Thursday, March 9, 2017

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Alaska Anchorage senior Dominik Notz and Simon Fraser senior Vladislav Tsygankov each repeated as All-Americans Thursday, leading a series of great GNAC performances on the opening day of the 2017 NCAA Division II Indoor Track and Field Championships at the Birmingham CrossPlex.

Notz held his own in a fast men’s 5,000-meter, leading the chase pack most of the way as he placed fifth in a time of 14:12.99. He was 30 seconds off the blistering pace set by Missouri Southern’s Vincent Kiprop, who set a meet record with his winning time of 13:42.42.

Tsygankov, meanwhile, capped a great first day by equaling the seventh place finish in the men’s long jump from last year. The senior secured the podium spot with a leap of 24 feet, 1.75 inches. Earlier in the day, Tsygankov ran the fourth fastest time in the men’s 400 meters to qualify for Saturday’s final with a time of 47.61 seconds, breaking the GNAC record of 47.80 seconds set by his SFU teammate, Joel Webster, last year.

Saint Martin’s Shannon Porter just missed the podium in the first of her two events which will conclude her collegiate career. The senior placed ninth in the women’s 5,000 meters in a time of 16:51.76, which earns her Second Team All-American honors. Porter will compete again in the 3,000 meters on Saturday afternoon.

In Thursday’s preliminaries, it was Western Oregon leading the way with all five WOU athletes advancing to Saturday’s finals. Junior David Ribich won the first preliminary heat of the men’s mile with the fastest time of the day, clocking 4:05.12 to edge out Southern Indiana’s Bastian Grau and claim the top qualifying time of the day. Sophomore Dustin Nading ran a strong race to place second in the second heat and earn one of three automatic qualify spots in the heat with his time of 4:11.92, the seventh fastest time of the day.

In the men’s 800 meters, junior Josh Dempsey ran the second fastest qualifying time as he placed second in the opening heat in 1:52.46. In the women’s 800, sophomore Olivia Woods won the opening heat to automatically qualify for Saturday’s final with a time of 2:10.45. Junior Suzie Van De Grift was the final time qualifier, advancing with a WOU school record time of 2:09.63.

Simon Fraser sophomore Addy Townsend led the GNAC qualifiers in the women’s 800, running the second fastest time of the day with a time of 2:08.99. The performance moves her into No. 7 on the GNAC all-time list.

Paige Nock was the only one of four GNAC qualifiers in the women’s mile to advance to Saturday’s final. Benefitting from a fast first heat, Nock was fifth and was the fifth fastest qualifier in a time of 4:48.38, moving her to No. 6 on the GNAC all-time list. The Clan’s Miryam Bassett placed 12th in a time of 4:54.47. Seattle Pacific’s Mary Charleson was 13th in 4:56.39, SFU’s Julia Howley was 17th in 4:59.05 and Alaska Anchorage’s Tamara Perez was 18th in 5:07.70.

Central Washington’s Kodiak Landis finished the first day of the men’s heptathlon with 2,958 points after a solid day of competition that saw him place in the top-four of three of the four first day events. The junior opened the day placing third in the 60 meters in 7.07 seconds, was second in the long jump with a mark of 23 feet, 1.75 inches, and finished fourth in the shot put at 41 feet, 1 inches. Landis sits almost 300 points behind leader Shakiel Chattoo of Azusa Pacific.

Alaska Anchorage’s Travis Turner is in 14th place after the opening four events with 2,626 points. His top performance was in the high jump, placing eighth with a clearance of 6 feet, 2.75 inches.

The Seawolves’ Jamie Ashcroft did not advance in her first competition, the women’s 60 meters. The GNAC Women’s Athlete of the Meet placed 15th overall and seventh in her qualifying heat with a time of 7.64 seconds. Ashcroft will compete tomorrow in the preliminaries in the 200 meters, where she enters with the fourth fastest time in Division II.

Action on Friday involving GNAC athletes will begin at 9:20 a.m. (Pacific) with the heptathlon 60-meter hurdles. Field events begin at 9:55 a.m. and the running events begin at 2:15 p.m.