Central's Emy Ntekpere wins high and long jumps at GNAC championships...
BELLINGHAM--Before the first call of the first field event of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference championship meet at Civic Stadium hosted by Western Washington University, Central Washington's Emy Ntekpere (photo courtesy GNAC) had ten points in her pocket as the Central Washington University sophomore won the heptathlon early last week.
Over the course of a Friday afternoon, Ntekpere added the conference championship in the high jump and the long jump as she contributed 30 of Central Washington's 56 points after six of 21 events.
In the high jump, where she's the reigning NCAA D2 indoor champ, she put pressure on the field early, clearing four straight bars on first attempts, ultimately winning at 5-8 (1.73m) over Western Washington's Kora Cook who cleared a best of 5-7 (1.70m).
With the long jump still ahead, Ntekpere stopped after clearing the winning height to prepare.
After taking the early lead, she found herself in third entering the fifth round, when she put it all together to jump 19-3.5 (5.88m) which was good enough to take the win, and her third victory of these championships in what is probably her weakest event.
Ntekpere, who was sixth in the NCAA indoor triple jump in March, looks to win that event Saturday and become the first woman to win four individual events in a single championship meet. As it stands, Ntekpere became the eight woman to win three individual events in a single meet, excluding relays.
On the track, only four finals were contested in the men's and women's steeplechase and 10000s.
Western Washington's Ila Davis became the second woman in conference history to win an individual event four straight times with her victory in the steeple, as she ran 10:26.43 ahead of Seattle Pacific's Maya Ewing and Viking teammate Ashley Reeck.
Western Washington's Eli Williams took advantage of a fall by Alaska Anchorage's John Peckham on the last lap to win the men's steeplechase in 8:59.46 to Peckham's 9:04.85.
WWU’s Ryan Clough earned his team 10 points in the 10,000 meters to close off the action on Friday, running a meet-record time of 30:01.82 minutes. Brody Kemble of Northwest Nazarene got onto the podium for the third year in a row, placing second in 30:07.64 minutes, while WWU’s Andrew Oslin came in third with a time of 30:17.29 minutes. All three times bested the previous conference meet record of 30:25.75 set by WWU’s Jordan Welling in 2011.
Central Washington got some unexpected points in the women's 10000 as freshman Peyton Conover finished second in 36:54.96.
Other Washington winners included Central Washington's Payton Elenbaas in the women's hammer (181-10/55.44m); Austin Seals of Western Washington in the men's pole vault (14-9/4.50m); and, Western Washington's Noah Turner in the men's shot put (53-3.75/16.25m).
One of the highlights of the qualifying races Friday came in the women's 100 hurdles.
Hannah Chang of Seattle Pacific and Liv Heite of Alaska Anchorage, the two favorites in the event, broke the meet record in consecutive heats. Heite, competing in the first heat, clocked a personal-best time of 13.81 seconds to break the previous meet record of 13.82 seconds set by Seattle Pacific’s Danielle Ayers-Stamper in 2005.
Heite’s meet record lasted less than five minutes, as Chang cruised to a PR time of 13.76 seconds in the second heat, notching a personal-best and recording the third-fastest overall time in conference history. The duo will square off head-to-head in the finals at 2:35 p.m. (Pacific) on Saturday.
After seven events in the men's competition, Western Washington leads with 129.5 points over Western Oregon's 32 and Central Washington's 28.
Saint Martin's is seventh with 10.5 points, and Seattle Pacific stands ninth with 5 points.
After six events in the women's team competition, Western Washington leads with 83 points, followed by Central Washington at 56, and Western Oregon with 39.
Saint Martin's is fifth with 11 points, and Seattle Pacific is tied for sixth with 9 points.
The second and final day of the GNAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships kicks off with field events at 11 a.m. (Pacific) and track events at 1:25 p.m. (Pacific) on Saturday at Civic Stadium.
In Eugene, Gonzaga's Cooper Laird (photo courtesy Gonzaga Athletics) and Sean Janecko put themselves in the conversation for spots in the NCAA West First Round in the 3000-meter steeplechase at the Oregon Twilight hosted by the University of Oregon at Hayward Field.
With just ten days until the deadline, Laird and Janecko look to have their spots secure in College Station, Texas. Laird's 8:42.64 is third-fastest in program history, while Janecko's 8:47.32 is fifth-fastest, as they went 1-2 in the race.
NOTE: The Great Northwest Athletic Conference, the sports information offices of Western Washington, Seattle Pacific, Gonzaga, and Central Washington contributed to this report.
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