Emy Ntekpere of Central Washington wins NCAA D2 high jump crown in Pueblo...

PUEBLO, Colorado--Central Washington sophomore Emy Ntekpere (photo courtesy CWU Athletics) came close to potentially finishing out of the top eight in the women's high jump, but used a clutch third attempt clearance at 5-8 (1.73m) to move on, en route to winning the event on the second day of the NCAA Division II Track and Field Championships at the CSU-Pueblo ThunderBowl Friday.

On a warm day that reached slightly above 90 degrees, Ntekpere (pronounced EN-te-PEER-eh), who was seeded second, was cruising along until the field reached the third bar of the day at 5-8 (1.73m). Had she missed, she would have finished the competition out of the top eight.

"It was a case of being too excited to try and win the meet early," said Central Washington coach Jonathan Hill (with Ntekpere/photo courtesy CWU Athletics).

After that hiccup, she cleared the next bar of 5-9.25 (1.76m) to put herself in fifth place.

She took the lead at the next height, clearing 5-10.5 (1.79m) over Lee (Tennessee)'s Liezl Theron on her second attempt, then salted away the win with a personal best 5-11.5 (1.82m) on her second attempt.

She then bowed out of the competition with three misses at 6-0.5 (1.84m).

Hill expressed thanks to the Central supporters who were stationed near the high jump, as well as in the stands during Friday's session.

Central's roll continued in the qualifying round of the women's 200, as E'lexis Hollis finished third in her heat, running a personal best of 23.20 to eclipse her previous best of 23.41 set at the Pee Wee Halsell Invitational in Bellingham last month.

Hollis, who is already in Saturday's finals in the 100, got the final time qualifier.

Central's only male qualifier, 800 meter standout Johan Correa, won his heat in 1:48.81, which turned out to be the fastest time of the three qualifying sections.

Correa was happy to sit in fourth place through the first 400, which he covered in 52.78, before breaking to the outside with 300 to go, and taking command with less than 200 to go.

In the only track final involving Washington schools, Seattle Pacific's Maya Ewing (photo courtesy CSU-Pueblo Athletics) and Western Washington's Ila Davis finished ninth and tenth in the 3000 steeplechase.

Ewing ran 10:48.53, while Davis, the four-time GNAC champ in this event, finished in 10:58.85.

Ewing was in eleventh for most of the race, but gradually worked her way up, but couldn't quite catch up to get the eighth spot and a place on the podium.

In the only other event involving a Washington athlete, Western Washington's Katie Potts finished 19th in the women's discus with a throw of 148-4 (45.21m).

Ntekpere, the reigning NCAA indoor champion, will have the opportunity to complete an indoor/outdoor sweep of the triple jump Saturday at 4:30 pm Pacific.

After seven of 21 events completed, the Central Washington women head into Saturday tied for seventh with Ntekpere's 10 first place points, and an opportunity to earn more.

In action Saturday starting at 10 am Pacific is Central Washington's Lauryn McGough in the women's pole vault.

At 12:15 pm, Western Washington's Jessica Polkinghorn goes in the women's shot put, and teammate Jakob Braunstein will throw in the men's javelin at 1:45 pm.

Opening the racing on the track at 4:10 pm is Central Washington's attempt to become the first GNAC school to place in the top eight in the 4 x 100 relay. In Thursday's qualifying, the team of  Elise Hopper, Zoe Gonzales, E'lexis Hollis, and Ashlyn Nielsen finished sixth in their heat, running a school and GNAC record 44.76, despite a bad takeoff on the anchor leg by Nielsen, who nearly came to a stop before the end of the exchange zone.

At 5:40 pm, Hollis comes back to run in the women's 100 finals, where she'll face top seeded Alexis Brown of Lenoir-Rhyne.

Thirty minutes later, Johan Correa looks to cap off his career in the finals of the men's 800, and improve upon his fourth place finish last year.

At 6:35 pm, Western Washington's Maurice Woodring runs in his first NCAA D2 final in the 400 hurdles, after running a school and conference record 50.95 in Thursday's qualifying.

Hollis returns to run the women's 200 finals at 6:45 pm.

Closing out the meet for the three Washington schools participating at the NCAA D2 meet are Annika Esvelt of Seattle Pacific and Kevin McDermott of Western Washington in the women's and men's 5000 meters.

NCAA.com is streaming the meet starting with the women's pole vault at 10 am.

Complete results of the NCAA Division II championships are available here.

NOTE: The NCAA, Great Northwest Athletic Conference, and the sports information offices of CSU-Pueblo, Central Washington, Western Washington, and Seattle Pacific contributed to this report.

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