Thursday, May 22, 2014

ALLENDALE, Mich. - Karolin Anders of Alaska Anchorage set a Seawolf record in the high jump and sits in third place in the heptathlon after the opening day of the NCAA Division II Track and Field Championships Thursday at Grand Valley State Stadium.

Anders high jumped 5-8 - the fifth best leap in GNAC history in any competition - and is in third place after four events with a point total of 3,236.  She bested her own UAA school record of 5-7 3/4.

UAA's Cody Thomas had an equally impressive opening day and is in third place in the decathlon after five events with 3,929 points. 

Thomas had the day's best mark of 48.21 in the 400 meters, equaling the seventh best time in GNAC history in any competition and the best-ever in a multi-event.  He also finished third in the high jump clearing a career-best 6-6. His previous best was 6-3 1/2.

Thomas also registered a personal best of 39-3 in the shot put, ran a 11.02 in the 100 and long jumped 22-7.  He is 111 points off his pace when he had a career-best of 6,940 points, putting him in position to become the second athlete in GNAC history to break the 7,000 point barrier. 

"That (7,000 points) was the goal for the year," Thomas said.

Anders had career-bests in all four of her events.  In addition to high jumping 5-8 to earn a second-place finish, she placed third in the shot put (39-4), ninth in the 200 (25.64) and 13th in the 100 hurdles (in a wind-aided 14.89).  Her point total is 293 points better than her pace when she set a school record with 5,048 points earlier this season.

"The hurdle PR was big for me," Anders said.  "I've never broken 15. I knew the wind was really nice (plus 4.2).  But it was really exciting (to break 15)."

UAA's Joyce Kipchumba earned the first points of the meet for a GNAC athlete in the final event of the day, finishing seventh in the women's 10,000 in a time of 35:35.61.  That earns Kipchumba All-American honors which are awarded to the top eight finishers.

Kipchumba will also compete Saturday in the 5,000 as will Jordan Rehfeld of Northwest Nazarene, who finished ninth in the 10K in a time of 35:39.85, just missing All-American honors.

Three GNAC athletes advanced to finals in their preliminary events Thursday.

The most impressive performance was perhaps by Katelyn Steen of Western Washington who posted the best time in the prelims of the women's steeplechase.  She was clocked in 10:39.10.

Ivy O'Guinn of Alaska Anchorage had the ninth best time in the 1500 (4:29.66), qualifying for Saturday's finals.

Alex Donigian of Western Washington gained a spot in the finals of the men's 100 by finishing second in his heat in a time of 10.46.  Rimar Christie of Northwest Nazarene posted the same time but finished just fourth in his heat and didn't earn a spot in Saturday's finals.

One of the non-finalists Thursday was UAA's Jamie Ashcroft.  Ashcroft broke her own GNAC record in the 100 meters in a time of 11.69, missing the finals by two positions.  Her previous record was 11.74.

Action continues Friday morning with Day 2 of the multi-events.

WOMEN:

THURSDAY'S RESULTS:  Heptathlon -  3. Karolin Anders, UAA, 3,236 (Day 1: 100 Hurdles - 13th, 14.89; 200 - 9th, 25.64; High Jump - 2nd, 1.73 - 5-8; Shot Put - 3rd, 11.99  39-4).  Hammer  - 12. Lindsay Wells, WWU, 51.64 - 169-5.  4x100 Relay Prelims - 12. Alaska Anchorage (Makenzie Harsch, Rosie Smith, Sasha Halfyard, Jamie Ashcroft) 47.46 (did not advance).   1500 Prelims - 9.  Ivy O’Guinn, UAA, 4:29.66 (advances); 20.  Connie Morgan, CWU, 4:43.72.  100 Prelims - 11. Jamie Ashcroft, UAA, 11.69.   Steeplechase Prelims  - 1. Katelyn Steen, WWU, 10:39.10 (advances);  18. Dani Eggleston, CWU, 11:11.88.  10,000 - 7. Joyce Kipchumba, UAA, 35:35.61.

FRIDAY'S SCHEDULE: 10:30 a.m.  - Heptathlon  (7. Karolin Anders, UAA, 5048).5:45 p.m. - 200 Prelims  (24. Jamie Ashcroft, UAA, 24.27).  6:15 p.m. – 800 Prelims (3. McKayla Fricker, SPU, 2:06.85; 11. Sarah Sawatzky, SFU, 2:09.15; 15. Lynelle Decker, SPU, 2:10.58; 20 Natalie Evans, NNU, 2:11.04). 7:25 p.m. – Steeplechase (Steen).  8:05 p.m. - 4x400 Relay Prelims (15. Seattle Pacific 3:45.63 - Kishia Mitchell, Tasia Baldwin, Jasmine Johnson, McKayla Fricker).  

SATURDAY'S SCHEDULE: 2 p.m. - Javelin  (1. Bethany Drake, WWU, 51.66 – 169-6; 3. Katie Reichert, WWU, 49.59 – 162-8; 8. Seabre Church, WOU, 47.48 – 155-9; 11. Kathryn Walker, SMU, 45.84 – 150-5). 5:30 p.m. - High Jump  (5. Tayler Fettig, CWU, 1.75 – 5-8 ¾).  5:45 p.m. – 1500 (O’Guinn). 7:05 p.m. – 800 (Fricker, Sawatzky, Decker, Evans). 7:55 p.m. – 200 (Ashcroft). 8:30 p.m. - 5000 (10. Joyce Kipchumba, UAA, 16:44.97; 22. Jordan Rehfeld, NNU, 16:57.15).

MEN:

THURSDAY'S RESULTS: Decathlon  3 - Cody Thomas, UAA, 3929 (Day 1: 100 - 4th, 11.02; Long Jump - 6th, 6.88 - 22-7; Shot Put - 10th, 11.96 - 39-3; High Jump - 3rd, 1.98 - 6-6; 400 - 1st. 48.21.   1500 Prelims - 16. Isaac Kangogo, UAA, 3:58.62. 100 Prelims - 10. Alex Donigian, WWU, 10.46 (advances); 11. Rimar Christie, NNU, 10.46. Steeplechase Prelims - 19.  Brady Beagley, WOU. 9:55.64; 20. Oliver Jorgensen, SFU, 10:01.16.

FRIDAY'S SCHEDULE: 9:30 a.m.  - Decathlon  (Thomas). 2 p.m. - Discus (10. Frank Catelli, WWU, 53.00 – 173-11).  5:30 p.m. – 200 Prelims (18. Tyrell Williams, WOU,  21.19).  6 p.m. –  800 Prelims (9. Josh Hanna, WOU, 1:50.45). 

SATURDAY'S SCHEDULE: 11 a.m. – Javelin (2. Franz Burghagen, UAA, 69.87 – 229-3; 6. Slater Hirst, WWU, 65.44 – 214-8; 12. Shane Brooks, WOU, 64.49 – 211-7; 16. Justin Larson, WOU, 63.04 – 206-10; 17. John Haskin, WWU, 62.53 – 205-2.).  2:15 p.m. - Shot Put  (5. Frank Catelli, WWU, 18.16 – 59-7).  6:35 p.m. – 100 (Donigian).  6:55 p.m. – 800 (Hanna).  8:05 p.m. – 200 (Williams).