MARYVILLE, Mo. - The Southwestern Spartans track & field team showcased an impressive effort at the Coach Alsup Invite, with standout performances across multiple events.

Freshman Zach Roome had a record-breaking day, setting two new school records in the 600-yard run (1:14.73, 4th overall) and the 1,000 meters (2:30.60, 5th overall). Roome's time in the 1,000 meters beat the national qualifying standard of 2:31.88, punching his ticket to the NJCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships March 7-8 at Texas Tech University. He currently ranks 15th in the NJCAA in the event.

"We've been waiting all year to get Zach on the track, where he can really shine," said Scott Vicker, director of cross country/track & field. "We expected him to come in and qualify for nationals right away and he did just that. I thought he had a great day, and is just scratching the surface. He really set the tone for the day and the season by breaking Chase Oates' school record and qualifying for nationals in our first event on the track for the season."

Other key performances included:

• Zach Thornburg: 9th in the 60 meter dash (7.06 seconds), missing finals by .001 seconds. Thornburg's time ranks seventh in school history.
• Cameron Swapsy: 7th in the 600-yard run (1:16.44) and 17th in the 1,000 meters (2:39.78). Swapsy now ranks fourth in school history in the 600-yard run and fifth in the 1,000 meters.
• Brandon Briley and Dillon Starlin: 29th (2:04.53) and 42nd (2:08.10) in the men's 800 meters, respectively.
• Jacob Driskill: 29th in the 5,000 meters (17:23.03).
• Cole McNemar: Led the Spartans in the shot put with a mark of 11.30 meters, followed by Tucker Knox at 11.27 meters.

Sophomore Ross Stephens competed in several events, including the 60 meter hurdles (16th, 9.24), long jump (27th, 5.42 meters), and shot put (49th, 8.70 meters).

In the women's field events, Abbi Richter had a strong showing in the weight throw, placing 17th with a mark of 12.11m, and Kara-Jean Staton recorded a shot put distance of 9.11m.

"We still have a lot of things to improve on here during the indoor season, but overall I thought this was a good launching point for our season," Vicker said. "Zach Thornburg had a great race for his first time ever racing indoors. To be .001 away from qualifying for finals at a meet of this caliber is a big accoplishment. Jacob had a great race in the 5K, running a huge lifetime best to rank eighth in school history in the event. I think he has more in the tank, too. As a group, we just need to keep stacking consistent days and getting a little better day by day."

Southwestern returns to action Saturday at the Dennis Young Indoor Classic, hosted by Buena Vista University.