SEATTLE, Wash. – Fresno Pacific opened its 2018 campaign at the University of Washington Invitational at Dempsey Indoor over the weekend. The Sunbirds competed against some of the top competition in the nation during the two-day event.
 
"The UW invitational served a great purpose for some of our athletes who made the trip to Seattle," said head coach Ray Winter. "It's great to get on a big stage early in the season to get focused and inspired for the rest of the year."
 
The Sunbirds received strong individual performances from Kala McClain and Annie Regier on Saturday.
 
McClain competed in the 60m dash and qualified for the semifinals with a time of 7.76 in her first heat. She then went 7.89 in the semifinals, but missed out on qualifying for the finals despite a strong showing.
 
Regier, who was competing in her first collegiate meet, impressed in the high jump for the 'Birds. She cleared a personal best of 5-07.00 to win her flight, which puts her tied for second all-time in program history. She finished fourth overall in the final standings.
 
Saturday was wrapped up by the 4x400m relay of Brie Courseault, Danae Manibog, Kyra Bailey and Tatum Perez going 3:55.21, which was second in their heat. The group moves to ninth all-time at FPU in only their first race together. The race was led by two strong legs from Courseault and Manibog, as both ran their 400 in under 57 seconds.
 
For the men, Scott Hickam (50.99) and Armon Plummer (50.59) raced in the 400m dash and finished 28th and 29th, respectively. Andre Woodson also went 7.11 in the 60m dash.
 
On Friday, Bailey (26.71), Courseault (26.00) and Monibog (26.14) competed in the 200m dash and represented FPU well.
 
The Sunbirds now hit the track on Friday, February 2 at the Sunshine Open in Santa Barbara.