Ali Worthen of Seattle Pacific and Jason Caryl of Central Washington lead GNAC multi-eventers at break...

ELLENSBURG--Seattle Pacific senior Ali Worthen (left/photo courtesy Seattle Pacific University) leads the pack after the first day of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference heptathlon with a score of 3152 points, setting personal bests in three of Monday's four events.

That gives the defending conference champion and native of Coos Bay, Oregon a commanding 289-point lead over second-place Kelsea Johnson of Alaska Anchorage (2,863) heading into the final three events on Tuesday at Tomlinson Stadium on the Central Washington University campus.

Central Washington's Tayler Fettig sits in third with 2792 points, while Maliea Luquin of SPU is in fifth at 2598. Sydney Coffey of Western Washington stands sixth with 2585, with teammate Brooklyn Holton seventh only two points behind.

Last year's runner-up, Katy Gross of Seattle Pacific, stands 16th with 2053, after no-heighting in the high jump.

At the halfway mark of the GNAC men's decathlon, Central Washington's Jason Caryl leads with 3461 points, while teammate Manny Melo is in second with 3371.

Central's Brandon Roddweig sits fourth with 3,316 points, while Western Washington's Alex Harrison is fifth at 3283 points, and the Wildcats' Andrew Venema is in sixth with 3,185 points.

Defending GNAC champion Nate Johnson of Seattle Pacific, a strong second day competitor, is seventh with 3171 points.

In 2011 after five, Johnson had 3,159 and was in sixth place, 296 points off the first-place total of Western Oregon's Jake Hyde. But Johnson came roaring back on the second day to win the title with 6,373.

Should Johnson match or exceed his season bests in Tuesday's five events – the 110-meter hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin, and 1,500 meters – would put him in position for a score of around 6600 points or better.

Decathlon action resumes at 10 a.m. on Tuesday. The heptathlon gets going again at 11 a.m.

Day one heptathlon scores are available here, while the decathlon standings are available here.

NOTE: The sports information offices of Central Washington and Seattle Pacific University contributed to this report.

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