Saturday, May 13, 2017

MONMOUTH, Ore. – A pair of individual victories on Saturday put Alaska Anchorage back on top of the podium as the Seawolves claimed the team title at the GNAC Women’s Track and Field Championships at Western Oregon University’s MacArthur Field.

The Seawolves finished with three individual champions and one relay title in the meet to win their first GNAC team title since 2014 with a score of 158 points. Simon Fraser placed second with 131.5 points, Central Washington finished third with 113 and Seattle Pacific placed fourth with 109.5 points.

Freshman Vanessa Aniteye started for the Seawolves by claiming her first GNAC championship in the 400 meters with a time of 54.88 seconds. Sophomore Zennah Jepchumba also won her first GNAC title as she cruised to a win 10-second win in the 5,000 meters with a time of 17:21.08. Alaska Anchorage also took the 4x100-meter relay title with the team of Jamie Ashcroft, Mary Kathleen Cross, Marie Ries and Aniteye running 46.76 seconds.

Concordia senior McKenzie Warren was selected by coaches as the Female Athlete of the Meet after she won all three of her throwing events, all with meet record efforts. On Friday, Warren won the discus with a mark of 157 feet, 11.25 inches, and the shot put with a mark of 54 feet, 3.75 inches. She added the hammer on Saturday with a mark of 190 feet, 9.25 inches, that broke not only the meet record of 178 feet, 10 inches, set by Audrey Oswald of Humboldt State in 2006, but broke the GNAC record of 187 feet, 2 inches, set earlier this month by teammate Christina MacDonald.

The Clan picked up four individual winners and the 4x400-meter relay. Freshman Katherine Lucas won the 100 meters and 200 meters to upset Alaska Anchorage senior Jamie Ashcroft, who was looking for her fourth straight title in both events. Lucas finished just ahead of Ashcroft in the 100 meters with a time of 12.13 seconds and edge out teammate Valda Kabia in the 200 meters in a time of 24.68 seconds. Junior Miryam Bassett gave SFU the title in the 1,500 meters with a time of 4:35.85.

Sophomore Addy Townsend, meanwhile, caught Alaska Anchorage’s Danielle McCormick in the final 100 meters to claim her first GNAC outdoor title in the 800 meters with a time of 2:07.96.

The Simon Fraser 4x400-meter relay team of Alana Mussatto, Townsend, Sophie Dodd and Chantel Desch cruised to the victory with a time of 3:46.48.

Senior Bethany Drake led two Western Washington champions with a meet record in the javelin. After finishing second last year, Drake won with a mark of 171 feet, 11.25 inches. That bettered the previous meet record of 164 feet, 8.25 inches, set last year by former teammate Katie Reichert. Senior Jasmine McMullin repeated as the triple jump champion with a mark of 39 feet, 6.5 inches, that was three feet better than the runner-up.

Central Washington captured both title sin the hurdles. Sophomore Mariyah Vongsaveng bolted out of the blocks strong to win the 100-meter crown with a time of 13.90 seconds. Freshman Emily Bland led from start to finish to win the 400-meter hurdles in a time of 1:00.58.

Sophomore Tori Johnson joined Warren as a champion for Concordia. After placing second at the conference in the high jump in 2016, Johnson won with a mark of 5 feet, 6.5 inches. Western Washington senior Miranda Osadchey also cleared 5-6.5, but had more misses at a previous height to give Johnson the title.