Thursday, January 24, 2013

PORTLAND, Ore. -  Alaska Anchorage will compete in its first-ever indoor track and field meet this Saturday in the University of Washington Invitational at Dempsey Arena.

The Seawolves, who previously have only competed in outdoor track and field, will be joined by fellow GNAC members Central Washington, Northwest Nazarene, Saint Martin’s, Simon Fraser, Seattle Pacific, Western Oregon and Western Washington in the meet hosted by the University of Washington at the Dempsey Arena. Montana State Billings, meanwhile, will travel to Bozeman for the Montana State Open.

UAA will take 28 athletes to Seattle – 14 men and 14 women – for its historic debut.  It is the first of three indoor meets, all at UW, for the Seawolves.

Crofts Maintains National Lead in 800

Helen Crofts of Simon Fraser remained in the No. 1 position in the 800 meters in this week’s NCAA Division II national rankings.  She has a best of 2:10.71. 

Four GNAC athletes are in the Top 10 in the 800 – SFU’s Michaela Kane (5th), Seattle Pacific’s McKayla Fricker (8th) and Sarah Sawatzky of Simon Fraser (10th). The next highest ranked GNAC athlete in any event is Laura Tesch of Saint Martin’s who is  15th in the high jump (5-5 ¾).

Two GNAC athletes established provisional national qualifying marks last weekend - Tanner Rottrup of Montana State Billings in the shot put (52-1) at the Boise State Bronco Invitational and Central Washington's Becki Duhamel in the women's weight throw (53-11 3/4) at the Idaho Vandal open.  Rottrup and Duhamel's marks rank sixth and third on the GNAC All-Time chart.

Marie Smith of Northwest Nazarene posted a 60 meter hurdles time of 9.00 in the Boise State meet.  That mark ranks sixth in GNAC history.

NATIONAL RANKINGS: Men: 60 – 21. Alex Donigian, WWU, 6.89.  Shot Put – 17. Tanner Rottrup, MSUB, 15.87 – 52-1.Women: 60 – 25. Kishia Mitchell, SPU, 7.73.  800 – 1.  Helen Crofts, SFU, 2:10.71; 5. Michaela Kane, SFU, 2:13.64; 8. McKayla Fricker, SPU, 2:14.84; 10. Sarah Sawatzky, SFU, 2:15.15. 60 Hurdles – 24. Tanya Bjornsson, WWU, 8.94. 4x400 – 16. Simon Fraser 3:54.41. High Jump – 15. Laura Tesch, SMU, 1.67 - 5-5 ¾.  Long Jump – 27. Emily Warman, WWU, 5.53 - 18-1 ¾. Triple Jump – 21. Alexis Anderson, WOU, 11.66 - 38-3 ¼; 23. Stephanie Kellogg, SMU, 11.62 - 38-1 ½. Weight Throw 0 23, Becki Duhamel, CWU, 16.45 – 53-11 ¾.

Near Misses

While Rottrup, Duhamel and Smith all had GNAC All-Time Top 10 performances last week, there were three other performances that just missed.

Carly Dranginis of Northwest Nazarene missed the Top 10 by 1 ¼ inches finishing fifth in the weight throw at the Boise State Bronco Invitational with a throw of 49-11. 

At Moscow, Duhamel fell ¾ of an inch short in breaking into the Top 10 in the shot with a put of 42-6 ¼. 

Saint Martin’s Michael Davis’ second-place performance in the triple jump of 45-9 ¼ at the Vandal Open was 5 ½ inches shy of the Top 10.

SMU’s Sam Washington finished second in the weight throw with a toss of 55-8 ½, falling three inches short of the NCAA provisional national standard.  Washington has a career-best of 58-2.

LAST WEEK’S NATIONAL QUALIFIERS: Men (1): Shot Put – Tanner Rottrup, MSUB, 15.87 – 52-1.  Women (1): Becki Duhamel, CWU, 16.45 – 53-11 ¾.

LAST WEEK’S ALL-TIME TOP 10 PERFORMANCES: Men (1): Shot Put – 6. Tanner Rottrup, MSUB, 15.87 – 52-1.  Women (2): 60 – 6. Marie Smith, NNU, 9.00.  Weight Throw  - 3. Becki Duhamel, CWU, 16.45 – 53-11 ¾.