Thursday, May 21, 2015

ALLENDALE, Mich. - Great Northwest Athletic Conference athletes had several outstanding performances Thursday in the opening day of the 2015 NCAA Division II National Track and Field Championships at Grand Valley State University Stadium.

However, only one of those performances - in the final event of Day 1 - produced points as Alaska Anchorage junior Dominik Notz finished fourth in the men's 10,000 meters in a time of 30:01.43 to earn the Seawolves five team points and himself a NCAA All-American award.

Notz, who came into the race seeded second, finished just two second back of third-place finisher Phil Schneider of Colorado Mines, who ran a 29:59.48.  Two Southern Indiana runners - Tyler Pence (29:42.85) and Johnnie Guy (29:52.27) - went 1-2.

The GNAC's other top performances came in preliminaries.

In the women's steeplechase, Katelyn Steen of Western Washington cruised to an easy win in her heat and had the best time overall, covering the 3,000 meters in a time of 10:25.32.  CWU's Dani Eggleston, who was eighth overall, will join her in Friday's finals after posting a qualifying time of 10:35.21.

Two GNAC sprinters had solid days.

In the women's 100 meters, UAA's Jamie Ashcroft ran the fastest 100 meter time in GNAC history.  She was clocked in a wind-aided time of 11.64.  Her previous best of 11.69 came last season.  She came in as the 13th seed, but had the sixth best time in the three heats.

Alex Donigian of Western Washington won his heat of the men's 100 in a time of 10.50.  That time ranked seventh overall.  Last February, Donigian earned NCAA Indoor All-American honors placing second in the 60.  He'll need to beat out only one of eight other runners Saturday to add an outdoor All-American award to his resume.

Three other GNAC athletes advanced to Saturday finals in prelims Thursday.  UAA's Haleigh Lloyd qualified for the finals in the women's 400 hurdles with a prelim time of 1:00.29.  That was the fourth best time on the day.

Two 1500 meter runners  also advanced - Haley O'Conner of Western Washington had the 11th best time in the women's two prelim races (4:32.21) and Travis Vugteveen of Simon Fraser earned the 12th and final spot in the men's 1500 with a time of 3:54.04. Twelve runners advance to the finals.

Two GNAC women had near misses in their attempts to earn All-American honors.  McKenna Emmert of Central Washington finished ninth in the pole vault (12-5 1/2) and Shannon Porter of Saint Martin's was ninth in the 10,000 in a time of 35:01.04.  The top eight earn points and All-American recognition.

Porter's time was a season best and ranks sixth in GNAC history.

Action continues in the national meet Friday morning with Day 2 of the heptathlon at 10:30 a.m. (Eastern; 7:30 a.m. Pacific).  UAA's Karolin Anders finished Day 1 in 11th place with 3,062 points.

Also competing Friday in addition to Steen and Eggleston in the finals of the steeplechase at 7:15 p.m. (Eastern) will be Ashcroft in the 200 prelims and top-seed Lindsey Butterworth of Simon Fraser along with Seattle Pacific's Lynelle Decker and UAA's Jessica Pakhala in the 800 meters.

On the men's side, Ryan Macdonald will throw the discus where he is the sixth seed.  Another Viking - Travis Milbrandt - will run in the 110 hurdles and Simon Fraser's Cameron Proceviat enters as the seventh seed in the 800 prelims.

WOMEN

Thursday's Results: Heptathlon - 11 . Karolin Anders, UAA, 3,062 (Day 1: 100 Hurdles - 15.37 w2.1; High Jump - 1.67 - 5-5 3/4;  Shot Put - 11.59 - 38-0 1/4;  200 - 25.77).   Pole Vault - 9.  McKenna Emmert, CWU, 3.80 – 12-5 1/2. 1500 Prelims - 11. Haley O’Connor, WWU, 4:32.21 (advances); 14. Beatrice Decker, UAA, 4:35.07.  100 Prelims - 6.  Jamie Ashcroft, UAA, 11.64 (advances). Steeplechase Prelims - 1. Katelyn Steen, WWU, 10:25.32 (advances); 8. Dani Eggleston, CWU, 10:35.21 (advances); 17. Erin Chinchar, CWU, 11:02.31.  400 Hurdles Prelims - 4. Haleigh Lloyd, UAA, 1:00.29 (advances). 10,000 - 9. Shannon Porter, SMU, 35:01.04; 11. Amy Johnston, UAA, 35:12.41; 13. Caroline Kurgat, UAA, 35:42.53.

Friday's Schedule: 10:30 a.m. – Heptathlon (Anders). 5:30 p.m. – 200 Prelims  (16. Jamie Ashcroft, UAA, 24.08). 6 p.m. – 800 Prelims (1. Lindsey Butterworth, SFU, 2:04.11; 7. Lynelle Decker, SPU, 2:08.13; 21. Jessica Pakhala, UAA, 2:10.59). 7:15 p.m. – Steeplechase (Steen, Eggleston).

Saturday's Schedule: 11 a.m. - Javelin (3. Katie Reichert, WWU, 50.48 – 165-7; 7. Kalli Walker, SMU, 47.36 – 155-4; 14. Amanda Short, WOU, 44.12 – 144-9; 15. Sheila Limas De La Cruz, WOU, 44.04 – 144-6). 2:25 p.m. – 1500 (O’Connor). 3:25 p.m. – 100 (Ashcroft). 3:45 p.m. – 800 (Butterworth, Decker, Pakhala). 4:10 p.m. – 400 Hurdles (Lloyd).  4:40 p.m. – 200 (Ashcroft). 5 p.m. - 5000 (4. Jennifer Johnson, SFU, 16:26.59; 8. Katelyn Steen, WWU, 16:35.53; 9. Shannon Porter, SMU, 16:37.99; 11. Anna Patti, SPU, 16:41.56; 17. Amy Johnston, UAA, 16:52.50).

MEN (All Times Eastern)

Thursday's Results: Hammer – 17. Kevin Stanley, CWU, fouled.  1500 Prelims - 12. Travis Vugteveen, SFU, 3:54.04 (advances); 17. Marc-Antoine Rouleau, SFU, 3:59.77.  100 Prelims - 7.  Alex Donigian, WWU, 10.50 (advances).  10,000 - 4.  Dominik Notz, UAA, 30:01.43. 

Friday's Schedule: 5 p.m. - Discus (6. Ryan Macdonald, WWU, 54.07 – 177-5). 6:15 p.m. – 800 Prelims (7. Cameron Proceviat, SFU, 1:49.64). 6:50 p.m. - 110 Hurdles Prelims (14. Travis Milbrandt, WWU, 14.21). 

Saturday's Schedule: 12:30 p.m. - Pole Vault (7. Payton Lewis, NNU, 5.15 – 16-10 ¾ ). 2:05 p.m. - High Jump (17. Mikel Smith, SMU, 2.10 – 6-10 ¾ ).  2:15 p.m. - Javelin (2. Franz Burghagen, UAA, 68.52 – 224-10; 8. Cody Parker, UAA, 65.91 – 216-3; 10. Brian Chalkley, SMU, 65.19 – 213-10; 13. John Haskin, WWU, 64.70 – 212-3; 14. Slater Hirst, WWU, 64.32 – 211-0; 18. Justin Larson, WOU, 63.12 – 207-1).  2:35 p.m. – 1500 (Vugteveen). 2:55 p.m. – 110 Hurdles (Milbrandt). 3:35 p.m. – 100 (Donigian). 3:55 p.m. – 800 (Proceviat). 5:25 p.m. - 5000 (5. Dominik Notz, UAA, 14:07.05; 9. Henry Cheseto, UAA, 14:08.86).