Wednesday, May 10, 2017

MONMOUTH, Ore. – Alaska Anchorage’s men and Seattle Pacific’s women will once again be the favorites as the GNAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships return this weekend to Western Oregon University’s McArthur Field.

The Seawolves have built a dynasty of sorts, having won every cross country and track and field team title since the beginning of the 2015-16 season. Alaska Anchorage won the meet going away last year with a score of 163.5 points, 32 points ahead of second place Western Washington. They enter the meet with five athletes leading the GNAC in different events, more than any other school.

Seattle Pacific’s women have built momentum since the winter when they claimed the GNAC indoor track and field title. The Falcons held off a late challenge from Central Washington last year with a score of 148.5 points. The defending champs will be challenged, however, by talented squads from both Alaska Anchorage and Simon Fraser.

The Falcons and Seawolves enter the women’s meet with leads as the two schools split 29 of points from the heptathlon at last week’s GNAC Combined Event Championships. Northwest Nazarene has the early lead in the men’s competition with 11 points from the decathlon. Alaska Anchorage claimed 10 points while Concordia and Central Washington each scored nine points.

MEN
As usual, much of UAA’s points will come from the distance events. Senior Dominik Notz has automatically qualified for the NCAA Championships in the 10,000 meters (29:12.23) and owns the GNAC’s top time in the 5,000. Junior Edwin Kangogo leads the conference in the steeplechase (8:56.65) and is second to Notz in both the 5,000 and 10,000.

Senior Travis Turner is the favorite in the 110-meter hurdles with a season best of 14.80 seconds. Senior Tevin Gladden has the GNAC’s second best mark in the high jump (6-8.75) and is also expected to score in the long jump.

Western Washington finished second to the Seawolves last year and brings considerable strength in the field events. Junior Brandon Pless leads the GNAC with a mark of 53 feet in the shot put and is fourth in the hammer at 180 feet, 4 inches. Senior Gordie Kordas is third in the pole vault with a best of 15 feet, 9 inches. Sophomore Alex Barry is the only GNAC athlete to surpass 200 feet in the javelin with a mark of 204 feet, 5 inches.

On the track, senior Andrew Wise is among the leaders in the steeplechase with his time of 9:16.39 while senior Cody McCranie has potential for points in the 800 and 1,500 meters. The Vikings also return the defending triple jump champ in senior Mark Seely.

So goes the middle distances, so goes Western Oregon. The Wolves have one of the top runners in the nation in the discipline in junior David Ribich. He enters the meet as the Division II leader in the 1,500 meters with a GNAC record time of 3:41.45. He also leads the conference and is fourth in the nation in the 800 meters at 1:49.41.

Based on season best performances, Western Oregon has the possibility of scoring 38 points in those two races alone. The Wolves have the top four runners in the 800, with sophomore AJ Holmberg trailing Ribich with a time of 1:51.60.

The distances are far from the Wolves’ only weapons. Freshman Alani Troutman has the league’s top mark in the long jump at 23 feet, 10.75 inches. Senior Wesley Gray is leads the triple jump at 48 feet, 8.75 inches. The Wolves also have potential scorers in the sprints in sophomore Codi Blodgett in the 100 meters, junior Cody Warner in the 200 meters and senior Aaron Whitaker in the 400 meters.

Northwest Nazarene enters the meet with 10 points and the benefit of a pair of defending champions. Junior Payton Lewis won the GNAC decathlon title last week. He stands an excellent shot of defending his two pole vault titles, entering the meet with a NCAA automatic qualifying mark of 17 feet, 2.75 inches. In addition, Lewis is second in the GNAC in the 110-meter hurdles at 14.97 seconds.

Senior Cole Hoberg will try to defend his title in the high jump, entering the meet with a season best of 6 feet, 8.75 inches. Junior Jared Webster hopes to give the Crusaders a one-two finish in the pole vault with a mark of 16 feet, 0.75 inches. Senior Ebu Camara will be a factor in the sprints with the conference’s second best times in the 100 meters (10.64) and 200 meters (21.52).

Central Washington senior Armando Tafoya leads the GNAC in the hammer with a provisional qualifying mark of 193 feet, 3 inches, while also ranking in the conference’s top-four in the discus and shot put. Senior Kodiak Landis placed third in the GNAC decathlon and is a potential point scorer in the long jump.

Freshman Kyler Ooley will provide points in the sprints, entering with the third best time in the 100 meters at 10.87 seconds. Junior Trevaughn Scott ranks third in the 400-meter hurdles (55.41).

Concordia freshman Caleb Bridge set the GNAC discus record two weeks ago with a mark of 182 feet, 8 inches, and he also leads the conference with a mark of 57 feet, 3 inches, in the shot put. Freshman Jakob Chamberlin is second in the discus with a mark of 174 feet, 6 inches. Freshman Cyrius Vea is third in the shot put (51-11.25) and senior Jimmy Wheeler is third in the javelin (193-10).

Simon Fraser senior Daniel Kelloway aims for his third consecutive title in the 400 meters, entering the meet with a GNAC best of 47.80 seconds. Junior Vladislav Tsygankov ran a GNAC record of 51.48 seconds in his first ever 400-meter hurdles. He is second in the league in both the 400 meters (47.94) and the triple jump (48-6.75) and third in the long jump (23-6.75). The Clan is also looking for a solid performance from freshman Nathan Mah, who ranks third in the GNAC in the 200 meters (21.87).

Saint Martin’s senior Mikel Smith, the defending Division II high jump champion, is in the hunt for his first GNAC outdoor title. Smith finished second to Hoberg last year and enters the meet with the conference’s top mark of 6 feet, 11 inches. Smith went 7 feet, 3.25 inches, to win the Division II indoor title in March.

Seattle Pacific returns one champion in Peyton Harris. The junior enters the meet with the GNAC’s second best mark at 23 feet, 7.5 inches.

Montana State Billings enters with a pair of potential champions. Junior Sam Zook owns the GNAC’s top marks this season in both the 100 meters (10.45) and 200 meters (21.11). Sophomore Beau Ackerman is second in the javelin with a provisional qualifying mark of 197 feet, 4 inches.

WOMEN
Seawolves’ senior Karolin Anders scored 5,032 points to claim her third GNAC heptathlon title. She helped UAA enter the weekend with 15 points already on the board.

Anders, who is entered in four other individual events, leads three defending champions competing for the Seawolves. Senior Jamie Ashcroft is vying to become a four-time champion in both the 100 and 200 meters. Her time of 11.89 seconds in the 100 is second in the GNAC while her 24.79 seconds in the 200 is fourth. Sophomore Yvonne Jeschke will defend her 400-meter hurdles crown and is third in the GNAC in 1:02.30.

Freshman Vanessa Aniteye is the conference leader in the 400 meters at 55.11 seconds. Sophomore Danielle McCormick leads the GNAC in the 800 meters with a UAA record of 2:07.60 and sophomore Zennah Jepchumba has the top time in the 10,000 meters at 36:11.04.

Scout Cai leads the Seattle Pacific title defense. The freshman placed second in the heptathlon with a score of 4,894 points. She is also is second in the GNAC in the high jump, clearing 5 feet, 6 inches, and third in the pole vault.

Senior Kyra Brannan is the favorite in the long jump, leading the conference with a mark of 19 feet, 7 inches. She is also third in the GNAC in the 200 meters and fourth in the 100 meters. Junior Mary Charleson has the top time in the GNAC in the 5,000 meters (16:41.59). Freshman Lani Taylor will contend in the 100 meters while sophomore Geneva Lehnert will contend for the high jump title after finishing second last year.

The Falcons’ biggest surprise has been senior Sammi Markham. She enters the meet with the 12th best mark in Division II in the javelin at 146 feet, 11 inches, and is sixth in the GNAC in the shot put.

Simon Fraser stands to climb from its seventh place finish last year with provisional nationals qualifiers in every event from 100 meters to 1,500 meters. Sophomore Addy Townsend leads three qualifiers in the 800 meters, ranking sixth in Division II at 2:07.99, while defending champion Sophie Dodd is 18th at 2:09.11.

Junior Julia Howley enters the meet ranked 10th in Division II in the 1,500 meters at 4:25.45 while Townsend is 15th at 4:28.36. In the sprints, freshman Katherine Lucas leads the league in the 100 meters (11.82), sophomore Valda Kabia tops the 200 meters (24.13), senior Chantel Desch is second in the 400 meters (55.16) and freshman Diana Voloshin leads the 100-meter hurdles (14.03). The Clan also enters with a GNAC record mark in the 4x100-meter relay at 46.19 seconds.

Central Washington has potential champions in the hurdles and field events. Freshman Emily Bland and junior Ali Anderson are first and second in the GNAC in the 400-meter hurdles with times of 1:01.34 and 1:01.40, respectively. Sophomore Mariyah Vongsaveng is second in the 100-meter hurdles at 14.09 seconds.

Senior McKenna Emmert will compete for the pole vault title with a best this season of 12 feet, 1.5 inches, while senior Angelique Whistocken currently has the sixth best mark in Division II in the javelin (149-8). Sophomore Alexa Shindruk will add points in the distances with the second best time in the 10,000 and third best in the 5,000.

Western Washington returns a trio of returning champions, all of whom have the potential to repeat. Junior Anna Paradee is on target to repeat as pole vault champion. She set a GNAC record and automatically qualified for nationals with a mark of 13 feet, 1.75 inches last weekend. Senior Jasmine McMullin is also the favorite with the GNAC’s top mark in the triple jump (40-3.25). Two-time champ discus Megan Mortensen enters with the league’s third best mark in the event.

The defending national runner-up in the javelin, Bethany Drake, will look for her first GNAC title and enters the meet with NCAA automatic qualifier of 166 feet, 5 inches. Senior Brittany Grant leads the league in the steeplechase (10:32.60) and is fifth in the 1,500 meters (4:30.15).

Concordia senior McKenzie Warren has set GNAC records this season in both the shot put (56-7.5) and the discus (169-3). She is competing in her first GNAC outdoor championship. Warren also held the hammer record until that was broken by teammate Christina MacDonald last weekend with her throw of 187 feet, 2 inches. MacDonald is also second in the GNAC in the shot put and eighth in the javelin. Sophomore Tori Johnson will make another run at the high jump after placing second as a freshman.

The majority of Western Oregon’s points are expected to come in the middle distances. Sophomore Olivia Woods is ninth in Division II in the 800 meters at 2:08.46. Junior Megan Rose is 15th at 2:09.05 while junior Suzie Van De Grift has NCAA provisional qualifying marks in both the 800 (2:09.47) and the 1,500 (4:31.95). The Wolves also have a trio of provisional qualifiers in the javelin, led by junior Amanda Short and her No. 10 mark of 148 feet, 7 inches.

Saint Martin’s returns one champion in senior Kirby Neale, who enters with the third best mark in the hammer at 183 feet, 6 inches. The Saints also boast a pair of provisional qualifiers in the javelin. Sophomore Jona Spiller is eighth in Division II at 183 feet, 6 inches, while junior Deanna Avalos is 14th at 146 feet, 8 inches.

Northwest Nazarene’s best title chances come from sophomore Lexi Tubbs. The indoor 60-meter hurdles champion is third in the GNAC this season in the 100-meter hurdles at 14.31 seconds. Sophomore Ellie Logan will be in the mix in the javelin with the seventh best mark in the GNAC at 146 feet, 3 inches.

Montana State Billings will put most of its scoring chances in freshman Michaela Johnson, who enters the meet with fifth best mark in the GNAC in the 100-meter hurdles (15.02).