Hana Moll wins her second NCAA D1 indoor pole vault title...
FAYETTEVILLE, Arkansas--One day after receiving the Seattle Women's Sports Star of The Year award along with her twin sister Amanda, Washington's Hana Moll (UW Athletics photo) added another NCAA championship to her resume, winning the women's pole vault at the NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships at the Randal Tyson Track Center on the campus of the University of Arkansas.
Moll, who won the indoor title two years ago in Boston, and finished second behind Amanda last year in Virginia Beach before taking the outdoor crown in Eugene last June, opened with five straight first attempt clearances, starting at 14-5.5 (4.41m), and ending at 15-5.5 (4.71m). The latter height was the bar that clinched the victory and broke the meet record of 15-5 (4.70m) that her sister set last year.
With the victory and meet record in her pocket, she then raised the bar to 15-9.75 (4.82m), clearing it on her second attempt.
Hana then took three unsuccessful shots at the family and collegiate record of 16-1.25 (4.91m), by attempting 16-1.75 (4.92m).
Freshman teammate Veronica Vacca finished in a tie for tenth, with a best of 14-5.5 (4.41m).
Washington State's Rosemary Longisa was about 40 meters short of winning the mile title, as she finished second to former Husky and Oregon senior Wilma Nielsen.
As often happens in a championship race, the first half mile was slow, going out in 2:30, with Longisa running on the outside edge of lane 2 just to have running room.
Longisa jumped to the lead with two laps to go, and held the lead exiting the final turn, when she lost her form, and appeared to stumble slightly.
That was enough for Nielsen, the defending champion, to sneak past Longisa on the inside to win in 4:40.06 to Longisa's 4:40.21, as both runners ran the last lap in under 29 seconds.
Longisa's time was matched by North Carolina State freshman Sadie Englehardt, who also ran the last 200 under 29 seconds.
One day after finishing second in the pentathlon, Puyallup native JaiCieonna Gero-Holt of the University of Illinois finished in a tie for fourth in the high jump, clearing 6-0.75 (1.85m).
Gero-Holt's points helped give Illinois a third place finish with 42 points, with defending national champion Oregon second at 44, and Georgia winning the team title with 53 points.
Moll's ten points in the pole vault were the only points scored by the Huskies, who finished in a tie for 23rd, while Longisa's eight points gave Washington State a tie for 28th place.
Carnation resident Braelyn Baker of Duke ran a split of 51.40 as the Blue Devils won their section of the 4 x 400 relay in 3:29.56, after UCLA was disqualified for impediment.
MEN'S RECAP...
In perhaps a significant breakthrough, Washington's Thomas Diamond finished fifth in the mile, while Reuben Reina was eighth.
Like the women's race, the men's mile went out slow, but honest, as the field went through the half mile just slightly over 2:04.
Diamond ran most of the race on the outside of lane 1 or in lane 2, while Reina tucked towards the back of the ten man field.
Reina worked his way to about sixth after the fifth lap, with Diamond just behind.
With two laps to go, Diamond swung outside, and made a charge towards the front, getting to fourth, while Reina was a step or two behind.
In the end, BYU's Carter Cutting won the race in 3:58.94, with Diamond fifth at 3:59.57. Reina was eighth in 3:59.83, giving Washington five team points.
After a protest by Northern Arizona contending that Samuel impeded NAU's Colin Sahlman, Sahlman was given credit for the win in 7:41.66, with Samuel disqualified.
Eastern Kentucky's Taha Er Raouy was also disqualified for taking multiple steps inside the curb, moving Reina up to eighth and a scoring spot for the Huskies.
Former Washington State standout Mason Lawyer of the University of Arizona finished eighth in the finals of the 60 meter dash, running 6.66. Auburn's Kanyinsola Ajayi tied the meet and collegiate record, winning in 6.45.
Bellingham native Jacob Andrews of USC and Seattle's Will Floyd of Georgia both ran for their teams in the 4 x 400 relay.
USC was disqualified for impeding a team, while Georgia dropped the baton.
Host Arkansas won the team title with 73.5 points, with Oregon a distant second at 40 points.
Washington finished in a tie for 15th with 16 points.
NTEKPERE FINISHES SECOND IN TRIPLE JUMP AT D2 INDOORS...
In Virginia Beach, Emy Ntekpere of Central Washington earned her second straight indoor All-America award in the women’s triple jump, finishing as the national runner-up on the final day of the NCAA Division II Indoor Track and Field Championships at the Virginia Beach Sports Center Saturday.
Last year’s NCAA Division II indoor and outdoor national champion, Ntekpere saved her best jump for last on Saturday as she cleared 42-3.5 (12.89m) on her sixth attempt. That was good enough for the silver medal, with Embry-Riddle’s Mikaela Miles jumping 43-0.25 (13.11m) on her fifth leap to win the competition. Ntekpere became the first woman in GNAC history to earn multiple All-America honors in the indoor women’s triple jump.
Emmy Kroontje ran a stellar 800-meters to finish in fifth place and pick up her first-career indoor All-America honor. Kroontje posted a personal best for the second day in-a-row, clocking in at 2:08.38.
It was the best-ever finish by a Viking as she joined 2009 seventh-place finisher Rachael Johnson and 2024 eighth-place finisher Marian Ledesma. Lieke Hoogsteen of Adams State won a final-stretch footrace against Abigail Abugire of West Texas A&M to claim the national title with a time of 2:04.23.
Western Washington’s Bec Bennett earned her second straight indoor All-America honor in the women’s 400-meters, placing eighth on Saturday. Bennett ran a time of 54.40, earning the league’s fourth All-America finish in the event and becoming the first-ever with multiple such honors in the 400 meters. Blessing Akintoye of West Texas A&M took home the national title with a time of 52.87.
WWU's 4x400-meter relay squad earned All-America honors with a seventh-place finish, as the Vikings closed the meet with a season-best time of 3:42.36 minutes for the second-fastest indoor time in GNAC history.
The quartet of Bennett, Casie Kleine, Jayda Darroch and Kennedy Cook combined for just the eighth top-8 finish by a women’s 4x400-meter relay team in GNAC history. It was the second-best national finish by Western Washington, which placed fourth in the event at the 2010 NCAA Indoor Championships. UT Tyler claimed the national title, running 3:36.41.
Western Washington sophomore Jessica Polkinghorn finished tenth in the women’s shot put. Polkinghorn’s top throw of the day landed at 58-0.5 (14.64m). Febe Wessels of Colorado State-Pueblo won with a heave of 53-3.75v(16.25m) on her fifth attempt.
Central Washington's Drew Klein finished ninth in the heptathlon, with a final score of 5235 points.
Klein, who started the day in 13th, got a good start, running 8.36 in the 60 hurdles to move up to 12th.
In the pole vault, where he is a former two-time GNAC champion with a personal best of 16-2.75 (4.95m), he tied his indoor season best, clearing 15-7 (4.75m).
To conclude the two day competition, Klein ran 2:54.06 in the 1000 meters to finish with 5235 points, just 25 points out of eighth place and a podium finish.
Fran Bonifacic of West Texas A&M won with a final score of 5611 points.
Former Wildcat Ramon Rodriguez, now competing for Tiffin, finished fourth in the 3000, running 7:57.90, as Wingate's Luca Poppe won in 7:57.14.
The Central Washington women grabbed 14 points to claim a 15th-place finish while Western Washington tied for 29th with seven points.
Pittsburg State swept both team titles, scoring 75.5 points in the men's team race, and 69.5 points in the women's competition.
NOTE: The USTFCCCA, the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, and the sports information offices of the University of Illinois, University of Washington, Washington State University, Central Washington University, and Western Washington University contributed to this report.
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