Both Viking squads end day 1 of GNACs with strong performances in Spokane...

SPOKANE--After the first day of competition at the Great Northwest Athletic Conference championships at The Podium, the Western Washington men's team sits in prime position to defend its team championship, despite not picking up any individual victories on the day.

With four of 17 events scored, the Vikings stand second with 31 points behind first day leader Northwest Nazarene's 38 points.

Among the Washington schools, Saint Martin's is sixth with 13 points, Central Washington is seventh with 8 points, and Seattle Pacific stands ninth with 5 points.

The Vikings earned points in all four finals contested Monday: the 5000, long jump, high jump, and distance medley relay.

In a race won by Alaska Anchorage's Cole Nash in 14:17.09, the Vikings got points from all four entries in the 5000 meters, led by Andrew Oslin's (photo courtesy WWU Athletics) third place finish in 14:41.01.

Ryan Greenwalt finished third in the long jump with a leap of 22-10 (6.96m), while high jumper Trent Kibler was fourth at 6-2.25 (1.89m). Their distance medley relay team took third in 10:17.68.

Saint Martin's earned a second place finish in the men's long jump from Hewson Nguyen, who jumped 22-10.5 (6.97m).

In the heptathlon, Central Washington's former champion Braydon Maier stands second at the break with 2678 points, 401 behind Steven Schmidt of Northwest Nazarene.

Darius Holmes of Seattle Pacific is fourth with 2594, while Andrew Boyd of Saint Martin's is fifth with 2575, and Drew Klein of Central Washington is seventh at 2414.

In the women's team competition, Western Washington jumped out to the first day lead with 48 points, while Seattle Pacific stands third with 21 points, Saint Martin's is tied for fourth with 15, and Central Washington stands sixth with 12 points.

Like their male counterparts, the Vikings scored points in all finals run Monday: the 5000, pentathlon, weight throw, distance medley, and pole vault.

In the 5000, Western got points from four of their six entries, led by Meaera Shannon's win in 17:55.64. 

Raine Westfall led a 1-2 Viking finish in the weight throw, tossing the weight 54-6.5 (16.62m), while teammate Katie Potts was second at 52-8.75.

Their distance medley relay team of Sophie Wright, Marian Ledesma, Mia Crocker & Ila Davis won the race in 11:59.03. Matty Lagerwey finished second in the pentathlon with a five-event score of 3129 points, while Annie Tran was fifth in the pole vault at 10-9 (3.28m).

Seattle Pacific's pole vaulters accounted for the majority of their point totals Monday, led by Kayla Tassara who was second at 11-9 (3.58m), the same mark as third place finisher Lizzy Daugherty. 

Central Washington's point totals came in the pentathlon, led by Sarah Sewell's third place finish with 3003 points.

Saint Martin's Sara Sabra was third in the 5000, running 18:20.62.

The meet resumes Tuesday, beginning at 8:30 am.

Complete day 1 results are available here.

HUSKIES REMAIN IN SAME SPOTS IN LATEST USTFCCCA D1 RANKINGS INDEX...

With only the Husky men's distance medley relay team of Joe Waskom, Daniel Gaik, Cass Elliott and Kieran Lumb competing at Arkansas last Friday, both Washington teams remained in their positions of number 2 and 7 in the latest USTFCCCA Division I National Indoor Track & Field Rating indexes, released Monday afternoon.

The Husky men's DMR team broke the previous collegiate record of 9:19.42 set by Oregon in 2021, stopping the watch at 9:16.65, but fell short, as Oklahoma State won in 9:16.40.

The nation's top five men's teams in order, are: Arkansas, Washington, Texas Tech, Tennessee, and Texas, with Tennessee and Texas swapping positions from last week's ratings index.

Other Pac-12 schools in the top 25 include: number 9 USC, and number 19 Arizona State.

While the Washington women were idle over the weekend, there was some minor shuffling in the nation's top five teams.

The top five are in order: Texas, Arkansas, Florida, Oregon and North Carolina State.

Stanford at number 12, and USC at 16 are the only other Pac-12 schools ranked in the top 25.

With this weekend championship weekend and the final chance to obtain qualifying marks for the NCAA championships, the Huskies will host the Ken Shannon Last Chance meet Friday and Saturday. There is a possibility that some select Huskies may travel to Boston for a last chance meet at the hyper fast Boston University track Sunday.

The USTFCCCA track and field rating index is comprised of marks reported to the TFRRS site. This objective list is compiled solely of current qualifying marks from the 2023 indoor track & field season.

The USTFCCCA release is available here.

NOTE: The sports information office of Western Washington University, the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, and the USTFCCCA contributed to this report.

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