WEEKEND RECAP: Lucas Brenek of WWU breaks 32-year old school record in 400m, plus more...
Apologies for the delay in posting this, as I was announcing the Central Washington University Wildcat meet in Ellensburg, along with the breaking news about Gonzaga's Pat Tyson's impending retirement, which pushed the release of the recap back.
Here's a recap of what happened Friday and Saturday, with most of the action focused on Washington's four Division II schools, as the Division I schools laid low before next weekend's action in southern California:
LUCAS BRENEK BREAKS 32 YEAR OLD SCHOOL RECORD IN LANGLEY...
At the Battle of Sparta in Langley, British Columbia, Lucas Brenek (Josh Terry/WWU Athletics photo) broke one of Western Washington University's oldest school records in winning the men's 400 meters.
Brenek stopped the finish camera in 47.24, clipping the previous mark of 47.25 originally established by WWU Athletics Hall of Famer Marc Hill in 1994. Brenek's mark moved up to number two in GNAC history.
His mark on the day capped off a competition that saw the Vikings record thirteen event victories (Men: 8, Women 5).
Other highlights:
--The men's 4x400 relay team of Jackson Moffitt, Sam Foust, Maurice Woodring and Lucas Brenek recorded a winning time of 3:11.03, just off its time of 3:10.64 set last week in San Diego
--Western's 4x400 relay team of Casie Kleine, Jayda Darroch, Kennedy Cook and Bec Bennett improved their season-best time to 3:41.74 to lead the GNAC and rank sixth in the nation.
--Ari Nguyen set two personal best marks in the 100m hurdles (14.49) and 400m hurdles (1:01.02), both top 10 marks in program history.
CHANG WINS BATTLE OF TOP GNAC HURDLERS IN ELLENSBURG...
At the Central Washington University Wildcat Invitational in Ellensburg, Seattle Pacific's Hannah Chang, the defending GNAC champion in the 60 and 100 hurdles, won a battle of the conference's top hurdlers.
Despite a +3.1 trailing wind, Chang fought off a strong challenge from the host school's Ellie DeGroot, winning in 14.04 to DeGroot's 14.18.
The Wildcats' Bella Connell (14.81) and Carley Huber (14.91) went 3-4.
In the 400 hurdles, Elise Hopper of Central led a sweep of the podium spots, winning in 59.87, as DeGroot (60.99) and Huber (63.24) went 2-3.
The women's 100 meters saw the return of Central alum E'Lexis Hollis, as last year's GNAC champion and NCAA D2 runner-up took the victory in her outdoor season opener, clocking 11.20.
Hollis, who is still training in Ellensburg under Central Washington coach Jonathan Hill, finished ahead of Hopper (11.71) and Ashlyn Nielsen (11.81).
In one of the few sprint races with a legal wind, Colton Magruder, the reigning GNAC indoor 60 meter champion from Central Washington, won the men's 100 in 10.43, turning back fellow freshman Tawau Aboudou's Seattle Pacific school record 10.57.
Central won both sprint relays over Seattle Pacific, taking the men's 4 x 100 in 41.15 to 41.46, and the women's race in 46.02 to 46.96.
Central's defending NCAA D2 outdoor high and triple jump champion Emy Ntekpere, who coach Hill said was "slightly dinged up" after the indoor season, won the women's high jump with a best of 5-7 (1.70m), while competing unattached.
On the day, the host Wildcats earned 20 wins, while Seattle Pacific earned three wins.
EAGLES SWEEP POLE VAULT AND TRIPLE JUMPS AT JEFF RAHN CLASSIC FRIDAY...
In Friday' Jeff Rahn Classic hosted by Whitworth University, Eastern Washington athletes swept both the men's and women's pole vaults and triple jumps.
Alex Blecha won the men's vault clearing 15-10.5 (4.84m), while Breauna Erickson won the women's competition at 11-11.75 (3.65m).
Dieumerici Migani (47-10.75/14.60m) and former SeattleU standout Manthita Wague (39-4.5/12.00m) took the men's and women's triple jumps.
Washington State got wins from Evelina Sitnika in the women's 1500 (4:40.47) and Kaleena Narus in the women's 5000 (17:42.88).
Gonzaga's lone win on the day came from Hayden Roberts, who won the men's 800 in 1:51.02.
PRO HIGHLIGHTS...
The Australian Athletics national championships were contested over the last several days in Sydney.
Washington alum and world championships competitor Ed Trippas won the national title in the steeplechase, running 8:35.29 on Saturday.
Trippas won the Australian crown by over ten seconds, as runner-up Ben Buckingham finished in 8:45.86.
In Brasilia, Brazil on Sunday, Olympia resident Katie Burnett finished 26th in the marathon distance at the World Athletics Race Walking Championships.
Burnett, a three time world championships competitor in London, Doha, and Tokyo, walked the distance in a time of 3:55:14.
She finished as the second American in the field.
Paula Milena Torres of Ecuador took the victory in a tine of 3:24.37.
The USA finished fifth in the team scoring in the women's marathon distance with a score of 62 points for its three scorers, Maria Michta-Coffey (16th), Burnett (22nd), and Lydia McGranahan (24th).
Ecuador finished as the world team champions in the women's marathon distance, scoring a low of 12 points (1-3-8).
NOTE: World Athletics, Athletics Australia, USA Track & Field, and the sports information offices of Central Washington, and Western Washington contributed to this report.
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