SEATTLE, Wash.—Lewis & Clark men's track & field sophomore Max Aldrich left campus hoping to break the 5,000M program record, he left his hometown of Seattle with a statement time on Friday at the University of Washington Invitational. 
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
 
Aldrich, who was the lone Division III runner among a field of Division I and II student-athletes, crushed former teammates George Karamitsos' program record in his first time running the event indoors. 
 
The sophomore placed 14^th in his heat and 26^th overall with a time of 14:48.92 to break the former program record by nearly 20 seconds. Karamitsos set the program record last season with a time of 15:07.21 (18.29 second gap). 
 
DEEPER LOOK 

• Aldrich now owns the program record for fastest time in a cross country 8K race (24:16.2) and the record for the indoor 5k. He also sits third all-time in the indoor mile and 3K and 25^th in the outdoor steeplechase. 
• Aldrich had only run the 5,000M in track once before. Last spring, he posted a time of 15:50.89 to finish in second place at the Pacific Preview. 
• He finished ahead of nine racers in the event, including student-athletes from Portland State and Utah State. 
• Aldrich sits 26th in DIII in the event and first among all runners in the West Region. 

WHAT'S NEXT 
 
The entire Lewis & Clark track & field team will be in action for the first time next Sunday. Half the team will be back at the University of Portland for the Portland Indoor Two meet, while the other half will travel to Newberg, Oregon for the George Fox Indoor Meet #1.