Thursday, March 10, 2016
THIS WEEK'S GNAC TRACK AND FIELD ATHLETES OF THE WEEK
MEN’S TRACK
Matt Lutz, Western Washington
Senior • Bremerton, Wash.
Lutz opened Western Washington’s outdoor season by winning the steeplechase at the Puget Sound Invitational with a NCAA Championships provisional qualifying time of 9:15.15. He has the top time in Division II after the first week of outdoor competition.
Also Nominated: Latrelle Swayne (Saint Martin’s).
MEN’S FIELD
Brian Chalkley, Saint Martin’s
Junior • Eugene, Ore.
Chalkley won the javelin by a 15-foot margin at the Puget Sound Invitational with a mark of 200 feet, 5 inches. He enters the week No. 4 on the Division II best list.
WOMEN’S TRACK
Shannon Porter, Saint Martin’s
Senior • Vancouver, Wash.
Porter broke her own school record in the 1,500 meters at the Puget Sound Invitational, winning the event in a time of 4:32.30, which was a three-second personal best. A provisional qualifying mark for the NCAA Championships, Porter has the second best time in Division II after one week of competition.
WOMEN’S FIELD
Bethany Drake, Western Washington
Senior • Sandy, Ore.
After missing the 2015 campaign due to injury, Drake returned to competition by winning the javelin at the Puget Sound Invitational with a NCAA Championships automatic qualifying mark of 164 feet, 7 inches. The 2014 NCAA Division II champion in the event, Drake own the best mark in Division II after the first week.
Also Nominated: Kirby Neale (Saint Martin’s).
AROUND THE GNAC
NCAA DIVISION II INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS PREVIEW: With 40 athletes making their way to the midwest, the GNAC is sure to be well represented on the podium at the 2016 NCAA Division II Indoor Track and Field Championships, which begin Friday at Pittsburg State University’s Plaster Center.
Of those 40 athletes, nearly half of them enter with marks within the Division II top-10, making them contenders for All-American honors. Most of the GNAC’s eyes, however, will be on the distances where the league has 12 athletes entered in the three disciplines.
Alaska Anchorage senior Joyce Chelimo leads the GNAC distance corps. A triple champion at the GNAC Indoor Championships, Chelimo will be among the favorites in the 3,000 meters and 5,000 meters. Her time in the 3,000 meters of 9:17.97, run at the Feb. 12 Husky Classic, is the fourth fastest indoor time in Division II history under all conditions. Chelimo enters the 5,000 with the second best time in the nation of 16:22.93.
Chelimo is one of five GNAC athletes entered in the 3,000 meters, the most conference competitors in any one event. Shannon Porter of Saint Martin’s enters with the 10th best time in the event and is joined by Central Washington’s Dani Eggleston, Simon Fraser’s Rebecca Bassett and Alaska Anchorage’s Caroline Kurgat.
In the men’s distances, Alaska Anchorage’s Henry Cheseto is entered in both the 3,000 meters and 5,000 meters. Cheseto has the seventh best time in Division II in the 5,000 meters at the 14:22.99. His teammate, Dominik Notz, was the GNAC champion in the 3,000 meters with the 13th best time in the nation at 8:10.19.
Western Oregon sophomore David Ribich leads three GNAC competitors in the men’s mile and enters with the nation’s seventh best time of 4:05.21. Montana State Billings’ Robert Peterson made the field with the 15th best time, clocking a 4:07.67 at the SPU Final Qualifier.
Seattle Pacific’s hopes for scoring will be pinned on the women’s sprints and middle distances. Senior Lynelle Decker automatically qualified for the championships in the 800 meters, running her fifth best time of 2:09.38 at the January’s UW Open. She was seventh in the event at nationals last year. Senior Jahzelle Ambus crushed the conference record in the 400 meters at the GNAC Championships. Her time of 54.96 seconds is currently ninth in Division II. The Falcons will also have teams entered in the 4x400 relay and the distance medley relay.
The men’s 800 meters will have two GNAC athletes in the top-10. Western Oregon senior Badane Sultessa has reset his own conference record in the 800 meters twice this season and enters the meet with the sixth best time of 1:49.68. A defending All-American, he finished fourth last year. Simon Fraser’s Cameron Proceviat, the GNAC champion, is eighth with his time of 1:49.77.Saint Martin’s Mikel Smith enters tied for the 12th best mark this season in the men’s high jump at 6-10.75. Northwest Nazarene sophomore Payton Lewis automatically qualifying for nationals in the men’s pole vault with his mark of 16-10.75. Lewis is also entered in the heptathlon with a score of 5,163 points.
Western Washington’s Miranda Osadchey leads three GNAC competitors in the women’s high jump. Osadchey is tied for third entering the meet with her mark of 5-8.5. Alaska Anchorage’s Karolin Anders is tied for fifth with her mark of 5-8 and Seattle Pacific’s Geneva Lehnert is tied for 12th with a mark of 5-7.25.
The Vikings’ Jasmine McMullin will vie for All-American honors in the women’s triple jump. Her mark of 40-1.25 at the GNAC Championships is seventh best entering the meet.
In the multi-events, Cody Thomas will be shooting for a national title in the men’s heptathlon after just missing last year. Thomas finished second last year and he enters with the fourth best total in Division II at 5,324 points. Anders is also a returning All-American, placing seventh in the women’s pentathlon. Her score of 3,813 points this season is sixth best in the nation.
WARREN COMPETES AT USATF INDOOR NATIONALS: With Concordia not eligible to compete at in the NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field Championships thanks to their transition from NAIA to Division II, McKenzie Warren is receiving a pretty nice consolation prize: A spot in the USA Track & Field National Championships.
Having already crushed the all-time GNAC overall and meet record in the shot put, Warren will compete in the overall national meet on Mar. 11-12 at the Oregon Convention Center. As of Wednesday evening, Warren is ranked 10th out of 16 qualified entrants in the women’s shot put with a season-best mark of 55-3 1/2 (16.85m). Warren is currently just one of two collegiate athletes in the women’s shot put field. The USATF meet takes place just four miles from Concordia’s north Portland campus.
Warren took the conference by storm during Concordia’s first GNAC season, smashing the conference record with a mark of 55 feet, 3.5 inches. The mark is the best in Division II this season and is tied for 14th among all collegians. The sophomore would have automatically qualified for this weekend’s Division II Indoor Championships, but the Cavaliers are ineligible for the meet until 2018 as they make their transition to Division II membership from NAIA membership.
Professional athletes sponsored by Nike represent three of the top four entrants with Daniella Bunch currently holding the top mark in the event with a distance of 61 feet, 11 inches.
The women’s shot put will take place on Friday, March 11 at approximately 4:45 p.m.
Warren has already qualified for the US Olympic Track & Field Team Trials that will take place at Heyward Field in Eugene, Ore., on July 1-10. 2016. Warren captured three NAIA All-American honors last season, including a national champion in the discus during the outdoor season. Ashland’s Jamie Sindelar currently holds the top mark in NCAA Division II with a 54 feet, 5.5 inches, almost a foot shy of Warren’s top throw this season.
GNAC ATHLETES, COACHES COLLECT USTFCCCA REGIONAL HONORS: Three of the top point scorers at the GNAC Indoor Track and Field Championships lead a total of six individuals honored by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) in their regional awards for indoor track and field.
Northwest Nazarene sophomore Payton Lewis was selected as the West Region Men’s Field Athlete of the Year. Alaska Anchorage senior Joyce Chelimo was named the West Region Women’s Track Athlete of the Year while her teammate, senior Karolin Anders, earned West Region Women’s Field Athlete of the Year.
Three GNAC coaches were also recognized by the USTFCCCA. Alaska Anchorage head coach Michael Friess was named the West Region Women’s Coach of the Year, marking his second coach of the year award from the organization this academic year (he was also the West Region Women’s Cross Country Coach of the Year). Simon Fraser’s Tom Dickson was named the West Region Men’s Assistant Coach of the Year and Seattle Pacific’s Audra Smith was recognized as the West Region Women’s Assistant Coach of the Year.
The top regional honors are in addition to a total of 139 athletes from the GNAC named as USTFCCCA Indoor Track and Field All-West Region selections.
The GNAC Championships Male Outstanding Athlete of the Meet, Lewis won the GNAC title in the heptathlon and pole vault and was the championships’ top scorer. His heptathlon total of 5,163 points is the third-best in league history. Along with the NCAA bid in the heptathlon, his season’s best of 16 feet, 10.75 inches in the pole vault was enough for a national championships bid as well.
Chelimo returned from a redshirt season to become just the second athlete in GNAC Championships history to sweep all three distance events: the mile, 3,000 meters and 5,000 meters (her husband, Micah Chelimo, is the other). She is entered in the NCAA Championships in the 3,000 meters and 5,000 meters. Her time in the 3,000 meters of 9:17.97 is the fourth fastest in Division II history under all conditions indoors.
Anders was named the GNAC Championships Women’s Outstanding Athlete of the Meet after earning 31 points in the meet and becoming the all-time leading individual point scorer in meet history. Anders won the pentathlon and long jump at the GNAC meet, placed third in the triple jump and fourth in the high jump. She is entered in the NCAA Championships in both the high jump and pentathlon.
Friess, in his 26th year at Alaska Anchorage, led both the Seawolves men’s and women’s teams in the GNAC Championships, marking the first time one team has swept the men’s and women’s titles. In winning the women’s coaching award, Friess leads a total of eight UAA women’s athletes to the NCAA Championships, the most for a GNAC women’s program.
Dickson, in his 30th season as sprints and hurdles coach at Simon Fraser, led Joel Webster to the GNAC 400-meter crown, a new championships record and an NCAA Championships bid. Smith, in her second year on the Seattle Pacific staff, coached sprinters to two GNAC titles, saw two break school records, set two conference records and three national top-10 marks. The sprints coach for the Falcons, sprinters accounted for 58 of the team’s 136 points at the GNAC Championships.
MOVING ON OUT: While the indoor nationals are this weekend, GNAC teams also began their outdoor seasons last weekend. Western Oregon began its outdoor season last Friday at the Linfield Erik Anderson Memorial Icebreaker distance session and at the Willamette Open on Saturday. Saint Martin’s, Seattle Pacific and Western Washington all traveled to Tacoma and competed at the Puget Sound Quad Meet.
Alaska Anchorage opens its outdoor season this weekend in southern California, competing at both the Ben Brown Invitational in Fullerton, Calif., and the Occidental Distance Carnival in Los Angeles. Central Washington starts its oudoor schedule at the PLU Open in Tacoma while Concordia and Northwest Nazarene open at the Saints Open at Mt. Hooc CC in Gresham, Ore.
TIP OF THE SPEAR: One week of the outdoor season is done and the GNAC already has seven athletes provisionally qualified for the NCAA Division II Outdoor Championships in the javelin. Western Washington’s Bethany Drake returned from a redshirt season (injury) to automatically qualify for nationals with her mark of 164 feet, 7 inches, at the Puget Sound Quad Meet. Drake was the 2014 outdoor national champion in the event.
Drake led five GNAC athletes to provisionally qualify at the Puget Sound meet including Western Washington’s Mariah Horton and Anosi Laupola and Saint Martin’s Jona Spiller and Deanna Avalos. Western Oregon’s Amanda Short also had a provisional qualifier with her performance at the Willamette Opener.
Saint Martin’s Brian Chalkley set a provisional qualifying mark with his winning throw of 200 feet, 5 inches, at the Puget Sound Quad Meet. Western Oregon’s Justin Larson also had a provisional qualifying performance at Willamette.