The school year, for those in post-secondary, is officially done.
For New Westminster track athletes Grace Fetherstonhaugh and Raquel Tjernagel, the final bell marked different accomplishments.
A first-year student-athlete at Oregon State, Fetherstonhaugh wrapped up her debut on the NCAA track stage a few weeks ago by smashing the school’s record in the 3000-metre steeplechase.
Her time of 10 minutes, 3.13 seconds at the NCAA west preliminary championships erased the previous best while falling just shy of qualifying for the NCAA national championships.
She finished 14th overall.
It was also a 26-second improvement on her time posted at the Pac-12 championships, where she also competed in the 5000m event.
Tjernagel, meanwhile, wrapped up her third NCAA season this past month, receiving an honourary mention on the Pac-12 All-Academic team list as a member of the University of Washington track team.
The New West sprinter transferred to Washington in 2018 after spending two seasons at the University of Texas, where in 2017 she was named to the All-Big 12 academic all-star team.
In her first year with Washington, Tjernagel was part of a new school record result with the women’s 4x400m indoor relay team, cutting nearly five seconds off the previous quickest time.
