GNAC champ Kodiak Landis leads Candy Cane X heptathlon; Central's Ali Anderson wins pentathlon...

CHENEY—Central Washington’s Kodiak Landis (above/photo courtesy GNAC) leads the field in the heptathlon after the first day of competition Friday at the Candy Cane X meet at Jim Thorpe Fieldhouse on the campus of Eastern Washington University.

Landis, the reigning GNAC heptathlon champion and 3rd-place finisher at the NCAA Division II championships this winter, got off to a strong start, winning the 55 meters (6.54/872 points), long jump (22-4.5/6.82m, 771 points), and shot put (38-7.75/11.78m, 593 points), before finishing in a tie for fourth in the high jump (5-10/1.78m, 610 points), giving Landis a first day score of 2846 points.

Jordan Stow of Montana (2709) and Quintin Porterfield of Eastern Washington (2655) round out the top three at the break.

Central’s Ali Anderson, who was fourth in the pentathlon at the GNAC championships, set a personal best in winning the pentathlon with a score of 3480 points, eclipsing her previous best of 3378 set at last season’e GNAC.

Anderson ran 8.72 in the 55 hurdles (832 points), then high jumped 4-9.5/1.46m (577).  She then threw the shot 33-1.75/10.10m (536), then long jumped a near personal best 18-0.5 (5.50m).

The long jump competition was dramatic for Anderson, as she had two fouls before unleashing that 18-0.5 jump, which was 2 inches short of her all time personal best of 18-2.5 (5.55m).

Anderson, who was the GNAC runner-up outdoors in the 400 hurdles, got her only individual win of the day in the concluding 800 meters, as she ran 2:19.18 to win decisively, with the nearest competitor at 2:26.22.  

Wildcat teammate HarLee Ortega, who was fifth in both the indoor pentathlon and outdoor heptathlon at the GNAC last season, finished second with a personal best 3468 points, while Montana’s Jansen Ziola was third with 3450 points.

Eastern Washington’s Kendra Hamm was fourth with a score of 3351 points.

The meet resumes Saturday with the conclusion of the heptathlon, and a dual meet between Montana and the host Eagles.

Day 1 results of the Candy Cane X meet are available here.

NOTE:  The sports information office of Eastern Washington University contributed to this report.