Central Washington goes 2-for-2 in qualifying on day 1 of the NCAA D2 championships...
PUEBLO, Colorado--Central Washington's hopes for a top ten finish at the NCAA Division II Track & Field Championships at the CSU Pueblo ThunderBowl got off to a good start Thursday, as the Wildcats went 2 for 2 in qualifying.
To open the running events on a sunny but windy day, the Wildcat women's 4 x 100 meter relay team of Elise Hopper, Zoe Gonzales (Jeff Evans photo/GNAC), E'lexis Hollis, and Ashlyn Nielsen finished sixth in their heat, running a school and GNAC record 44.76.
The Wildcats, positioned in lane 8, appeared to get out slowly, but E'lexis Hollis made up ground running the third leg before handing the baton off to Ashlyn Nielsen. That final exchange appeared close to being passed out of the zone, but Nielsen got the baton inside, despite almost coming to a dead stop.
The top six teams in Central's heat ran faster than Fresno Pacific's 44.82 which won the second heat.
"We ran fast, but we didn't execute properly," said Central Washington head coach Jonathan Hill.
That said, Hill likes his team's chances in Saturday's 4 x 100 finals at 3:10 pm.
About 45 minutes later, Hollis won her heat of the 100 meters, riding a +4.5 meter per second wind to run 11.10.
There was some drama involved in her heat as on the first attempt out of the blocks, Amair Weatherford of Cal State/San Bernardino was charged with a false start. On the second attempt, the two runners on Hollis' inside got out of the blocks, while the rest of the field were still sitting.
As it turned out, according to Hill, the field was recalled because the shell on the starter's gun did not go off.
The field was recalled, and on the third attempt, Hollis started slowly, but made up enough ground to take the win and advance to the finals.
In qualifying heats, Western Washington's Kevin McDermott finished ninth in his heat of the men's 1500, running 3:57.09.
Western's Bec Bennett had the misfortune of being the fastest non-qualifier in the women's 400, as she finished fourth in her heat, running 53.45.
In the steeplechase, both Western Washington's Ila Davis and Seattle Pacific's Maya Ewing advanced to Friday's finals.
The first heat saw Davis, the four-time GNAC steeple champ, take a spill over one of the barriers. Despite the mishap, she got up to finish sixth in 10:58.79, which turned out to be the final time qualifier.
In the second heat, Ewing ran towards the back of the pack, but worked her way up to finish sixth in 10:54.05 to get one of the four time qualifying spots.
Western Washington's Maurice Woodring became the first runner in GNAC history to break 51 seconds when he finished fourth in the 400 hurdles in 50.95, breaking his own school record of 51.03.
His time was the final time qualifier out of the three qualifying heats.
In the only track final of the evening, Seattle Pacific's Annika Esvelt finished seventh in the 10000 meters to earn yet another first-team All-America honors.
Through the first half of the race, Esvelt was among a group of four controlling the front. However at the 6000 mark, Brianna Robles of Adams State threw in a 81 second lap, dropping Esvelt to fourth.
In the next kilometer, Esvelt lost seven seconds to the group of three led by Robles, as they stretched it out to a 16 second lead with five laps to go.
Esvelt, who was in no-man's land after being dropped by the lead trio, was caught by the chase group, as she faded to seventh place in 35:32.53.
Robles was passed with two laps to go by Jenna Ramsey-Rutledge of Colorado School of Mines, but came back with a 67 second last lap to win in 34:35.98 to Ramsey-Rutledge's 34:45.62.
Esvelt became the second woman in GNAC history to earn three All-America first team honors in the 10000 behind only Western Washington's Sarah Porter (2009-11).
Friday, Johan Correa of Central Washington goes in the mens' 800 qualifying at 4:15pm. His teammate E'lexis Hollis returns to the track for the women's 200 at 4:30 pm.
Katie Potts of Western Washington will throw in the finals of the women's discus at 1 pm, while Emy Ntekpere will jump in the finals of the women's high jump at 3:45 pm.
Davis and Ewing return to the track for the steeplechase finals at 5:15 pm.
TUCSON ELITE...
In Tucson, Washington State alum Brock Eager finished sixth in the men's hammer throw at the Tucson Elite Throws meet at Drachman Stadium.
Eager had a best of 234-11 (71.62m), as Justin Stafford won with a best of 247-8 (75.50m).
Eager will return Saturday to throw in the USATF Throws Festival.
Also competing in Saturday's USATF Throws Festival, which is being expanded to include all field events, is Tacoma native and Oregon alum Lexi Ellis in the triple jump.
Results of Thursday's Tucson Elite are available here, while the start list for Saturday's USATF Throws Festival are available here.
NOTE: The NCAA, and the sports information offices of Central Washington, Western Washington, Seattle Pacific, and the Great Northwest Athletic Conference contributed to this report.
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