GNAC Indoor championship meet awaits Central, Saint Martin's, SPU & Western...
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| Renick Meyer, Peace Igbonagwam & Julia Stepper of Seattle Pacific (Paul Merca photo) |
WOMEN
Any talk of winning the GNAC undercover title must go through Seattle Pacific, winners of four of the last five team crowns.
The Falcons return four individuals, led by senior Scout Cai. The three-time defending champion in the pentathlon, Cai has yet to compete in the combined event this season. The 2018 pole vault champ, Cai leads the conference this season with a nationals provisional qualifying mark of 12 feet, 5.5 (3.80m). Peace Igbonagwam won the long jump as a freshman. She enters among the conference leaders in both horizontal jumps, the 60 meters and 200 meters.
Grace Bley won the 200 meters last year and has the top time again this year at 24.78 seconds. Junior Renick Meyer won the long jump in 2018 and has provisionally qualified for nationals with her season-best of 18 feet, 9.25 (5.72m). Sophomore Dania Holmberg owns the GNAC’s top time in the 5,000 meters (16:49.07).
Central Washington shared the title with Seattle Pacific in 2018 and finished second last year. The Wildcats return a pair of champions in seniors Erykah Weems and Samantha La Rue. Weems won the 400 meters and was a close second in the 60-meter hurdles. She owns the GNAC’s top time in the hurdles at 8.78 seconds and is third in the 400. La Rue will defend her shot put title and has the conference’s top mark this season by over two feet at 46 feet, 3.25 (14.10m).
Sidney Trinidad has NCAA provisional qualifying marks in both the pentathlon (3,282) and the 400 meters. She also has the top time in the GNAC at 56.19 seconds. Halle Irvine hopes to finally win the pole vault after finishing second each of the last two years.
Fourth in the team race a year ago, Western Washington is led by Aliyah Dawkins. She leads the conference with her mark of 5 feet, 7.75 (1.72m) in the high jump and is also provisionally qualified for nationals in the pentathlon. Junior Jane Barr, who is sixth in the mile (5:08.11) and sophomore Tovah Swartz-Ireland, who is sixth in the 3,000 (10:12.05), bolstered the Vikings in the distances.
Keshara Romain of Saint Martin’s is the favorite in both the triple jump and long jump. Romain has automatically qualified for nationals in the triple jump with her mark of 41 feet, 6 (12.65m), ranking No. 2 in Division II and on the GNAC All-Time List. She also owns the conference’s top mark in the long jump at 18 feet, 10.75 (5.76m).
MEN
After a four-year wait, Western Washington made its return to the top of the podium and the Vikings have the talent to make a run for the trophy again.
Seren Dances is the Vikings’ best chance for scoring in multiple events. The defending champion in the long jump, Dances has the top mark in the conference at 22 feet, 7.75 inches (6.90m), and has provisionally qualified for nationals in the heptathlon with 5,089 points. He is also third in the GNAC in the 60-meter hurdles and eighth in the pole vault.
Cordell Cummings is the one returning champion in the 60-meter hurdles and has the second-fastest time this season at 8.40 seconds. Tupre Wickliff won the high jump in 2018 and enters the meet with the second-best mark at 6 feet, 7 inches (2.01m). The Vikings will also be helped by top entry marks from Ed Kiolbasa in the 3,000 (8:27.29) and Bryant Welch in the 400 meters (49.04).
Third place a year ago, Central Washington’s strength in the field events will make the Wildcats a team contender. Zach Whittaker is the returning champion in the triple jump and owns the conference’s second-best mark at 48 feet, 2 inches (14.68m). Aidan Cain leads a solid throwing corps after setting the GNAC record in the weight throw of 61 feet, 10.25 (18.85m) at the UW Invitational. Andrew Harris also has an NCAA provisional qualifying mark in the event.
The 2019 GNAC Freshman of the Year, Saint Martin’s sophomore Tyler Cronk is the defending champion in the high jump and has a top mark of 6-10 (2.10m). He also ranks second in the long jump.
The GNAC release is available here, while the link to live results is available here.
HUSKIES HOST LAST CHANCE COLLEGE ELITE MEET
The University of Washington will host the Last Chance College Elite meet Friday starting at 2 pm with field events, and the first running event underway at 4:45 pm at the Dempsey Indoor.
Unlike the Huskies' previous three home meets, this meet will be significantly low-key, with competition coming from athletes from Washington State, Gonzaga, Portland, and Seattle University, with a few members of the Brooks Beasts thrown in for good measure.
This meet is set up for those on the cusp of making travel squads for next weekend's conference championship meets, or as a final opportunity to end the indoor season on a high note, particularly in the case of Gonzaga, which isn't part of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation conference for indoor track.
The entries for Friday's Last Chance meet are available here.
UW DISTANCE MEDLEY TO JDL DMR INVITE & WSU TO MATADOR QUALIFIER
Meanwhile, Washington will send its men's distance medley relay team across the country to Winston-Salem, North Carolina for the JDL Distance Medley Invitational at the JDL Fast Track for a shot at making the top 12.
The Dawgs will run against teams from BYU, Georgetown, Arkansas, North Carolina, Virginia, Virginia Tech, and Penn State as they try to run under the current #12 time this season, Stanford's 9:47.05 (top 12 teams advance to nationals).
The entry list for the JDL DMR Invitational is available here.
Washington State will send a handful of entries to Lubbock, Texas Friday for the Matador Qualifier meet hosted by Texas Tech University.
The women's squad is led by Kreete Verlin, who is entered in the 60, 200, 60 hurdles & long jump. She'll be joined by Stephanie Cho in the 400, Charisma Taylor in the 60 hurdles and triple jump, and Leonie Reuter in the high jump.
Emmanuel Wells is entered in the 60 and 200. Jake Ulrich goes in the 200 and 400. while Sam Brixey and Nick Johnson go in the 60 hurdles. The Cougars' only field event athlete is high jumper Mitch Jacobson.
The entries for the Matador Qualifier are available here.
NOTE: The Great Northwest Athletic Conference & the sports information offices of the University of Washington & Washington State University contributed to this report.
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