Track & Field | 4/18/2018 1:55:00 PM

TORRANCE, Calif.—Competing in the elite section of the 10,000-meter run, Western Oregon senior Kennedy Rufener shattered one of the oldest school records in the books on Thursday.

Rufener completed 25 laps around the oval in a time of 35:10.65 to shave more than a full minute off of the previous WOU record 36:16.95. Bridgett Cooke held the previous school record which was set during the 1982 season.

In addition, Rufener dipped under the NCAA DII provisional qualifier (36:37.02) with room to spare and currently ranked No. 4 in all of NCAA DII.

As the only racer for the men's team on Thursday, junior Tyler Jones crushed his own career best in the 5,000 while competing at the Bryan Clay Invitational.

Jones placed 11th in his section with a time of 14:40.28 to cut more than 14 seconds off his previous best. Though missing the NCAA DII provisional barrier by just over five seconds, the mark moved Jones into No. 4 on WOU's all-time performance.

WOU track & field will continue competition at the APU Bryan Clay Invite and the Long Beach State Beach Invitational on Saturday, April 21.


Mt. SAC Relays
El Camino College
Murdock Stadium
Torrance, Calif.
April 19

10,000: 32. Kennedy Rufener, 25:10.54.

Bryan Clay Invitational
Azusa Pacific University
Cougar Stadium
Azusa, Calif.
April 19

5,000: 11. Tyler Jones, 14:40.28