Monday, August 13, 2018

TORONTO, Ont. – A lifetime-best throw in the women’s javelin placed Western Washington alumna and 2017 GNAC Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year Bethany Drake on the podium at the NACAC Track and Field Championships (North America, Central America and Carribean) on Sunday at Toronto’s Varsity Stadium.

Drake, the 2014 and 2017 NCAA Division II national champion in the event, placed second with a throw of 179 feet, 6 inches (54.71 meters) on her opening throw of the competition. That throw surpassed her previous personal best of 177 feet, 10 inches, which Drake used to finish fourth at June’s USATF National Championships. Ariana Ince won the competition with a mark of 195 feet, 6 inches.

A 2017 graduate of Western Washington, Drake has continued to train to compete in national-level competition while working as an art teacher at Bellevue (Wash.) Christian High School. A three-time All-American while at WWU, Drake won both the 2014 and 2017 NCAA Division II titles in the javelin and was the national runner-up in 2016. She is the GNAC record-holder in the event with a mark of 177 feet, 9 inches, set in 2016.