WEEKEND ROUNDUP: Falcons pressed for GNAC women's title by Wildcats, and more...

While we were (extremely) involved in the on-field and in-stadium production of the Pac-12 track & field championships at Husky Track over the weekend, there were other meets involving Washington schools and pros.  Here’s a recap and links to what went down while we were working the Pac-12s:

THE COLLEGIATE RUN-DOWN

The SEATTLE PACIFIC women’s team (above/photo courtesy of the GNAC) grabbed their second straight conference title, and eighth since the Great Northwest Athletic Conference was formed in 2001 at McArthur Field on the campus of Western Oregon in Monmouth.

SPU got three individual wins on the final day to score 148.5 points, five better than the unexpected runner-ups from CENTRAL WASHINGTON.  Alaska Anchorage, who was expected to battle with the Falcons for the team title, finished third at 119 points.  

WESTERN WASHINGTON was fourth with 101 points, while Saint Martin’s was ninth with 35 points.

Maliea Luquin led the charge for the Falcons, winning the heptathlon last week, along with the long jump (18-3.25/5.57m), 100 hurdles (14.07) and a third place finish in the 400 hurdles (63.64).

The Wildcats got wins from Dani Eggleston in the steeple (10:23.58), Tayler Fettig in the high jump (5-9.25/1.77m), and its 4x100 relay (47.65).

WWU got its wins from Katie Reichert (164-8/50.19m) in the javelin, Jasmine McMullin (38-9.75/11.83m) in the triple jump, Anna Paradee  (11-7/3.53m) in the pole vault, and Megan Mortensen in the discus., while Saint Martin’s Shannon Porter won the 5000 (16.42.14).

On the men’s side, Western’s 5-year string of conference titles was snapped by Alaska Anchorage, as the Seawolves scored 163.5 to the Vikings’ 128.  Central Washington was fourth at 101.5, while Saint Martin’s was eighth at 47.5 and Seattle Pacific tied for ninth at 23.

Western’s Alex Donigian took the sprint double, winning the 100 in 10.66, and the 200 in 21.82. They also got wins from Travis Millbrandt in the 110 hurdles (14.38), and Mark Seely in the triple jump 48-0.75/14.65m).

Complete results of the GNAC championships are available here.

At the Big Sky championships in Greeley, Colorado, the EASTERN WASHINGTON women’s team finished third overall with 94.5 points, led by steeplechase champ Katie Mahoney (10:33.19) and hammer thrower Kaytlyn Coleman (203-1/61.91m).

The men tied for eighth place with 49 points, as Jeremy VanAssche won the 100 in a barely windy 10.35 and Larry Still won the pole vault at 17-0.75 (5.20m).

Results from the Big Sky are available here.

In Lawrence, Kansas, the SEATTLE UNIVERSITY men’s team finished fifth, while its women’s squad took sixth at the Western Athletic Conference championships.

Shaddye Melu won both the 400 and high jump, running 47.40, and jumping 6-9.5 (2.07m) to highlight their efforts at the meet.

Results of the WAC are available here.

THE PROS

Nick Symmonds of the Brooks Beasts finished tenth at the Shanghai Diamond League meeting on Saturday, running 1:48.39 for 800 in what could be generously described as the strangest start of the entire meet, as Kenya’s Ferguson Rotich won in 1:45.68.

It was a rough outing for former Husky Ingvill Måkestad Bovin, as she finished 14th in the women's 1500 in 4:14.12.

Both Symmonds and Måkestad Bovin move on to Beijing for the Beijing World Challenge meet on Wednesday.

Also on Saturday, Rainier Beach HS grad Ginnie Crawford was third in the 100 hurdles at the Cayman Invitational in George Town, Cayman Islands, running 12.81.

At the Portland Twilight meet Sunday at Lewis & Clark College’s Griswold Stadium, Camas’ Alexa Efraimson was second in a very competitive 800m race to Oiselle’s Kate Grace, with Grace winning in 2:00.05 to 2:00.99. Justine Fedronic, who trains with the Beasts TC was fourth in 2:01.79, and Hannah Fields of the Beasts was ninth at 2:04.68.

Results of the Portland Twilight are available here.