Courtesy of UCR Athletics
Courtesy of UCR Athletics

The UCR track and field teams travelled to Palo Alto beginning on Friday, April 3 to compete in the Stanford Invitational. The Highlanders sent several distance runners to compete in the meet, which featured over 15 universities. Seth Totten and Faith Makau etched themselves into special company over the weekend as the pair of distance runners recorded collegiate-best times in the 5000-meter and 1500-meter.

Totten ran the fastest 5,000 in over 30 years for the Highlanders, as his 13:51.20 time was only two seconds off of the school record, which was set by All-American Steve Alvarez in 1981. Makau ran the fastest 1,500 in the Big West Conference, finishing in 4:22.35. The time was good for fourth place at the invitational but placed her in the top 10 in the nation.

Raquel Hefflin, who was voted the Female Athlete of the Year in cross country, finished right behind Makau with a time of 4:22.99. With these times, Hefflin and Makau, the Big West’s Freshman of the Year in cross country, rank third and fifth on UCR’s career top-10 performers list.

Weslie Totten ran the 5,000 for the women’s team and finished with a time of 18:20.35, which was good for 23rd in her running section. On the men’s side, Cody Jordan ran the fastest 1,500 in the Big West Conference, finishing in 3:47.15.

Deja Watkins was the sole fielder to travel to the Pomona-Pitzer Invitational, placing in second place with a top mark of 54.60m (179’ 2”).

The track and field teams next travel to Tempe, Ariz. to compete in the Sun Angel Classic on April 10.