Monday, March 11, 2024
by Evan O'Kelly, Assistant Commissioner For Communications

PITTSBURG, Kan. – Twelve total USTFCCCA All-America performances achieved by a collection of 12 Great Northwest Athletic Conference student-athletes highlighted the conference’s achievements at the 2024 NCAA Division II Indoor Track and Field Championships at the Plaster Center over the weekend.

A top-8 finish qualifies for first-team All-America status while the ninth-through-16th places earn second-team All-America, as announced by the coaches association.

Simon Fraser’s Marie-Eloise Leclair narrowly missed out on a national title, finishing second in the 200 meters with a time of 23.46 seconds. She took home All-America honors finishing behind national champion Alexis Brown of Lenoir-Rhyne who ran 23.32. Leclair also earned All-America in the 60 meters, turning in a third-place finish with a time of 7.36 seconds. Leclair upped her indoor All-American count to five, tying her for the third-most total indoor All-American honors in GNAC history, including relays.

Central Washington’s E’lexis Hollis took home All-America accolades after placing fourth in the 60 meters with a time of 7.36 seconds in the finals. It was a fitting finish to a historic indoor season for the Wildcat, who won the GNAC Indoor Championships title in the 60 meters with a conference-record time of 7.29 seconds.

Freshman phenom Emy Ntekpere was CWU’s other All-American, earning second-team recognition by placing 11th in the high jump. The GNAC Indoor Championships Women’s Field Athlete of the Meet cleared a height of 5’ 5.75” (1.67 meters) to close out her stellar freshman indoor campaign. Ntekpere also earned All-American status in the triple jump, finishing in 13th place with a leap of 39’ 8.75” (12.11 meters).

Bringing home second-team All-America honors in the 5,000 meters was Seattle Pacific’s Annika Esvelt, who placed 10th among the field of 20 competitors. Esvelt ran a personal-best time of 16:29.98, which stands as the seventh-best performance in GNAC indoor history. It was Esvelt’s second indoor All-American award, after she placed eighth in the 5,000 meters at the 2022 championship event.

Marian Ledesma of Western Washington garnered All-America status in the 800 meters, finishing in eighth place with a time of 2:12.23. Ledesma got to the finals with a stellar preliminary run, finishing with the second-fastest time among 17 competitors at 2:08.57.

The Viking women also turned in an All-American performance in the distance medley relay, closing the season with a ninth-place finish. The quartet of Sophie Wright, Caitlyn Cheney, Emmy Kroontje and Ila Davis produced a time of 11:30.31 to claim second-team All-America honors.

Lauryn Chandler of CWU finished her stellar senior campaign with a 60-meter hurdles time of 8.58 seconds, just 0.03 off her GNAC-winning time of 8.55 seconds. Chandler’s mark was good for a 10th-place finish in the preliminary round of the event.

Kevin McDermott competed in both the 3,000 meters and 5,000 meters, after winning both of those titles at the GNAC Indoor Championships on his way to being named the GNAC Men’s Track Athlete of the Meet. McDermott finished in 12th place among a field of 17 runners in the 5,000 meters, wrapping up his stellar indoor campaign with a time of 14:16.91 to earn second-team All-America recognition. McDermott also clocked a 3,000 meters time of 8:27.38 to finish in 16th place.

Representing Alaska Anchorage was freshman Joshua Caleb, who won the GNAC Indoor Championships titles in both the 60 meters and 200 meters. Caleb put forth a respectable showing in the preliminary round of each event, placing 11th in the 200 meters with a time of 21.65 and 15th in the 60 meters with a time of 6.84. Caleb’s finishes in the 60 meters and 200 meters were enough to earn him second-team All-America.

Drew Klein, who was named the GNAC Indoor Championships Men’s Field Athlete of the Meet, represented his team in the heptathlon. Klein took 14th place with a total of 4,977 points.