Shields leads women’s track in 5,000m

SEATTLE – During the first day of the Husky Classic, Natalie Shields led the women’s track team with a 32^nd-place finish in the 5,000-meter race Friday at the Dempsey Indoor Track.

“This was a solid race for Natalie and our other 5,000m runners,” head coach Patrick Shane said. “They were a little tired throughout the race because we trained really hard this week, but all of them were still able to record personal bests. This meet is not all that important compared to the championships coming up, so we didn’t want to risk too much for it.”

Shields finished with a time of 16 minutes 51.16 seconds. Nicole Nielsen followed Shields with a 44^th-place finish with a time of 17:07.41.

Kathryn Vidmar and Carrie Jube, who also competed in the race, finished 53^rd and 64^th with times of 17:20.51 and 17:45.13, respectively.

Aubrey Hale, one of the only sprinters to travel to Washington, competed in the 200-meter dash and finished 34^th in 25.92.

The Cougars continue competition tomorrow morning beginning with the 3,000m at 8 a.m. PST.

Competition for the Air Force Team Challenge, where the power athletes are competing, begins with the women's weight throw at 8:30 a.m. MST.