Monday, February 19, 2024
by Evan O'Kelly, Assistant Commissioner For Communications

PORTLAND, Ore. – One point separates the top-two teams after the opening day of the 2024 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Women’s Track & Field Championships on Monday, hosted by the Spokane Sports Commission at The Podium.

Western Washington racked up 50 points on Monday, while reigning champion Western Oregon checked in with 49 points to keep its hopes of a repeat title alive. Third-place Central Washington was not far behind in the team race, totaling 40 points on Day 1.

Ujunwa Nwokoma delivered in a high-pressure moment on the long-jump runway on Monday evening, becoming the fourth woman in GNAC history to repeat as long jump champion. Central Washington’s Emy Ntekpere ripped off a PR jump of 19’ 0.00” on her fifth attempt, temporarily moving her into first place. But in the blink of an eye, Nwokoma found herself back on top as she responded with a season-best leap of 19’ 1.50” that solidified the title. Nwokoma moved up to No. 29 on the NCAA Division II performance list.

Monday’s women’s weight throw title was an emotional one for Western Oregon’s Liliana Lyness, whose four-year career with the Wolves culminated with a gold medal. Lyness made her first trip to the award stand a memorable one, claiming the gold medal with a PR winning throw of 53’ 0.25” (16.16 meters). Lyness’s winner came on her fourth toss, and was the second-best by a GNAC athlete this season. She became the third woman in WOU history to win the weight throw title, and the first since back-to-back titles by Sabrina Freed in 2007-08. Jocelyn Saribay of Saint Martin’s placed second with a toss of 52’ 0.00” (15.85 meters), and WWU’s Katie Potts was third at 51’ 11.25” (15.83 meters).

While Ntekpere settled for the silver medal in the long jump, it didn’t take long for the freshman to strike gold as she won the women’s high jump title on Monday evening. Ntekpere cleared a height of 5’ 7.75” (1.72 meters) to hold off silver medalist Miya Koch of Northwest Nazarene by two inches. Kora Cook of WWU also made the podium, finishing third in the event at 5’ 3.75”.

After finishing second in the 1,500 meters, 5,000 meters and steeple chase at the 2023 GNAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships, Western Washington sophomore Ashley Reeck picked up her first gold medal with the 5,000 meters title. Running a patient race on Monday evening, Reeck nudged her way to the front of the pack midway through and finished strong to claim the crown. Fresh off a PR of 17:06.33 two weeks ago in Seattle, Reeck made it two straight 5,000 meters titles for WWU with a time of 17:30.87 on Monday. Her teammate and defending champion Meaera Nystrom made the podium in third at 17:36.32, while Alaska Anchorage’s Nell Baker was the runner up in 17:33.32. Reeck is the third Viking woman to win the event at the GNAC Indoor Championships, joining Nystrom and two-time winner Sarah Porter (2010-11).

Central Washington’s Ellie DeGroot claimed the school’s first-ever pentathlon crown on Monday, racking up a PR 3,332 points to win the event. DeGroot sat 47 points back of leader Vivien Liessfeld entering the fifth and final event – the 800 meters. She calmly cruised to a first-place finish in 2:22.94, making up the ground and holding on for the pentathlon victory. Hannah Chang of Seattle Pacific placed second with 3,135 points, and Liessfeld wound up third with 3,125 points.

The Vikings successfully defended their distance medley relay title on Monday, with the crew of Mia Crocker, Marian Ledesma, Evelyn Collins-Winn and Ila Davis clocking a time of 11:50.82 to claim their second straight victory. Collins-Winn was the lone newcomer to the group of returners, who made WWU the third GNAC school to win consecutive titles in the event. The Vikings also jumped up to No. 24 on the NCAA performance list with Monday’s win. Simon Fraser placed second with the quartet of Grace Chalk, Veronica Robertson, Elizabeth Vanderput and Rachael Watkins running 12:09.93, and the Western Oregon group of Holly Hutton, Madeline Lambing, Kaydence Nguyen and Riley Smith made the podium at 12:19.49.

The first GNAC record to fall at the championships came under the feet of Simon Fraser’s Marie-Eloise Leclair, who ran a 60-meter prelim time of 7.30 seconds. That topped her own conference all-time record of 7.33 seconds, which she achieved on the way to last year’s GNAC title. The record low also elevated Leclair to No. 3 on the NCAA performance list. The junior comfortably cruised into the 200 meters finals as well, running the top prelim time of 24.26 seconds as she’ll seek a third straight GNAC title in the event on Tuesday. Leclair holds Division II’s top 200 meters time this year with a GNAC-record mark of 23.60 seconds.

E’lexis Hollis of CWU figures to be Leclair’s top threat in both the 200 meters and 60 meters, as she ran prelim times of 24.94 seconds and 7.37 seconds, respectively. The latter was a PR for Hollis, who moved up to No. 4 on the NCAA performance list ahead of Tuesday’s finals.

WWU’s Marian Ledesma led the women’s 800 meters with a prelim time of 2:13.26 on Monday, while Alaska Anchorage’s Jess Chisar used a strong finish to lock up a trip to the finals with an 800 meters time of 2:14.46.

CWU’s Lauryn Chandler improved upon her GNAC-leading 60-meter hurdles time, clocking in at 8.61 seconds to move up to No. 18 on the NCAA provisional qualifying list. The Seawolves landed a trio of qualifiers into Tuesday’s finals, including PRs by Blanca De Arvizu Sarrias (8.86 seconds) and Mette Van Der Meer (8.95 seconds).

Elise Hopper led the field of women’s 400 meter runners in the prelims, clocking a time of 57.02 seconds for a personal best. Reigning champion Claire Bosma of Simon Fraser gave herself a strong chance to defend her title on Tuesday, finishing No. 2 overall in the prelims with a time of 57.71 seconds.