Vikings and Wildcats battle early at GNAC indoor champs; Husky men's DMR & Amanda Moll get USTFCCCA kudos...
SPOKANE--With six of seventeen events scored in the men's team competition at the Great Northwest Athletic Conference indoor track & field championship meet at The Podium, Western Washington holds a slight 50-43 advantage over Central Washington as the Vikings look to repeat as team champions.
Saint Martin's stands in fifth with 17 points, while Seattle Pacific is ninth at 11 points.
Kevin McDermott (Paul Merca photo) of Western Washington, who set a school record over 3000 meters on Friday night at the Husky Classic in Seattle, repeated as champion in the 5000, running 14:38.56, as three other Vikings scored team points by placing in the top eight.
Meanwhile, Central Washington kept pace with the Vikings with wins by Cal'von Baker in the high jump (6-7.5/2.02m), Isaiah Webster in the long jump (23-10.75/7.28m), and Drew Klein in the pole vault (15-3/4.65m).
In the latter event, Klein prevailed over Saint Martin's Ryan Doidge on fewer misses.
Klein is in a battle with Western Oregon's Gabe Burchfield in the heptathlon, with Burchfield holding a 30 point lead at the break, 2799 to 2769.
In the women's team competition after five events, Western Oregon leads with 45 points, with defending champion Western Washington second with 36, and Central Washington third at 25.
Seattle Pacific stands sixth with 14, while Saint Martin's is tied for eight with 10 points.
The Falcons got a win from Maya Ewing in the 5000, as she ran 17:24.40, while four Western Washington runners finished in the top eight.
Emy Ntekpere of Central Washington won the long jump at 19-3.25 (5.87m), while three Vikings placed in the top seven.
Saint Martin's Jocelyn Saribay won the weight throw at 52-9.25, with two Central Washington athletes scoring in the top eight, including Jazmin Mendoza on the podium in third in a personal best 51-7 (15.72m).
Carley Huber of Central Washington was fourth in the pentathlon, scoring 3308 points, while Western's Nicole Avery was sixth with 2946 points.
The Vikings will have a slight advantage with depth, especially in both 400s. The Vikings qualified three for the men's final, while in the women's race, they have the top two qualifiers, led by their outstanding world championships relay competitor, Bec Bennett.
In the women's 800, Western had the top three qualifiers, led by Emmy Kroontje's 2:15.01, while in the men's 800, Johan Correa of Central, who ran the second fastest time in GNAC history on Saturday at the Husky Classic, easily advanced to a showdown with Western Oregon's Isaiah Rodriguez.
E'lexis Hollis of Central Washington is on a collision course to repeat the dual against Canadian Olympian Marie-Eloise Leclair of Simon Fraser in both the 60 and 200. Leclair had the top time in both qualifying rounds, running 7.35 in the 60, and 23.74 in the 200.
Media partner RunnerSpace.com ($) will stream the final day of competition starting at 8:30 am.
HUSKY MEN'S DMR AND POLE VAULTER AMANDA MOLL NAMED USTFCCCA ATHLETES OF THE WEEK...
For the first time in program history, the University of Washington won both the men's and women's athletes of the week in the same week by the USTFCCCA after outstanding performances from the men's distance medley relay team on Friday at the Husky Classic, and by pole vaulter Amanda Moll on Saturday at the Don Kirby Elite meet in Albuquerque.
The men's DMR was comprised of Ronan McMahon-Staggs on the 1,200m leg, Bodi Ligons on the 400m leg, Kyle Reinheimer on the 800m leg, and Nathan Green on the 1,600m leg. The Huskies ran the fastest time in world history on Friday at the Husky Classic in the Dempsey, posting a 9:14.10. That time bettered the World Record of 9:14.58 set by the Seattle based Brooks Beasts professional track club outdoors in Eugene in 2024, and is the fastest time ever run by a collegiate squad, bettering the 9:16.40 mark of Oklahoma State.
Unofficially, McMahon-Staggs ran 2:50.8 on the opening 1200 leg, while Ligons ran 46.9 on the 400 leg.
Reinheimer ran 1:46.0 on the 800 leg, and Green finished the race with a 1600 split of 3:50.5, giving the Huskies a final time of 9:14.10, easily a collegiate record, and under the absolute world record of 9:14.58 set by the Beasts outdoors in Eugene last year.
Amanda Moll (UW Athletics photo) gave it her best shot one day later at the Don Kirby Elite Invitational in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The sophomore who was fifth at the U.S. Olympic Trials last summer, proceeded to break a 10-year-old NCAA Record in the pole vault, and then break that new record two more times.
Moll first broke the 15-7 (4.75m) collegiate record with a clearance of 15-7.25 (4.76m) and then followed that with a first-attempt make at 15-9.25 ((4.81m) for record number two. Moll then became the first collegiate ever over 16-feet, as she made 16-0 (4.88m) on her second attempt. All told she increased the NCAA Record by five inches in one day, and also raised her PR by 8.5 inches.
The mark is a 2025 world leader, and Moll joins Jenn Suhr, Sandi Morris, and Katie Moon as the only American women to clear 16 feet (4.88m) or higher*.
NOTE: The Great Northwest Athletic Conference, the USTFCCCA and the University of Washington contributed to this report.
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