Friday, May 27, 2016

BRADENTON, Fla. – Saint Martin’s high jumper Mikel Smith and Alaska Anchorage decathlete Cody Thomas put together national championship efforts of record proportions Friday, leading the way for the GNAC on day two of the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field Championships at the IMG Academy Track.

Smith became Saint Martin’s first national champion in any sport, clearing a conference record height 7 feet, 1 inch. The performance was nearly two inches better than his own record of 6 feet, 11.75 inches, set in 2015, as he became the first GNAC athlete to ever clear seven feet.

Thomas, meanwhile, never relinguished his day one lead in the decathlon as he claimed the GNAC’s third ever national title in the event with the second best point total in league history over 7,590 points. The senior had four personal bests on the day and set Alaska Anchorage’s school records in the 110-meter hurdles (14.74 seconds) and the pole vault (14 feet, 9 inches).

The win for Smith came in a dramatic competition that pitted Smith against the defending national champion, Jeron Robinson of Texas A&M-Kingsville. The pair both cleared 7 feet, 1 inch, before both Smith and Robinson went out on three attempts a 7 feet, 2.25 inches. While Smith cleared each of his first four heights on his first attempt, Robinson missed on his first attempt at 6 feet, 8.75 inches, which gave Smith the lead in the competition.

That left Lewis’ Issac Jean-Paul, who elected to pass after missing his first attempt at 7-1. He also passed at 7-2.25 before missing his two allowed attempts at 7 feet, 3.25 inches, making Smtih the champion.

Thomas, meanwhile, left little doubt as he never trailed en route to UAA’s fourth ever Division II outdoor track title. He opened day two with a third place finish in the 110-meter hurdles, with the school record time, and went on to finish eighth in the discus at 111 feet, 1 inch. The biggest difference, however, came in the pole vault where Thomas skyed to the school record at 14 feet, 9 inches, placing sixth and building a lead over second place Shakiel Chattoo that would prove insurmountable.

Chattoo brought himself within 10 points after Thomas finished seventh in the javelin with a personal best of 166 feet, 6 inches, but Thomas came in as the better of the two in the 1,500 meters and cruised to a 10th place time of 4:44.69 for the title.

Central Washington’s Dani Eggleston gave the GNAC its third All-American trophy of the day she placed eighth in the finals of the women’s steeplechase in a time of 10:28.85. Montana State Billings’ Della Lyle just missed the podium, finishing ninth in a time of 10:33.17.

Seattle Pacific’s Lynelle Decker added an 800-meter final to her program on Saturday, automatically qualifying as she placed second in her preliminary heat with a time of 2:09.58. Decker’s time was the sixth best on the day. The senior will race in the women’s 1,500-meter dinal at 5:45 p.m. (Eastern) before running the 800 meters at 7:05 p.m. Alaska Anchorage’s Tamara Perez placed 17th in the 800 with a time of 2:13.43.

Western Oregon’s Badane Sultessa and Simon Fraser’s Cameron Proceviat were among the near misses for the GNAC in the men’s 800 meters. Sultessa had the seventh fastest time of the preliminaries, finishing fourth in his heat in 1:50.99, but just missed making the final as a time qualifier. Proceviat was in the same boat, running the day’s eighth fastest time in 1:50.99 as the third place finisher in his heat.

The Wolves’ Josh Dempsey was 15th in the preliminaries and Alaska Anchorage’s Nathan Kipchumba was 16th, both clocking times of 1:53.54. The Seawolves’ Joe Day placed 17th in 1:53.59 and Western Oregon’s Josh Hanna placed 21st in 1:56.09.

Western Washington’s Travis Milbrandt missed the men’s 110-meter hurdles title by .11 seconds, placing ninth in the preliminaries with a time of 14.22 seconds. His teammate, Alex Donigian, was 10th in the preliminaries of the men’s 200 meters, finishing in a time of 21.25 seconds. Alaska Anchorage’s men’s 4x400-meter relay team of Liam Lindsay, Nicholas Taylor, Adam Commandeur and Thomas just missed a spot in the finals, placing ninth in 3:11.19.

Jamie Ashcroft of Alaska Anchorage closed her meet with a 14th place preliminaries finish in the women’s 200 meters in a time of 24.46 seconds. Seattle Pacific’s Maliea Luquin placed 14th in the women’s 100-meter hurdles in 14.02 seconds.

Western Washington’s Megan Mortensen was the only other GNAC field event entrant on the day, placing 17th in the women’s discus with a throw of 141 feet, 5 inches.

Alaska Anchorage and Saint Martin’s find themselves tied for seventh in the men’s team competition with 10 points. Central Washington is among teams tied for 41st in the women’s team competition with one point.

Field events on the final day of the national meet begin at 11:30 a.m. (Eastern) with the men’s javelin. Running events commence at 5:10 p.m.