MEET PREVIEW: Great Northwest Athletic Conference champs begin Friday...

The Great Northwest Athletic Conference meet gets underway Friday for two days of competition at McArthur Field on the campus of Western Oregon University.

With the 2020 season cancelled due to the pandemic, both the Western Washington men and the Seattle Pacific women's squads had to wait to defend their crowns won in the 2019 season.

The Vikings were the runaway winners in 2019, taking the title by 51 points over Central Washington as they won their first GNAC title since 2015. It was closer for Seattle Pacific, winning by four points over the Wildcats to secure back-to-back titles and the Falcons’ fourth in the last five years.

Western Washington returns senior hurdles champion Cordell Cummings and has four athletes that lead the GNAC in seven events. Seattle Pacific returns champions in senior Grace Bley in the 200 meters and senior Scout Cai in the pole vault. The Falcons have five athletes that lead the GNAC in eight events.

The GNAC meet is missing perennial conference championship contender Simon Fraser, as the US/Canada border restrictions because of the pandemic won't allow teams to move between the two countries without quarantine restrictions.

Courtesy of the GNAC, here is their meet preview:

MEN

Cummings (photo courtesy WWU Athletics) is close to his personal bests in both hurdles events, posting times of 14.53 seconds in the 110-meter hurdles and 53.57 seconds in the 400-meter hurdles. Senior Koby Okezie gives WWU a one-two punch in the 110-meter hurdles with a season-best of 14.55 seconds.

Senior transfer Calahan Warren has the conference’s top times in the 1,500 meters (3:44.82), 5,000 meters (14:16.17) and 10,000 meters (29:55.17) and has provisionally qualified for the NCAA Championships in all three events. Depth will be a factor for the Vikings in the distances with three of the top four times in the 10,000 and three of the top five in the 5,000.

Freshman Jeret Gillingham is No. 2 in the GNAC in the steeplechase (9:03.33) and is also an NCAA provisional qualifier. In the field events, Western Washington has conference leaders in senior David Tran in the long jump (23-5.25) and junior Ben Malquist in the shot put (52-7.5).

Central Washington will challenge with depth all across the roster. Senior Braydon Maier earned the Wildcats 10 points with his win in the decathlon last week while freshman Ryan Thoma scored six points with his third-place finish. Maier is also the GNAC leader in the pole vault (15-5).

Senior Andrew Harris leads the GNAC in the hammer with an NCAA provisional qualifying mark of 196 feet, 7 inches. The Wildcats will have a notable absence in senior Aidan Cain. The defending hammer champ leads the conference in the discus (158-3), is second in the hammer and third in the shot put.

On the track, junior Gunner Vallatini sits No. 2 in the conference in the 400-meter hurdles (54.69) while junior Zachary Davis is fifth in the 100 meters (10.91).

Seattle Pacific sophomore David Njeri leads the conference with a mark of 48 feet, 0.5 inches in the triple jump while sophomore Jeff Gordon is No. 4 in the 200 meters (22.12).

Saint Martin’s is led by sophomore Michael Russell, who owns season-bests of 10.96 seconds in the 100 meters and 22.10 seconds in the 200 meters. Sophomore Andrew Oslin is in the GNAC’s top-10 in both the 5,000 meters (14:50.24) and 10,000 meters (31:15.47).

WOMEN

Seattle Pacific not only has several of conference leaders but also has considerable depth. The Falcons have the top three times in the 100 meters, the top two times in the 200 meters and the top four times in the 1,500 meters.

Bley (photo courtesy SPU Athletics), the defending 200-meter champion, has the conference’s top times in both the 200 (24.53) and the 100 meters (12.01). Sophomore Jenna Bouyer is second in both the 100 meters (12.06) and the 200 meters (24.80).

Senior Dania Holmberg is the GNAC leader in the 1,500 meters at 4:29.73 and the 5,000 meters at 16:57.67. She has provisionally qualified for nationals in both events. Freshman Ellie Rising ran the top time in the 800 meters (2:11.91) last weekend and is also an NCAA provisional qualifier.

The defending champion in the pole vault, senior Scout Cai set the GNAC record with a clearance of 13 feet, 3 inches, at the Buc Scoring Meet two weeks ago. Senior Renick Meyer earned the Falcons 10 points with her win in the heptathlon last week. The 2018 champion and GNAC record holder in the long jump, Meyer leads the conference in her specialty (19-2) as well as the 100-meter hurdles (14.25).

Central Washington is led by conference leaders in three of the four throwing events. Junior Avery Fisk has the GNAC lead in the shot put at 44 feet, 10.25 inches, and the discus at 145 feet, 5 inches. Junior Meagan Smallbeck leads the conference in the hammer with an NCAA provisional mark of 177 feet, 6 inches.

Sophomore McCall DeChenne placed fourth in the GNAC heptathlon last week and leads the conference with a time of 1:02.28 in the 400-meter hurdles. Junior Molly Mattson has the leading time in the 10,000 meters at 38:39.38.

Western Washington is once again led by its javelin throwers with three of the top four marks in the conference. Senior Hannah Nienaber is ranked seventh in Division II with her GNAC-leading mark of 155 feet, 11 inches. Senior Natalie Vetto is 23rd nationally at 143 feet, 2 inches.

Senior Karlie Kurley, a Concordia transfer, leads the conference in the triple jump at 39 feet, 6 inches, and is third in both the long jump (18-6.5) and the 400 meters (57.00). Senior Talia Dreicer leads the GNAC in the steeplechase (11:16.12) and sophomore Aliyah Dawkins owns the top mark in the high jump (5-6.25).

Saint Martin’s is led by freshman Makiya Worthy, who has the No. 2 time in the 200 meters at 24.94 seconds. Freshman Cassidy Walchak-Sloan sits at No. 3 in the 800 meters (2:17.64) and No. 5 in the 1,500 meters (4:46.38). Freshman Jocelyn Saribay is fifth in the shot put (40-11.5).

The link to the live results are available here, while the time schedule is available here.

NOTE: The Great Northwest Athletic Conference and the sports information offices of Western Washington and Seattle Pacific contributed to this report.

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