Vikings repeat sweep of GNAC men's and women's indoor track titles...
SPOKANE--With identical winning scores of 143 points, both Western Washington men's and women's teams repeated as Great Northwest Athletic Conference indoor track & field champions Tuesday afternoon to conclude the two-day championship meet at The Podium.
In both cases, Central Washington finished in the runner-up position, scoring 117 points in the men's competition, while the Wildcat women scored 114 points.
Saint Martin's was seventh in the men's competition with 35, and Seattle Pacific ninth with 28 points.
Behind the Vikings and the Wildcats in the women's competition, Seattle Pacific placed fifth with 74 points, and Saint Martin's tied for eighth with 23 points.
MEN'S RECAP...
Western Washington's Kevin McDermott, who did not enter the mile in a reprise of last year's distance triple, won the 3000 meters, running 8:15.30, just a few days after setting a WWU school record in that event at the Husky Classic.
With that win, McDermott claimed his ninth career GNAC championship in indoor, outdoor track and cross country
Seattle Pacific hurdler Andrew Bell (SPU Athletics photo) set a meet record, running 8.01 to win the finals of the 60 hurdles. In the process, he put himself in a position to possibly claim a spot in the NCAA D2 championships in Indianapolis in three weeks, though it may take a sub-8 clocking to guarantee a spot.
Johan Correa of Central Washington showed no effect of running three races in four days, as the Wildcat All-American repeated as 800 meter champ in 1:48.83.
Isaiah Webster of Central Washington took care of the horizontal jump double, winning the triple jump with a best of 50-0.5 (15.25m), a new meet record, and all but punching his ticket to Indianapolis.
Western's Noah Turner won the shot put at 51-5 (15.67m).
WOMEN'S RECAP...
After winning the long jump Monday, Ntekpere won the triple jump with a best of 40-4.25 (12.30m), and finished third in the high jump with a best of 5-7 (1.70m), losing to Western Washington's Kora Cook, who cleared 5-8 (1.73m).
In a race won by Seattle Pacific's Hannah Chang in 8.60, Ntekpere finished fifth in 9.11.
The expected battle between Central Washington's E'lexis Hollis and Simon Fraser's Olympian Marie-Eloise Leclair finished the way it ended last year, with Hollis winning the 60 in 7.32, and Leclair winning the 200 in 23.69.
As expected, Australian Bec Bennett of Western Washington won the 400 in 54.65. Teammate Mia Crocker led a Viking 1-3-4 finish in the 800, winning in 2:11.62.
Seattle Pacific's Annika Esvelt won the mile/3000 double, taking the mile in 4:51.18, and the 3000 in 9:43.88.
Lauryn McGough of Central Washington set a meet record in the pole vault, clearing 13-4.5 (4.08m) to turn back Seattle Pacific's Lizzy Daugherty, who jumped 12-10.25 (3.92m).
The Vikings went 1-2 in the shot put, with Jessica Polkinghorn winning at 46-2.75 (14.09m), and Kathryn Chapin second at 43-8.75 (13.33m).
Complete results of the GNAC championships are available here.
HUSKIES ON THE MOVE UP AFTER STELLAR WEEKEND IN D1 RANKINGS; CENTRAL WOMEN NOW TENTH...
After setting the world best in the distance medley relay, the Washington men moved back to number 4 in the latest USTFCCCA NCAA D1 National Rating Index released Tuesday.
The Huskies also got top-15 marks over the weekend from Justin O'Toole in the 800 (#8), Scott Toney (#8) in the pole vault, and Prestin Artis (#15) in the long jump.
The Washington women, buoyed by pole vaulter Amanda Moll's historic 16-foot leap in New Mexico, cracked the national top ten, and reside at number 9.
Arkansas, USC, Texas Tech, the Huskies, and Texas A&M are the nation's top five men's teams.
Number 9 Illinois, number 18 Nebraska, number 20 Penn State, and number 23 Iowa are the other top 25 men's teams.
Besides Amanda Moll's all time NCAA best in the pole vault, the Huskies got national top 15 performances from Amina Maatoug in the 3000 (#11), and Kaia Tupu-South (# 12) in the shot put.
The nation's top five women's teams are in order: Arkansas, BYU, Texas Tech, Oregon and Illinois.
Other Big Ten teams in the national top 25 include number 11 USC, and number 18 Nebraska.
In Division II, the Central Washington women's team moved up one spot to number ten, while Western Washington sits at number 22.
The only other women's team in the national top 25 from the Great Northwest Athletic Conference is number 16 Simon Fraser.
Minnesota State, Pittsburg State, Grand Valley State, Adams State, and Azusa Pacific are the nation's top five women's teams.
As has been the case for most of the season, Alaska Anchorage at number 17 is the only nationally ranked team from the GNAC.
Pittsburg State, Grand Valley State, Wingate, West Texas A&M, and Colorado School of Mines are the men's top five teams in Division II.
The USTFCCCA releases for Division I is available here, while the D2 release is available here.
NOTE: The Great Northwest Athletic Conference, the USTFCCCA and the University of Washington contributed to this report.
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