Lake Stevens native Taylor Roe of Oklahoma State wins NCAA 3000 meter crown...

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama--Lake Stevens HS graduate Taylor Roe (Paul Merca photo) of Oklahoma State took the victory in the women's 3000 meters on the final day of competition at the NCAA Division I indoor track and field championships Saturday evening at the CrossPlex.

Roe, who two weeks earlier, won both the mile and the 3000 at the Big 12 championships, plus ran the leadoff leg on Oklahoma State's winning distance medley relay, ran with a tightly bunched group through the first two kilometers of the race.

She broke it open with 800 meters to go, throwing down a 66 second 400, opening up a gap on the rest of the field, and held off a late charge by Katelyn Tuohy of North Carolina State, to take the win in 8:58.95 to Tuohy's 8:59.20.

Former Seattle Pacific All-American Kaylee Mitchell of Oregon State finished 12th in 9:08.58.

Former Washington State All-American Charisma Taylor, who transferred to the University of Tennessee after the 2021 outdoor season, finished third in the triple jump, setting an indoor personal best of 45-9.75 (13.96m).

Washington State's Sam Brixey tied his personal best in the finals of the men's 60 hurdles, running 7.69 to finish fifth.

In a very tactical race, Tacoma native Jack Yearian of Oregon finished tenth in Saturday's final of the mile, running 4:09.59 in an extremely tactical race. In the 3000 finals, Bellingham native Colton Johnsen of Washington State was 14th in 8:05.62.

Complete results of the NCAA Division I indoor track and field championships are available here.

WESTERN'S MAC FRANKS TAKES SIXTH IN THE 800 AT D2 NATIONALS...

Western Washington's Mac Franks finished sixth in the finals of the mens 800 meters to earn first team All America honors on the final day of competition at the NCAA Division II indoor track and field championships at the Robert W. Plaster Center on the campus of Pittsburg State University in Pittsburg, Kansas Saturday. 

Franks ran 1:51.88, as Wes Ferguson of Nebraska-Kearney won in 1:50.05.

Viking senior Beau Sheeran finished in a tie for 14th in the men's high jump on Saturday, as he cleared the opening height of 6-6.75 (2.00m).

Complete results of the NCAA Division II championships is available here.

In Tacoma, all four GNAC schools came away with wins at the PLU Open meet Saturday afternoon.

Central Washington, Seattle Pacific, and Western Washington came away with six wins, while Saint Martin's had two winners on the day.

Seattle Pacific won both 4 x 400 relays, and the women's 4 x 100 relay, and had individual wins by Peace Igbonagwam (57.91) in the women's 400, Vanessa Aniteye (2;12.31) in the women's 800, and Ellie Rising in the women's 1500 (4:45.13).

Central Washington got their wins on the day from E'Lexis Hollis (12.22) in the women's 100, Lauryn Chandler (14.78) in the 100 hurdles, Makenna Hansen (25.14) in the women's 200, McCall DeChenne in the women's 400 hurdles (62.21), Ty Savely in the men's 5000 (15:11.34), and Avery Fisk in the women's shot (41-1.5/12.53m).

Western's wins came from freshmen Jeret Gillingham (9:06.29) and Ila Davis (10:54.62), as each won their version of the 3,000m steeplechase, and recorded the best marks of the meet.

Additional event wins for the Vikings included Katie Potts in the discus (43.88m/143-11), Raine Westfall in the hammer throw (49.38m/162-0), Ryan Greenwalt in the 400m (50.60) and Jaden Edwards in the 400m hurdles (56.16).

Andrew Boyd in the 110 hurdles (14.78), and Josh Schulz (22-0.25/6.71m) in the long jump were the two winners from Saint Martin's.

All four schools return to action as Seattle Pacific hosts the Doris Heritage Track Festival on Saturday March 19th at West Seattle Stadium.

The link to results from the PLU Open is available here.

NOTE: The USTFCCCA, NCAA, and the sports information offices of the University of Washington, Washington State University, Seattle Pacific, and Western Washington University contributed to this report.

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