Saturday, May 15, 2021

MONMOUTH, Ore. – Western Washington would not be denied in repeating as GNAC champion.

Behind a pair of two-win meets for senior Cordell Cummings and Eric Hamel, the Vikings scored a record 289 points to win their second consecutive team title at GNAC Men’s Outdoor Track and Field Championships Saturday at McArthur Field.

Cummings was named the Men’s Track Athlete of the Meet for his repeat titles in the hurdles. He won his third consecutive championship in the 110-meter hurdles in a time of 14.50 seconds. Cummings added the repeat title in the 400-meter hurdles going away, winning by almost a second-and-a-half with a time of 52.75 seconds. Both times are NCAA Championships provisional qualifying marks.

Cummings also contributed to the Vikings’ winning 4x400-meter relay teams, which won in a time of 3:15.93. Western Washington also won the 4x100-meter relay won in a time of 42.43 seconds.

After winning the 10,000 meters on Friday, Hamel surged over the final two laps to win the 5,000 meters on Saturday in a time of 14:39.87.

The winning score for Western Washington surpassed the previous GNAC Championships record of 259.5 points set by Western Oregon in 2003. The Vikings won 11 of the meet’s 21 events. The Wolves finished in a distant second place with 145 points while Central Washington placed third with 130 points.

Senior Calahan Warren earned the title in the 1,500 meters, outdueling Western Oregon senior Justin Crosswhite over the final lap to win in a time of 3:57.44. Junior Bryant Welch captured the 200 meters in 21.72 seconds while junior Mac Franks won the 800 meters in 1:53.51. The Vikings also received Friday victories from senior Ben Malquist in the shot put and freshman Jeret Gillingham in the steeplechase.

Montana State Billings senior Beau Ackerman provided for the Men’s Performance of the Meet when he shattered the meet record in the javelin on his first attempt of the competition. His winning mark of 233 feet, 6 inches, was well past the previous meet record of 228 feet set by Franz Berghagen of Alaska Anchorage in 2013.

Central Washington senior Braydon Maier was named the Men’s Field Athlete of the Meet. Maier won last week’s decathlon with a score of 6,776 points, won the pole vault for the third consecutive year with a clearance of 15 feet, 6.25 inches and took second in the long jump with a mark of 22 feet, 10.75 inches.

Montana State Billings senior Isaiah Girard became the repeat champion in the high jump, winning with a clearance of 6 feet, 7 inches. Northwest Nazarene senior Logan Blake also repeated as the champ in the 400 meters, crossing the line at 48.41 seconds.

Central Washington senior Andrew Harris won the hammer with a mark of 194 feet, 1 inch to give the Wildcats their second straight title in the event. Seattle Pacific sophomore David Njeri won the triple jump with a lifetime best mark of 48 feet, 7.25 inches. Western Oregon sophomore Dominique Loggins won the 100 meters in 10.73 seconds, the Wolves’ their first title in the event since 2004.