Ortega (2:00.22) and Timmy Higgins (2:03.25), delivered strong performances in the 800m as well. This trio would deliver again during Saturday's Mile City, all having respectable marks, with Ortega setting a new personal-best mile time of 4:27.44. Elijah Dale would steal the show, however, with a personal record of 4:25.60 and would move up to ninth on Saint Martin's all-time indoor mile list. Charis Deitemeyer would also set a personal-best mile with a final mark of 5:57.52.

Kya Ramirez would have a solid start to her season, nearing her personal bests in both the 3000m on Friday and the one-mile on Saturday. Matt Cooper set a blazing 4:33.47 personal record in his one-mile debut, while freshmen Jordan Pacheco-Mendez, Mira Jayarama, and Taylor Ames would set the first marks of their careers on Saturday.

The Track & Field squad will travel back to the Dempsey Indoor Center from January 31st through February 1st to compete in the UW Invitational. Take a look at the tentative schedule here.