Vikings sweep GNAC team titles; Eagles earn identical seventh place finishes at Big Sky...
MONMOUTH, Oregon--For the first time in program history, both Western Washington track & field teams (WWU Athletics photo) swept the Great Northwest Athletic Conference championships, with the men winning their fourth straight title, and tenth overall, while the women took home their first ever team title.
This marks the fifth time in the history of the GNAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships a school swept the men's and women's team titles, joining Western Oregon in 2003, 2004 and 2008, and Alaska Anchorage in 2017.
Western scored 209.5 points in the men's competition to outdistance Western Oregon's 124. Central Washington was fourth with 106, followed by Seattle Pacific's 51 in eighth and Saint Martin's 28.5 in ninth.
The Viking women compiled 183 points to hold off pre-meet favorite Western Oregon's 160 points. Central Washington was fifth with 85 points, while Seattle Pacific was sixth with 53, and Saint Martin's seventh with 45.
If there was one common denominator to the Vikings team title, it was their distance group, which accounted for seven individual wins in ten possible men's and women's events from 800 meters to 10000 meters, missing only the men's 800, and both 1500s.
Viking sophomore Kevin McDermott won the 5000 meters in a time of 14:42.03 under hot conditions. Western Washington scored 21 points in the events to match the 21 points earned in the 10000 meters along with the 20 points in the steeplechase the day before.
The Vikings were bolstered by sophomore Ila Davis, who defended her championship in the 5,000 meters with a time of 18:12.34. Davis also defended her title in the steeplechase on Friday.
Junior Marian Ledesma won a strategic race in the 800 meters, pulling away from the pack with an impressive 62.9-second final lap to win in a time of 2:14.50. Katie Potts won her first GNAC title in the discus, throwing 143-7 (43.78m).
Western Washington also swept the men's relays. The 4x100-meter relay of Ryan Greenwalt, Ethan Johnson, Maurice Woodring and Noah Johnson won in a time of 41.76 seconds. The 4x400-meter relay team of Woodring, Jalen Edwards, Lucas Brenek and Brian Le surged to the lead over the final 200 meters to win in a time of 3:15.71.
Woodring earned an individual championship in the 400-meter hurdles, winning in a time of 52.90 seconds. The Vikings also received a victory from junior Jaydon Tryon in the javelin, winning on his final attempt in the finals with a mark of 202-7 (61.75m).
Seattle Pacific senior David Njeri, repeated as GNAC champ in the triple jump with a mark of 48-4.5 (14.74m). Western Washington senior Seren Dances matched Njeri at the distance but Njeri was awarded first place based on having the next-best mark in the competition.
Saint Martin’s claimed two titles on the day. Freshman Alyssa Duncan picked up the triple jump title on the final attempt of the competition. Her winning mark of 39-5.75 (12.03m) ranks tenth on the GNAC all-time list. Sophomore Cassidy Walchak-Sloan coasted to a 30-meter victory in the 1,500 meters, winning her first conference title in a time of 4:28.45.
Senior Lauryn Chandler provided Central Washington with its only championship of the meet, adding the 100-meter hurdles to her indoor title in the 60-meter hurdles in a time of 13.97 seconds. Chandler ran a time of 13.90 seconds in Friday’s preliminaries, a time that is No. 3 on the GNAC all-time list.
Conference athletes will now await the announcement of the fields for the 2023 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field Championships. The selections will be announced on NCAA.com on Tuesday.
EAGLES EARN IDENTICAL SEVENTH PLACE FINISHES AT BIG SKY CHAMPS...
In Greeley, Colorado, the Eastern Washington men's and women's teams finished seventh at the Big Sky Track & Field Championships hosted by Northern Colorado on Saturday.
The women's squad scored 70 points over the four days of competition, while the men finished with 50. Northern Arizona again swept the team titles, scoring 192 and 220.5 points, respectively.
The pole vaulters continued to shine for Eastern, as Hally Ruff and Savannah Schultz went 1-2, with both clearing 13-6.5 (4.13m). Ruff won over Schultz on fewer misses.
In the shot put, Carissa Stovall was second with a throw of 47-3.5 (14.41m), earning Big Sky conference honors for a top-3 finish, while Kaitlyn Paller was third in the hammer at 177-10 (54.21m).
On the men's side, pole vaulters Zach Klobutcher and Brayden Freitag earned all Big Sky honors, finishing second and third with marks of 16-10.5 (5.14m) and 16-6.5 (5.04m).
Bobby Say was second in the triple jump with a best of 51-11.75 (15.84m), with a +3.2 wind reading.
Liam Bracken finished third in the 400, running 46.90, a mark which is second in school history.
Ryan Rieckmann took third in the javelin with a best of 209-10 (63.97m).
At the Western Athletic Conference championships on the campus of Stephen F. Austin University in Nacogdoches, Texas which concluded Saturday, Seattle University's squads had a very disappointing performance, only scoring 3 points in the women's team competition to finish 13th, while their men only scored 2 points to finish 11th.
Bryana Rogers was the Redhawks' only individual scorer, finishing sixth in the triple jump at 39-6 (12.04m), while their men's 4 x 100 relay team picked up their only points, finishing seventh in 41.22.
NOTE: The Great Northwest Athletic Conference and the sports information offices of Western Washington and Eastern Washington contributed to this report.
paulmerca.blogspot.com may receive a commission for any purchases made from links clicked. Please support this site and our sponsors by clicking on the links.
Comments