Friday, March 13, 2015

PORTLAND, Ore. –  The 2015 NCAA Division II Indoor Track and Field national meet gets underway Friday at Birmingham, Ala.

The first event, which will feature Cody Thomas of Alaska Anchorage, is the men’s heptathlon beginning at 9 a.m.  Central Time (7 a.m. Pacific).   Thomas is the fifth seed.

The first running event in which GNAC athletes will compete is the 60 meters. 

Alex Donigian of Western Washington is the fourth seed in the men’s 60 which begins at 4 p.m. (2 p.m. Pacific).  Fifteen minutes earlier UAA’s Jane Ashcroft will run in the women’s event.

A total of 20 GNAC athletes will compete in 23 individual events including top-seed Lindsey Butterworth in the women’s 800. Another 11 athletes are possible relay participants.

Butterworth finished eighth in the 800 in 2013 to earn All-American honors.

Three athletes – Ashcroft (60, 200),  Rebecca Bassett of Simon Fraser (mile, 3000) and Katelyn Steen of Western Washington (3000, 5000) - will compete in two individual events.

Ashcroft is the seventh seed in the 200 meters (24.25) and Steen is the fifth seed in the 5,000 (16:46.92).

In addition to Thomas, Butterworth, Ashcroft and Stein, five other athletes have marks that rank in the Top 8 in their events including SFU’s Jennifer Johnson who is seeded third in the 3,000 with a best time of 9:28.24.

Three are No. 4 seeds - Donigian in the 60 meters (6.72), Saint Martin’s Mikel Smith in the high jump (7-0 ½) and Peyton Lewis of Northwest Nazarene (17-0 ¾) in the pole vault.

Robert Peterson of MSU Billings is the sixth seed in the mile (4:07.50), In Friday’s DMR, Simon Fraser comes in ranked fifth.  

In addition to Butterworth, two other athletes are returning All-Americans. 

Central Washington high jumper Tayler Fettig placed sixth last year with a leap of 5-8.   Alaska Anchorage multi-eventer Karolin Anders finished fourth a year ago in the pentathlon with a score of 3,775.

NCAA NATIONAL MEET TIME SCHEDULE

All Times Central Time

Friday:

Men: . 9 a.m. - Heptathlon (5. Cody Thomas, UAA, 5338). 4 p.m. - 60 (4. Alex Donigian, WWU, 6.72). 4:45 p.m. - Mile (6. Robert Peterson, MSUB, 4:07.50; 11. Travis Vugteveen, SFU, 4:08.20; 13. Brady Beagley, WOU, 4:08.53). 5:30 p.m. - High Jump  (4. Mikel Smith, SMU, 2.15). 5:50 p.m. - 800 (12. Badane Sultessa, WOU, 1:51.22). 7:10 p.m. - 5000 (14. Oliver Jorgensen, SFU, 14:28.15).

Women: 3:45 p.m. - 60 (16. Jamie Ashcroft, UAA, 7.60).  4:30 p.m. - Mile (12. Stephanie Stuckey, WOU, 4:56.18; 14. Rebecca Bassett, SFU, 4:57.47).  5:35 p.m. - 800 (1. Lindsey Butterworth, SFU, 2:06.56; 11. Lynelle Decker, SPU, 2:11.51; 15. Paige Nock, SFU, 2:12.16). 6:05 p.m. - 200 (7. Jamie Ashcroft, UAA, 24.25). 6:45 p.m. - 5000 (5. Katelyn Steen, WWU, 16:46.92).  7:30 p.m. - *Distance Medley Relay - 5. Simon Fraser (Rebecca Bassett, Monique Lisek, Paige Nock, Lindsey Butterworth, Chantel Desch) 11:40.01; 9. Alaska Anchorage (Jessica Pahkala, Rosie Smith, Haleigh Lloyd, Beatrice Decker, Tamara Perez) 11:48.78; 13. Seattle Pacific (Jessica Rawlins, Becca Houk,, Lynelle Decker, Anna Patti, Jahzelle Ambus) 11:47.33.  *Five athletes, including 1 alternate, listed in DMR.  

Saturday:

Men: 9:15 a.m. - Heptathlon (Thomas). 3:30 p.m. - Pole Vault (4. Payton Lewis, NNU, 5.20 – 17-0 ¾ ). 3:50 p.m. - 60 (Donigian).  4 p.m. - Triple Jump (11. Luke Plummer, CWU, 15.06).4:25 p.m. - Mile (Peterson, Vugteveen, Beagley). 5:10 p.m. - 800 (Sultessa). 

Women: 9 a.m. - Pentathlon (10. Karolin Anders, UAA, 3791). 3:45 p.m. - 60 (Ashcroft).   4:15 p.m. - Mile (Stuckey, Bassett).  5 p.m. - 800 (Butterworth, Decker, Nock, SFU, 2:12.16). 5:15 p.m. - High Jump (14. Tayler Fettig, CWU, 1.73 – 5-8).  5:20 p.m. - 200 (Ashcroft). 5:40 p.m. - 3000 (3. Jennifer Johnson, SFU, 9:28.24; 9. Katelyn Steen, WWU, 9:38.92; 16. Rebecca Bassett, SFU, 9:43.20).  

Simon Fraser Ranked 7th By  USTFCCA Computer

Simon Fraser’s women is the only GNAC indoor team ranked in the Top 25 by the USTFCCCA computer.  The Clan is ranked seventh.

In the final West Region Team Index, Western Washington’s men and Seattle Pacific’s women are the top ranked teams.

GNAC teams dominate the regional index placing eight men’s teams and eight women’s teams in the Top 10.

Men – 1. Western Washington; 2. Alaska Anchorage; 3. Simon Fraser; 4. Azusa Pacific; 5. Academy of Art; 6. Northwest Nazarene; 7. Western Oregon; 8. Central Washington; 9. Saint Martin’s; 10. MSU Billings.

Women – 1. Seattle Pacific; 2. Alaska Anchorage; 3. Simon Fraser; 4. Azusa Pacific; 5. Academy of Art; 6. Central Washington; 7. Northwest Nazarene; 8. Western Washington; 9. Western Oregon; 10. Cal State Stanislaus.

Eight Early Qualifiers for NCAA Outdoors

Eight GNAC athletes posted NCAA qualifying marks in the opening week of the outdoor season.  Seven of the marks came in the javelin.

On the men’s side, five of the best seven javelin throws nationally came from GNAC athletes including an automatic qualifying mark by Franz Burghagen of Alaska Anchorage.

Burghagen’s throw of 224-10 was the best in Division II. 

Throws by Tyler Kostiuk of Alaska Anchorage (205-7), Hirst Slater of Western Washington (205-0), WWU’s John Haskin (201-0) and Justin Larson of Western Oregon (200-10) ranked fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh and all exceeded the provisional national standard.

On the women’s side Katie Reichert of Western Washington took the national lead in the javelin with an automatic mark of 159-2.  She was the national runner-up last season finishing just one inch in back of teammate Bethany Drake.

Emmi Collier of Western Oregon also met the provisional national standard in the shot with a put of 44-11 ¾.

Warner, Millbrandt Crack  GNAC Top 10 Lists

Cody Warner of Western Oregon had two GNAC All-Time Top 10 performances in the Willamette Opener in earning GNAC Men’s Track Athlete of the Week honors.

His time of 10.68 in the 100 equaled the sixth best in GNAC history.  He won the 200 meters in the seventh best time in GNAC history, running 21.51.

Also acquiring a GNAC Top 10 All-Time mark was Travis Milbrandt of Western Washington who ran the fifth fastest 110 hurdles time in GNAC history at the UPS Five-Way meet.  He posted a winning time of 14.71.

2014-15 GNAC OUTDOOR TRACK & FIELD RESULTS

Willamette Opener (March 7 at Salem, OR): Men – Western Oregon 117, Willamette 82, Portland 39.  WOU Winners: 100 – Cody Warner 10.68.  200 – Cody Warner 21.51.  Long Jump – Cody Warner 6.42 – 21-0 ¾.  Discus – Kenny Klippel 41.26 – 135-4.   Javelin – Justin Larson 61.22 – 200-10.  Women – Western Oregon 159, Willamette 110, Portland 7.  WOU Winners:  100 – Laura Patrick 12.63. 400 – Suzie Van De Grift 59.91.  800 – Stephanie Stuckey 2:15.58. 100 Hurdles – Rochelle Pappel 14.69.  400 Hurdles – Audrey Hellesto 1:06.37.   Shot Put – Emmi Collier 13.71 – 44-11 ¾.  Hammer – Emmi Collier 45.36 – 148-10.  Javelin – Amanda Short 43.88 – 143-11.

UNLV Randall Cunningham Track Classic (March 7 at Las Vegas):  Men (UAA Winners): 100 – Darrion Gray 11.03.  200 – Darrion Gray 22.04.  400 – Adam Commandeur 49.35. 800 – Nathan Kipchumba 1:55.82.  1500 – Dominik Notz 3:54.09.   110 Hurdles – Travis Turner 15.39.  400 Hurdles – Elliott Bauer 54.92.  4x100 – Alaska Anchorage 43.14.  4x400 Relay – Alaska Anchorage 3:22.83.  High Jump – Tevin Gladden 1.88.   Javelin – Franz Burghagen 68.52 – 224-10.   Women (UAA Winners): 1500 – Tamara Perez 4:42.35.  Triple Jump – Alexia Blalock 11.48 – 37-8.

UPS Five-Way Meet (March 7 at Tacoma): Men – Whitworth 232, Puget Sound 99, Western Washington 95, Seattle Pacific 57, Lewis & Clark 52.  GNAC Winners:  110 Hurdles – Travis Milbrandt, WWU, 14.71.  Steeplechase -  Matt Lutz, WWU, 9:24.73.   Long Jump – Rudy Mataya, WWU, 6.46 – 21-2 ½.  Discus – Ryan Macdonald, WWU, 48.63 – 159-6. Women – Whitworth 191, Western Washington 120, Seattle Pacific 86 ½, Puget Sound 75, Lewis & Clark 50 ½.   GNAC Winners: 400 – Shawna Troupe, WWU, 59.10. 1500 – Haley O’Connor, WWU, 4:37.26.  10,000 – Alexandra Laiblin, WWU, 39:06.12.  100 Hurdles – Cheryl Hong, SPU, 16.84.  400 Hurdles – Maliea Luquin, SPU, 1:04.62.   4x400 Relay – Seattle Pacific4:03.15.  High Jump – Katelyn Wright, WWU, 1.57 – 5-1 ¾.  Pole Vault – Anna Paradee, WWU, 3.50 – 11-5 ¾.  Shot Put – Sammi Markham, SPU, 12.09 – 39-8.  Discus – Katie Reichert, WWU, 48.51 – 159-2.

GNAC 2014-15 ATHLETES OF THE WEEK FOR WEEK OF MARCH 3-9

Men: Track – Cody Warner, Western Oregon (Fr., Springfield, OR – Thurston) had two of the best sprint times in GNAC history in sweeping the 100 and 200 meters at the Willamette Opener.  His time of 10.68 in the 100 equaled the sixth best in GNAC history.  He won the 200 meters in the seventh best time in GNAC history, running 21.51.  He also won the long jump with a leap of 21-0 ¾.  Field– Franz Burghagen, Alaska Anchorage (Sr., Berlin, Germany) grabbed the early NCAA Division II national lead in the javelin with an automatic national qualifying mark of 224-10.  He was one of five GNAC javelin throwers to post national qualifying marks Saturday at various venues. 

Women: Track – Haley O’Connor, Western Washington (Sr., Sammamish, WA - Eastlake) won the 1500 meters at the UPS Five-Way meet with a meet record time of 4:37.26, the best opening time of the season in the conference.  Field – Katie Reichert, Western Washington (Sr., Longview, WA – Kelso) took the national lead in the javelin with an automatic qualifying mark of 159-2.  Last spring, she finished second in that event at nationals with a throw of 165-2, just one inch back of teammate Bethany Drake, who is redshirting this spring.

GNAC Weekly (PDF version)