Friday, February 16, 2018

NAMPA, Idaho – Senior Vladislav Tsygankov became just the second male athlete in GNAC history, and the fourth overall, to become a four-time indoor track conference champion Friday as his victory in the long jump led Simon Fraser to the first day team lead at the 2018 GNAC Indoor Track and Field Championships at the Jacksons Indoor Center.

Tsygankov won five over five inches over Northwest Nazarene freshman Elijah Castro to win his fourth title in the event with a leap of 23 feet, 11.5 inches. The mark is a season-best by nine inches and improves his NCAA Championships provisional qualifying.

In addition to the long jump victory, Tsygankov lined himself up for a potential second consecutive victory in the 400 meters, emerging as the top qualifier out of Friday’s heats with a time of 48.83 seconds.

The long jump performance, coupled with a second straight win for the distance medley relay team, allowed the Clan to take the first-day team lead with 27 points. The DMR squad of Rowan Doherty, Joshua Adhemar, Carlos Vargas and Oliver Jorgensen overtook Western Oregon over the final 1,600-meter leg to win in a time of 10:08.40.

Concordia rode four top-eight finishers in the weight throw and a fifth-place finish from their DMR team to move into second place with 21 points. The two teams lead a close team competition that sees the middle seven teams divided by just eight points. The Cavaliers are followed by Alaska Anchorage (20), Northwest Nazarene (18), Montana State Billings (18), Western Washington (17), Central Washington (14), Western Oregon (13), Saint Martin’s (6) and Seattle Pacific (2).

Freshman Felix Kemboi gave the Seawolves their sixth consecutive champion in the 5,000 meters, outlasting Montana State Billings’ Jorey Egeland by four seconds in a time of 15:12.63. Northwest Nazarene senior John Van Beuren gave the home team a victory in the men’s weight throw with a mark of 58 feet, 6.75 inches.

The top qualifiers in the sprints led the way with personal bests. Concordia senior Carlos Ortiz led the way in the 60 meters. His time of 6.80 seconds moves him up to No. 4 on the GNAC All-Time List. Alaska Anchorage senior Darrion Gray set a school record in the 200 meters with a top time of 21.62 seconds that is No. 2 on the GNAC All-Time List.

Concordia junior James Phillips ran a season-best to lead the 60-meter hurdles at 8.34 seconds. Phillips is also the leader in the heptathlon, winning both the long jump (22-9.75) and the shot put (43-7) with GNAC Championships multi-event record marks to score 3,059 points, Defending champion Kodiak Landis of Central Washington, who set a GNAC Championships multi-event record in the 60 meters (7.02), is second with 2,835 points.

Western Oregon’s David Ribich, meanwhile, set himself up for a potential triple-victory on Saturday as he emerged with the top qualifying time in the 800 meters at 1:54.35. Ribich is the national leader in both the mile and 3,000 meters.

Action begins on Saturday at 9:30 a.m., with the heptathlon 60-meter hurdles. The field events commence at 10 a.m., with the men’s shot put and the running events begin at 11:25 a.m., with the mile.