Tuesday, February 28, 2017

INDIANAPOLIS – A total of 42 athletes from eight Great Northwest Athletic Conference program will be represented at the 2017 NCAA Division II Indoor Track and Field Championships, which will be held Mar. 9-11 at the Birmingham CrossPlex at Birmingham, Ala.

Alaska Anchorage leads the way with a total of 14 athletes selected to the national meet, which includes athletes on both the men’s and women’s 4x400-meter relay and the women’s distance medley relay. Senior Jamie Ashcroft, the GNAC Championships Women’s Athlete of the Meet and reigning GNAC 60-meter and 200-meter champion, is one of three GNAC athletes selected to compete in two individual events. She will compete in both sprints as well as the 4x400-meter relay.

Ashcroft enters the meet with the fourth fastest time in Division II this season in the 200 meters in 24.09 seconds. Caroline Kurgat is entered in the women’s 3,000 meters with the seventh best time nationally at 9:31.08. Dominik Notz will race in the men’s 5,000 meters, owning the sixth best time in Division II at 14:03.95, while Travis Turner is sixth in the heptathlon at 5,211 points. The Seawolves also enter the meet with the 10th best times in both the men’s 4x400-meter relay (3:13.75) and the women’s distance medley relay (11:39.24).

Simon Fraser followed close behind with 10 selections. Senior Vladislav Tsygankov leads the way as he was selected to compete in both the 400 meters and the long jump. The Russian native is the reigning GNAC champion in both events. Senior Chantel Desch enters the meet with the ninth fastest time in Division II in the 400 meters at 55.37 seconds.

Saint Martin’s Shannon Porter will close her collegiate career on a high note, competing in both the women’s 3,000 meters and 5,000 meters. Porter has the fourth fastest time in Division II in the 5,000 meters in 16:29.89 and the sixth fastest time in the 3,000 meters at 9:30.70

Western Oregon’s David Ribich will compete in the men’s mile where he has the fourth fastest time in Division II with a GNAC record of 4:01.32. He will also run on the WOU men’s distance medley relay, which leads Division II with a GNAC record time of 9:45.45. Olivia Woods enters with the eighth fastest time in the nation in the 800 meters at 2:10.14, having punched her ticket on Feb. 25 at the SPU Final Qualifier.

Saint Martin’s lone entry, Mikel Smith, leads the nation with his GNAC record in the men’s high jump at 7 feet, 3 inches. He is also the defending outdoor Division II national champion. Northwest Nazarene’s Payton Lewis is fourth in the men’s pole vault, entering with a mark of 17 feet, 4.5 inches while Central Washington’s Kodiak Landis has the fifth best total in the pentathlon at 5,269 points.

Mariyah Vongaaveng, the lone female representative for the Wildcats, enters with the sixth best time in Division II in the women’s 60-meter hurdles in 8.51 seconds. Western Washington’s Anna Paradee enters with the 10th best mark in the women’s pole vault with a mark of 12 feet, 6.75 inches.