Tuesday, May 3, 2016

LACEY, Wash. – Alaska Anchorage’s Cody Thomas and Seattle Pacific’s Maliea Luquin completed a pair of unchallenged performances as the duo won their respective events at the GNAC Multi-Event Championships, which concluded Tuesday at Saint Martin’s University’s Track and Field Complex.

Thomas became just the second three-time champion in the decathlon and did so in record fashion. The senior blew away his own GNAC Championships record with a score of 7,201 points, surpassing the mark of 6,617 that he set at the 2014 Multi-Event Championships. The total is No. 3 in Division II this season and automatically qualifies Thomas for the NCAA Division II Championships.

In addition to the overall point record, Thomas set GNAC Championships decathlon records in the high jump, 400 meters and the 110-meter hurdles.

Thomas was 590 points better than 2015 GNAC champion Payton Lewis of Northwest Nazarene, who finished in second place with 6,611 points. Central Washington’s Kodiak Landis finished third with a total of 6,469 points. Both athletes hit provisional qualifying marks for the NCAA Championships.

Luquin, meanwhile, succeeded in holding on to her first place lead to capture the title with a score of 4,738 points. The total provisionally qualifies Luquin for the NCAA Championships. It also marks the eighth time in the 15-year history of the conference that a Seattle Pacific athlete has won the heptathlon title.

Northwest Nazarene’s Ellie Logan placed second and also hit a provisional qualifying mark for the NCAA Championships with her score of 4,541 points. Central Washington’s Ali Anderson placed third with a score of 4,372 points.

Thomas took a 620-point lead into the second day of the decathlon by winning all five first day events. He opened the second day with his record win in the 110-meter hurdles, crossing the line in 14.81 seconds. The string of striaght wins ended in the seventh event, the discus, which was won by Lewis with a mark of 126 feet. Lewis also won his specialty event, the pole vault, with a clearance of 15 feet, 11.75 inches.

Saint Martin’s David Durden won the javelin with a mark of 165 feet, 2 inches, and Central Washington’s Justin Peterson closed the day with a win in the 1,500 meters in a time of 4:34.03.

Luquin did not win an event on day two, but managed to keep no less than a 200-point cushion in the competition over Logan. Anderson won the first event of the day, the long jump, with a mark of 18 feet, 2.5 inches. Logan won her specialty event, the javelin, with a mark of 147 feet, 2 inches. Anderson closed the competition with a win in the 800 meters in 2:20.01.

Team points earned in the GNAC Multi-Event Championships will carry over to the GNAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships, which take place on May 13 and 14 in Monmouth, Ore., at Western Oregon University’s McArthur Field.