Saturday, May 14, 2016

MONMOUTH, Ore. – It took a come-from-behind effort, but Seattle Pacific came through in winning their second straight Great Northwest Athletic Conference women’s track and field championship as the GNAC Championships concluded Saturday at Western Oregon University’s McArthur Field.

The Falcons benefitted from three individual champions on the day to finish with a score of 148.5 points, five points better than the day one leader, Central Washington, which finished second with 143.5 points. Alaska Anchorage placed a distant third with 119 points.

For Seattle Pacific, it is their fifth title in the last seven years and the eighth since the formation of the conference in 2001.

The Falcons’ Mailea Luquin was named the meet’s Most Outstanding Performer after she tied the GNAC record for most individual victories in single meet. The winner in heptathlon last week and the long jump yesterday, Luquin won the 100-meter hurdles in a time of 14.07 seconds and placed third in the 400-meter hurdles in a time of 1:03.64.

Seattle Pacific received a pair of repeat victories, one of five on Saturday and six in the meet, from Jahzelle Ambus in the 400 meters and Lynelle Decker in the 1,500 meters. Ambus cruised in the 400 to win in 56.80 seconds while Decker pulled away in the final lap to win the 1,500 in 4:29.68. Decker also appeared to have victory in the 800 meters, but Simon Fraser’s Sophie Dodd moved up four places in the final 200 meters to win in a time of 2:11.57.

Alaska Anchorage’s Jamie Ashcroft became a three-time champion in both the 100 meters and 200 meters, cruising to the 100 win in 12.15 seconds and capturing the 200 in 25.01 seconds. Western Washington’s Jasmine McMullin was also a repeat champion, capturing the triple jump with a mark of 38 feet, 9.75 inches.

McMullin was one of theee champions for the Vikings on the afternoon. Katie Reichert set a meet record in the javelin with her winning mark of 164 feet, 8.25 inches. That shattered the former record of 156 feet, 11 inches, set by Western Washington’s Monika Grusecki in 2011. The javelin competition featured an amazing field of two NCAA automatic qualifiers and 11 provisional qualifiers.

Anna Paradee was Western Washington’s third champion, capturing a rain-slickened pole vault with a clearance of 11 feet, 7 inches.

Saint Martin’s saw two of its seniors come away with victories. Kirby Neale won the hammer with a mark of 163 feet, 5.25 inches and Shannon Porter surprised the competition with her victory in the 5,000 meters before pulling away over the final 400 meters to win with a time of 16:42.14.

Alaska Anchorage’s third victory of the day came from freshman Yvonne Jeschke, who won the 400-meter hurdles in a time of 1:01.95.

Central Washington won the 4x100 meter relay in 47.65 seconds, their first conference title in the event since 2006. Simon Fraser defended their title in the 4x400 meter relay in a time of 3:50.91.