Vikings and Falcons claim the men's and women's team titles at Great Northwest Athletic Conference championship...
Kyler Sager in the 800 meters and Cordell Cummings in the 60 hurdles helped lead the Vikings to the men’s team crown.
The Vikings won their first championship since 2014 with a score of 138.5 points. They finished well ahead of second-place Alaska Anchorage, who scored 114.5 points, and third-place Central Washington and its 97 points. It is the fifth team title for Western Washington, which won back-to-back championships in 2005 and 2006 and again in 2013 and 2014.
Sager pulled away from a competitive field in the 800 meters to pick up Western Washington’s first title in the event since 2008 with a school record time of 1:53.29, finishing nearly two seconds ahead of second-place Curt Knott of Western Oregon. Cummings edged out Northwest Nazarene’s Elijah Castro is a very close 60-meter hurdles competition, clocking a time of 8.33 seconds.
Those two wins added to individual titles won Friday by JT Konrad in the pole vault and Seren Dances in the long jump.
"It was an all-around great team effort during the championships," said 32nd-year head coach Pee Wee Halsell. "If they weren't competing they were cheering…and they all fed off each other's performances. I couldn't be prouder of how they competed and battled this week. It was a phenomenal team atmosphere to be part of."
Central Washington’s Kodiak Landis was named the Field Athlete of the Meet. Competing in a total of six events at the championships, Landis collected his second title in three years in the heptathlon with a score of 5,228 points. During the competition, Landis captured individual wins in the 60 meters and the long jump, in which he tied the conference meet heptathlon title at 22 feet, 9.75 inches (6.95m). The senior also finished in second place in the long jump and in fifth place in the pole vault.
In addition to Landis’ title in the heptathlon, Zach Whittaker earned the fifth title in six years for the Wildcats in the triple jump with his winning effort of 48 feet, 8.75 inches (14.85m). The Central Washington 4x400-meter relay team of Daniel Calderon, Trevaughn Scott, Doc Porter and Landis held off Western Washington for the win in 3:19.67.
Saint Martin’s freshman Tyler Cronk received the Performance of the Meet award for his winning effort in the high jump, clearing 7 feet, 0.5 inches (2.15m). He joined Saints’ alumnus Mikel Smith as the only athletes in GNAC history to surpass seven feet in the event at the conference championships.
Cronk was one of three champions for Saint Martin’s in the meet, as the Saints finished seventh with 49.5 points, Kauanoe Vanderpoel won the men’s weight throw on Friday while Jackson Hand took the 200 meters on Saturday in a time of 21.93 seconds.
Seattle Pacific finished tenth with 11 points.
In the women’s competition, it came down to a battle between Seattle Pacific and Central Washington, and in the end, the Falcons walked out with their 13th conference title.
The Falcons, who got the team title by a 154-150 count over the Wildcats, picked up critical points in the final two events of the day, the 4x400-meter relay and the pole vault, to finished just ahead of Central Washington at 150 points. Alaska Anchorage placed third with 83 points.
Western Washington finished fourth with 79 points, while Saint Martin’s was ninth with 17 points.
Grace Bley won the 200 meters in 24.86 seconds for the Falcons while Scout Cai set the meet record in the pentathlon Friday with 3,815 points. Seattle Pacific freshman Peace Igbonagwam won the long jump with a GNAC record leap of 19 feet, 7.5 inches (5.98m) on Friday and then finished second in the 60 meters in 7.70 seconds and third in the 200 in 25.00 seconds.
"It's a long two days, and so many kids put so much effort into the meet, with most of them doing multiple events," Falcon head coach Karl Lerum said. "It's just a privilege to watch them compete and see how they took advantage of the opportunities they were given."
Central Washington’s HarLee Ortega won the triple jump with a mark of 39-3.75 (11.98m). She was named the Field Athlete of the Meet for the effort, coupled with a second-place finish in the heptathlon, a third-place finish in the high jump and a sixth-place finish in the long jump.
Teammate Erykah Weems won the 400 meters in 56.24 seconds. Samantha La Rue won the shot put with a throw of 42-4.75 (12.92m), becoming the first non-Concordia athlete to win the event in four years.
Western Washington’s Anna Paradee won her second pole vault title in three seasons. Paradee and Central Washington’s Halle Irvine both cleared 12 feet, 9 inches (3.89m), with Paradee claiming victory by clearing her first attempt at the height.
All four Washington Division II schools will compete at the Seattle Pacific Last Chance meet next Saturday at the Dempsey Indoor on the campus of the University of Washington following the conclusion of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation championships.
Complete results of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference indoor championships are available here.
NOTE: The Great Northwest Athletic Conference along with the sports information offices of Seattle Pacific, Saint Martin’s, Central Washington, and Western Washington contributed to this report.
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