Monday, April 29, 2019

ELLENSBURG, Wash. – Central Washington senior HarLee Ortega is taking advantage of the home field advantage while Western Washington sophomore Seren Dances used a pair of individual victories to take leads after day one of the GNAC Combined Event Championships at the CWU Recreation Sports Complex.

Ortega scored a pair of individual-event victories to take the first-day lead in the heptathlon with 3,118 points. Seattle Pacific junior Scout Cai, the winner of the indoor heptathlon back in February, sits in second place with 2,945 points while Concordia senior Chelsea Bone is third with 2,855 points.

Central Washington sophomore Sidney Trinidad is in fourth place at 2,830 points while Seattle Pacific sophomore Renick Meyer, the depending heptathlon champion, is one point behind at 2,829 points.

Dances scored top-two finishes in three of the decathlon’s first five events to take the day one lead with 3,528 points. Concordia senior Giovanni Brown leads a close chase group in second place at 3,482 points. Central Washington senior Michael Forster sits third at 3,429 points followed by Alaska Anchorage sophomore David Sramek at 3,424, Vikings’ freshman Ian Rinefort at 3,241 points and Wildcats’ sophomore Braydon Maier, the defending champion, at 3,409 points.

In the heptathlon, Trinidad opened the day with the lead after she won the 100-meter hurdles in a season-best time of 14.50 seconds while Meyer was just behind with a time of 14.55 seconds. Ortega easily won the high jump with a clearance of 5 feet, 6.5 inches, while Bone and Western Washington’s Aliyah Dawkins tied for second with clearances of 5 feet, 4.25 inches.

Ortega and Bone went one-two again in the shot put. Ortega won with her mark of 37 feet, 2.25 inches, while Bone was close behind at 36 feet, 11 inches. Trinidad led the way in the final event of the day, the 200 meters, with a time of 25.56 seconds. Meyer was a close second at 25.56 seconds.

After placing second in the decathlon 100 meters (11.20 seconds) to open the day, Dances proceeded to win the long jump with a leap of 22 feet, 3.5 inches and the high jump with a clearance of 6 feet, 4.25 inches. Saint Martin’s sophomore Josh Schulz opened the day by winning the 100 meters in 11.17 seconds while Brown was the easy winner in the shot put. His mark of 46 feet, 0.75 inches was eight feet better than Maier, who was second at 38 feet.

Rinefort capped the day with a first-place finish in the 400 meters, clocking a time of 50.75 seconds to finish just ahead of Sramek, who was second in 50.86 seconds.

The final day of the GNAC Combined Event Championships begins at 10 a.m. for the decathlon and 11 a.m. for the heptathlon. The decathlon events include the 110-meter hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin and 1,500 meters. The heptathlon events include the long jump, javelin and 800 meters.