Friday, May 14, 2021

MONMOUTH, Ore. – Western Washington set the tone for its title defense early.

Junior Ben Malquist, senior Eric Hamel and freshman Jeret Gillingham collected championships and the Vikings had top qualifiers in five of the six running events preliminaries to lead after day one of the 2021 GNAC Men’s Track and Field Championships at McArthur Field.

Malquist won the shot put by over six feet, finishing with a mark of 55 feet that is a provisional qualifying mark for the NCAA Championships and a season-best by over two feet. Gillingham, meanwhile, opened Friday’s running events with a surge over the final two laps to win the steeplechase in a time of 8:55.30. The time is an NCAA Championships provisional qualifier and ranks No. 4 on the GNC All-Time List.

Hamel finished with a big surge over the final two laps to win the evening’s last event, the 10,000 meters, in a time of 31:11.96. The Vikings collected 21 points in the event with placers in third, sixth and seventh place.

Senior Cordell Cummings set the pace in the defense of his hurdles titles with the top qualifying times in both events. The two-time defending champ in the 110-meter hurdles, Cummings led the qualifiers with a lifetime best time of 14.46 seconds that is an NCAA provisional qualifying mark and improves his No. 3 time on the GNAC All-Time List. Cummings also had the top time in the 400-meter hurdles, clocking in at 53.69 seconds.

Junior Bryant Welch was the top qualifier in two of the three sprints. He ran the fastest time in the conference this season in the 200 meters at 21.87 seconds and led the way in the 400 meters with a time of 49.22 seconds.

Western Washington will enter Saturday’s finals with four of the top-five qualifiers in the 110-meter hurdles and four of the eight qualifiers in the 400 meters.

The victories allowed Western Washington to take the first-day lead with 96 points. Central Washington sits in second place with 60 points while Western Oregon is third with 56 points.

Western Oregon collected two field-event championships on their home field. Senior Jalon Fields won the long jump on his final attempt, ending at 23 feet, 4.5 inches. Senior Carsten Collins also won on his final attempt in the discus, taking the gold with a mark of 150 feet, 4 inches.

Central Washington senior Braydon Maier became a three-time champion in the pole vault, winning with a clearance of 15 feet, 6.25 inches. Maier added the pole vault to his victory in the decathlon last week. Maier also placed second in the long jump with a leap of 22 feet, 10.75 inches.

Wildcats’ senior Zachary Davis was the top qualifier in the 100 meters, running the second-best time in the conference this season in 10.73 seconds.

The GNAC Men’s Outdoor Track and Field Championships conclude on Saturday. Field events begin at 12:05 p.m. with the javelin. Running events being at 2:15 p.m. with the 4x100-meter relay.

To protect the health and safety of our student-athletes, coaches and support staff, spectators are not allowed at this year’s GNAC Championships. Live results are available at GNACSports.com.