Friday, May 27, 2022

ALLENDALE, Mich. – Alaska Anchorage sophomore Joshua Wagner reset his conference record in the men’s 110-meter hurdles and Simon Fraser junior Alison Andrews-Paul cruised to the top qualifying time in the women’s 800 meters to lead the GNAC’s performances on day two of the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field Championships at the GVSU South Complex.

Wagner was the top time qualifier in the men’s 110-meter hurdle preliminaries, finishing third in his heat and fifth overall with a time of 14.00 seconds. That reset his conference and school record of 14.15 seconds, which he set to win the GNAC Outdoor Championships.

Andrews-Paul, the Division II record-holder in the women’s 800 and the Division II champion indoors, built nearly a 15-meter leader over the final 400 meters to cruise to the top time in the preliminaries at 2:07.24. She was over two seconds faster than the second-place finisher in her heat (2:09.42 by Northwest Missouri State’s Kaylee Harp) and takes the fastest time by nearly a second into Saturday’s final.

Her Simon Fraser teammate, junior Aaron Ahl, earned a spot in the men’s 800-meter final, placing fourth in his heat with a time of 1:49.75 that not only placed fourth overall in the preliminary heats but also improved his No. 3 time on the GNAC all-time list.

Western Washington freshman Drew Weber placed 16th in the men’s 800-meter preliminaries in a time of 1:50.76 while Simon Fraser freshman Charlie Dannatt was 18th in a time of 1:51.11.

Alaska Anchorage senior Elena Cano closed out her career by placing 12th in the heptathlon with a score of 4,927 points. Cano opened the day by placing eighth in the long jump with a mark of 17 feet, 10.25 inches and closed the competition by placing sixth in the 800 meters in a time of 2:22.50.

Simon Fraser freshman Marie-Éloïse Leclair closed her first Division II Championships by placing 13th in the women’s 200 meters with a time of 23.97 seconds.

Andrews-Paul and Leclair closed the day by combining with freshman Erika Binder and sophomore Emily Lindsay to qualify for the finals in the women’s 4x400-meter relay. The team placed third in its heat and fifth overall in a time of 3:44.85.

The final day of competition at the Division II Outdoor Track and Field Championships begins at 11:30 a.m. (EDT) with the men’s javelin. The conference will be represented by athletes in the men’s triple jump, men’s 1,500 meters, men’s 110-meter hurdles, women’s 400 meters, men’s 800 meters, women’s 800 meters, women’s 200 meters, men’s and women’s 5,000 meters and the women’s 4x400-meter relay.