Saturday, May 11, 2019

MONMOUTH, Ore. – Led by a meet-record performance in the 4x100-meter relay and a repeat title by junior Grace Bley in the 200 meters, Seattle Pacific claimed its second consecutive title at the 2019 GNAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships, presented by Under Armour, which concluded Saturday at Western Oregon University’s McArthur Field.

The quartet of Peace Igbonagwam, Jenna Bouyer, Bley and Julia Stepper led from start to finish, crossing the line in a time of 46.32 seconds that bettered the Falcons’ own record of 46.60 seconds set last year. Bley, meanwhile, earned her second consecutive championship on the 200 with a time of 24.56 seconds.

The performances helped outdistance the Falcons in a close race with Central Washington for the team title with 166 points. The Wildcats were second with 162 points while Alaska Anchorage finished third with 119.5 points.

Seawolves’ senior Caroline Kurgat earned the Female Track Athlete of the Meet award as she won three events in her final GNAC meet. After winning the 10,000 meters on Friday with a time of 38:03.64, Kurgat won the 1,500 meters with a meet-record time of 4:23.02 and the 5,000 meters in a time of 16:35.10. In the 1,500, Kurgat wiped off the previous meet record of 4:24.01 set by Jessica Pixler of Seattle Pacific in 2010. Kurgat was a repeat winner in both the 5,000 and 10,000 meters.

The award is the second straight for Kurgat outdoors and the third overall combined with the indoor and outdoor seasons.

After winning the award during the indoor season, Central Washington senior HarLee Ortega was named the Female Field Athlete of the Meet. After winning the heptathlon last week with an NCAA Championships automatic qualifying score of 5,212 points, Ortega went on to win the long jump on Friday with a mark of 18 feet, 11.25 inches, and won the high jump on Saturday with a clearance of 5 feet, 9.75 inches.

Wildcats’ sophomore Sidney Trinidad earned the Performance of the Meet award for her GNAC record time of 58.22 seconds in Friday’s preliminaries of the 400-meter hurdles. The time bettered her own conference record by a second and automatically qualified Trinidad for the NCAA Championships. She proceeded to place second in the final to teammate Erykah Weems, who won her second consecutive title in a time of 59.08 seconds.

Weems was one of seven repeat champions on the day. Central Washington senior Mariyah Vongsaveng collected her third consecutive title in the 100-meter hurdles in a time of 13.99 seconds. Alaska Anchorage junior Vanessa Aniteye claimed her third straight championship in the 400 meters with a meet record time of 54.19 seconds. Seawolves’ senior Danielle McCormick earned her second straight win in the 800 meters in a time of 2:08.67.

In all, seven meet records and a pair of conference records were broken in the meet.

Seawolves’ senior Chrisalyn Johnson provided a championship and meet record in the triple jump with her mark of 41 feet, 3.25 inches. That bettered the previous record of 40 feet, 9 inches, set by Ashley Potter of Western Oregon in 2012.

Concordia sophomore Macie Allen claimed the title in the 100 meters, clocking a time of 12.08 seconds. Central Washington snapped Simon Fraser’s four-year winning streak in the 4x400-meter relay with the team of Katie Collins, Trinidad, Ortega and Weems winning in 3:45.93.

In the field events, Northwest Nazarene senior Ellie Logan repeated as champion in the javelin with her mark of 157 feet, 4 inches. Saint Martin’s senior Liz Larson won her first GNAC title in the hammer with a throw of 180 feet.