Wednesday, April 6, 2022

LAST WEEK'S GNAC ATHLETES OF THE WEEK
MEN’S TRACK
Coleman Nash, Alaska Anchorage
Sophomore • Littleton, Colo.

Nash moved to No. 2 on the GNAC all-time list in the 5,000 meters, finishing third in the event at the Mike Fanelli Track Classic in a time 13:53.33. The fastest non-Division I or open competitor in the event, Nash also surpassed the NCAA Championships provisional qualifying time and ranks No. 2 in Division II this season.

Charlie Dannatt, Simon Fraser
Sophomore • North Vancouver, B.C.

Dannatt moved into No. 2 on the GNAC all-time list in the 1,500 meters, placing fourth in the invitational section of the event at the Stanford Invitational in a time of 3:42.01. The NCAA Championships provisional qualifying time ranks No. 2 in Division II this season. Dannatt also ran an NCAA provisional qualifying time in the 800 meters, winning his section with a time of 1:51.23 that ties him for No. 15 in Division II this season.

Also Nominated: Rajesh Gill (Central Washington), Ase Ackerman (Montana State Billings), Hunter Braseth (Northwest Nazarene), Lance Slichko (Saint Martin’s), Bailey Smith (Western Oregon), Mac Franks (Western Washington).

MEN’S FIELD
David Njeri, Seattle Pacific
Junior • Tacoma, Wash.

Njeri moved up to No. 3 on the GNAC all-time list in the triple jump, placing second in the event at the West Coast Relays in Clovis, California. His mark of 49 feet, 9.75 inches, which came on his final attempt, is an NCAA Championships provisional qualifier and ranks No. 4 in Division II this season. Njeri also placed third in the long jump with a mark of 22 feet, 9 inches.

Also Nominated: Drew Klein (Central Washington), Forrest Cross (Montana State Billings), Colton Burr (Northwest Nazarene), Jarrett Chong (Simon Fraser), Austin Goldstein (Western Oregon), Jaydon Tryon (Western Washington).

WOMEN’S TRACK
Alison Andrews-Paul, Simon Fraser
Junior • Ohope Beach, New Zealand

Andrews-Paul won the 1,500 meters at the Mike Fanelli Track Classic in a meet-record time of 4:21.52. The NCAA Championships provisional qualifying time leads Division II this season and moves her to No. 5 on the GNAC all-time list. She also ran a leg on the Simon Fraser 4x400-meter relay team that finished in a time of 3:42.35, the third-best in Division II this season.

Also Nominated: Elena Cano (Alaska Anchorage), Makaylee Young (Central Washington), Kailee Stoppel (Montana State Billings), Abbey Wood (Northwest Nazarene), Vanessa Aniteye (Seattle Pacific), Maliyah Thompson (Western Oregon), Ila Davis (Western Washington).

WOMEN’S FIELD
Amanda Short, Western Washington
Senior • Lebanon, Ore.

Short improved her NCAA Championships provisional qualifying mark in the javelin at the WWU Invitational, winning the event with a mark of 155 feet, 9 inches. The performance ranks No. 4 in Division II this season.

Also Nominated: Allison Coleman (Central Washington), Kendall Lynn (Montana State Billings), Kinsey Langin (Northwest Nazarene), Sydney Kania (Simon Fraser), Liliana Lyness-Morales (Western Oregon).

AROUND THE GNAC
ALASKA ANCHORAGE
• NCAA Championships provisional qualifying marks for sophomore Coleman Nash and senior Tylantiss Atlas led Alaska Anchorage’s performances at the Mike Fanelli Track Classic.

• Nash was named the GNAC Men’s Track Co-Athlete of the Week after he placed third in the 5,000 meters in a time of 13:53.33 that is No. 2 on the GNAC all-time list. The performance is No. 2 in Division II this season.

• Atlas won the women’s 400 meters in a meet record time of 56.13 seconds. The provisional qualifying time ranks No. 3 in Division II this season.

• Sophomore Joshua Wagner won the men’s 110-meter hurdles in a meet-record time of 14.47 seconds and added a fourth-place finish in the 400-meter hurdles in 55.21 seconds.

• Senior Elena Cano placed second in the women’s 100-meter hurdles in a school-record time of 14.15 seconds which improves her to No. 16 in Division II this season. Cano also placed second in the 400-meter hurdles in a time of 1:00.16, improving her to No. 5 in Division II this season.

• Freshman Mette Van der Meer improved her own school record in the women’s pole vault again, placing sixth with a mark of 11 feet, 6.5 inches. She also placed fourth in the 100-meter hurdles in a time of 15.57 seconds.

• Both UAA 4x100-meter relay teams placed second with the men clocking 41.87 seconds and the women finishing in 48.46 seconds.

• Alaska Anchorage will not compete this week. The Seawolves will head to Southern California next week for the Bryan Clay Invitational on Apr. 13-15 and the Beach Invitational on Apr. 16.

CENTRAL WASHINGTON
• Central Washington spread its talent across three meets last weekend, competing in the Hayward Premiere and the NW Distance Jamboree in Eugene and the WWU Invitational in Bellingham.

• Senior Rajesh Gill was the Wildcats’ lone event winner for the week, winning the men’s 5,000 at the NW Distance Jamboree in a time of 32:38.10.

• The Wildcats picked up five second-place finishes at the WWU Invitational, two in the pole vault. Freshman Drew Klein placed second in the men’s pole vault with a clearance of 14 feet, 6 inches. Sophomore Allison Coleman took second in the women’s pole vault as she cleared 10 feet, 2 inches.

• Freshman Makaylee Young took second place in the women’s 100 meters in a time of 12.78 seconds and also placed fifth in the long jump with a leap of 17 feet, 1.25 inches.

• The women’s 4x400-meter relay team of Madison Thompson, Meredith Massey, Madison Child and Kay Lester took second with a time of 4:25.99.

• Sophomore Payton Elenbaas was second in the women’s discus with a mark of 129 feet, 4 inches. She placed fourth in the shot put with a mark of 38 feet, 5 inches and fifth in the hammer with a mark of 137 feet.

• Junior McCall DeChenne led CWU’s performances at the Hayward Premiere, placing sixth in the women’s 400-meter hurdles in a time of 1:02.89. Senior Avery Fisk placed ninth in the women’s discus with a mark of 137 feet, 2 inches and junior Lauryn Chandler was 10th in the women’s 100-meter hurdles in 14.79 seconds.

• Central Washington will head east on Friday to take part in the Whitworth Peace Meet in Spokane.

MONTANA STATE BILLINGS
• Sophomore Kendall Lynn’s school record and victory in the women’s long jump led Montana State Billings at its own Yellowjackets/Battlin’ Bears Open on Saturday in Longwood, Montana.

• The 10-team meet was cut short after the running of the 1,500 meters due to severe weather that included gusty winds and lightning.

• Lynn reset her MSUB record in the long jump, winning with a mark of 17 feet, 8.25 inches. She also took first place in the triple jump, recording a mark of 36 feet, 10.25 inches.

• Freshman Madeline Severson placed third in the women’s high jump with a mark of 4 feet, 9.75 inches, tying her lifetime outdoor best.

• Junior Ase Ackerman was the lone individual winner for MSUB on the track, placing third in the men’s 5,000 meters in a time of 15:44.92.

• Junior Forrest Cross added a third-place finish in the men’s shot put with a mark of 47 feet, 5 inches, ranking him third in the GNAC this season.

• The women’s 4x100-meter relay team of Madison Thompson, Katelyn Hamill, Taylor Gordon and Annelise Clark placed second in 51.30 seconds while the men’s 4x100-meter relay team of William Ullery, Bradley Graves, Favor Okere and Ben Ralston placed third in 43.02 seconds.

• Montana State Billings returns to action on Friday, taking part in the Bauer Open in Rapid City, South Dakota.

NORTHWEST NAZARENE
• Northwest Nazarene brought home 14 first-place finishes and saw freshman Steven Schmidt and sophomore Kinsey Langin land NCAA Championships provisional qualifying marks at the NNU Invitational & Multis on Friday and Saturday in Nampa.

• Schmidt cleared 6 feet, 9 inches in the decathlon high jump, one of four disciplines he won en route to a second-place finish with 6,378 points. The high jump mark is a national meet provisional qualifier, tied for seventh on the GNAC all-time list and tied for 12th in Division II this season.

• Langin led a top-two sweep for the Nighthawks in the women’s pole vault, winning with a clearance of 12 feet, 3.5 inches that ties her for 28th in Division II this season. Freshman Julie Cheney was second, clearing 11 feet, 9.75 inches.

• Freshman Hunter Braseth swept the men’s short sprints, taking first in the 100 meters in 10.84 seconds and first in the 200 meters in 21.76 seconds. Junior Abbey Wood added a victory in the women’s 100 meters in a time of 12.06 seconds. Sophomore Kalli Brence was also a winner in the women’s 400 meters in a time of 58.78 seconds.

• The Nighthawks swept top honors in both genders in both the high jump and long jump. Freshman Miya Koch won the women’s high jump with a clearance of 5 feet, 5 inches, while freshman Gerohm Rihari won the men’s with a mark of 6 feet, 6.75 inches. Rihari also won the men’s long jump with a mark of 21 feet, 11.5 inches while sophomore Laine DeJong won the women’s with her leap of 17 feet, 6.75 inches.

• Additional field event winners included junior Ellie Alberts in the women’s triple jump (35-5.25), freshman Nizhoni Buckway in the women’s javelin (128-2) and senior Colton Burr in the men’s hammer (181-0).

• Northwest Nazarene will not compete for the next two weeks. The Nighthawks return to action on April 22 at the Eastern Oregon Open in La Grande.

SAINT MARTIN’S
• Saint Martin’s posted a trio of top-three finishes as the Saints participated in the NW Distance Jamboree on Saturday in Eugene, Oregon.

• Freshman Cassidy Walchak-Sloan was the winner in the women’s 1,500 meters, finishing four seconds ahead of Portland’s Ellie Erikson in a time of 4:38.95.

• Junior Lance Slichko added a second-place finish in the men’s 10,000 meters with a time of 32:39.77.

• Freshman Michael Harwell took third against a field of Division I competitors in the men’s steeplechase in a time of 10:16.12.

• Freshman Sara Sabra rounded out the Saints’ top-five finishers, placing fourth in the women’s 5,000 meters in a time of 18:29.57.

• Saint Martin’s will have its full team in action on Saturday, competing in the PLU Invitational in Tacoma.

SEATTLE PACIFIC
• Junior David Njeri’s impressive mark in the men’s triple jump and senior Vanessa Aniteye’s top-three time in the women’s 400 meters led Seattle Pacific at the West Coast Relays on Friday in Clovis, California.

• Njeri was named the GNAC Men’s Field Athlete of the Week after placing second in the triple jump with a mark of 49 feet, 9.75 inches that ranks No. 3 on the GNAC all-time list. The NCAA Championships provisional qualifying mark ranks fourth in Division II in this season. Njeri placed third in the long jump with a mark of 22 feet, 9 inches.

• Aniteye set the SPU record in the women’s 400 meters in her first race at the distance since 2019, placing fifth with an NCAA Championships provisional qualifying time of 54.60 seconds that is No. 3 in Division II this season.  

• Aniteye also had a role in two relays that earned national meet provisional qualifying times. The Falcons’ 4x100-meter team of Peace Igbonagwam, Aniteye, Aniya Green and Jenna Bouyer placed second in a time of 46.70 seconds that ranks 11th in Division II this season and No. 8 on the GNAC all-time list. The same four took fourth in the 4x400-meter relay in a time of 3:45.91 that is sixth in Division II this season.

• Freshman Annika Esvelt earned a national meet provisional qualifier in the women’s 5,000 meters, placing second with a time of 16:08.95. The time ranks No. 6 on the GNAC all-time list and second in Division II this season.

• Sophomore Ellie Rising ran an NCAA Championships provisional qualifying time in the women’s 800 meters. The defending GNAC champion ran 2:11.83 to place seventh with the 14th-fastest time in Division II this season.

• The SPU women are ranked No. 20 in this week’s USTFCCCA Division II Team Index.

• Seattle Pacific will compete closer to home this week, taking part in the PLU Invitational on Saturday in Tacoma.

SIMON FRASER
• Junior Alison Andrews-Paul’s Division II-leading time in the women’s 1,500 meters led Simon Fraser as the team competed at both the Mike Fanelli Track Classic and the Stanford Invitational in the Bay Area.

• Andrews-Paul was named the GNAC Women’s Track Athlete of the Week after winning the metric mile in a time of 4:21.52. The NCAA Championships provisional qualifying mark leads Division II this season and is No. 5 on the GNAC all-time list.

• Sophomore Charlie Dannatt shared GNAC Men’s Track Athlete of the Week honors after he placed fourth in the invitational heat of men’s 1,500 meters at the Stanford Invitational. His time of 3:42.01 is an NCAA Championships provisional qualifier, ranks No. 2 on the GNAC all-time list and No. 2 in Division II this season.

• The women’s 4x400-meter relay team of Erika Binder, Andrews-Paul, Marie-Éloïse Leclair and Emily Lindsay took second at Stanford with a time of 3:42.35 that ranks No. 4 on the GNAC all-time list and third in Division II this season.

• Junior Olivia Willett met the NCAA Championships provisional standard in the women’s steeplechase at Stanford. She placed sixth in a time of 10:46.66 that ranks fifth in Division II this season.

• Freshman Jarrett Chong improved his national meet provisional qualifying mark in the men’s javelin. He won at Stanford with a mark of 209 feet, 8 inches that leads the GNAC and is ninth in Division II this season.

• The SFU women are ranked No. 21 in this week’s USTFCCCA Division II Team Index and No. 22 in the men’s index.

• Simon Fraser will host the second of three scheduled home meets this season, the Emilie Mondor Invitational, on Saturday.

WESTERN OREGON
• Senior Bailey Smith’s second-place finish in the men’s steeplechase led Western Oregon’s performances as the Wolves competed at the Mike Fanelli Classic, the Stanford Invitational, the Hayward Premiere and the NW Distance Jamboree.

• Smith placed second in the steeplechase at the Hayward Premiere in a time of 9:13.80. That just missed the NCAA Championships provisional qualifying mark and ranks No. 8 on the WOU all-time list.

• Senior Austin Goldstein improved his national meet provisional qualifying mark in the men’s javelin at Hayward, placing sixth with a throw of 206 feet, 7 inches that ranks No. 12 in Division II this season.

• At the Hayward Premiere on Saturday, senior Ana Popchock placed 10th in the women’s triple jump with a mark of 36 feet, 7 inches. Sophomore Madeline Lambing had the top track-event finish, placing 12th in the women’s 400-meter hurdles in a time of 1:07.20.

• Senior Owen Collins led Western Oregon’s efforts at Stanford, placing fifth in the men’s hammer with a mark of 156 feet, 8 inches. Senior Moana Gianotti led was ninth in the women’s shot put with her mark of 40 feet, 7.75 inches.

• In Saturday’s events at Stanford, freshman Emillia Carpenter placed sixth in the women’s javelin with a mark of 116 feet, 3 inches. Freshman Halle Hargett added a sixth-place finish in the women’s discus with her throw of 116 feet, 8 inches.

• Western Oregon returns home for its only meet of the season, hosting the John Knight Twilight on Friday.

WESTERN WASHINGTON
• Western Washington picked up 19 event victories at its own WWU Invitational on Saturday and saw several athletes pick up or improve NCAA Championships provisional qualifying marks both at home and at the Mike Fanelli Track Classic in San Francisco.

• Senior Amanda Short was named the GNAC Women’s Field Athlete of the Week after winning the javelin at the WWU Invitational and improving her own national meet provisional qualifying mark with a throw of 155 feet, 9 inches. The mark improved Short to No. 4 in Division II this season.

• Senior Mac Franks had an impressive slate of performances in both California and Washington. At the Mike Fanelli on Thursday, Franks set the WWU men’s steeplechase record in a time of 8:52.50, ranking No. 4 on the GNAC all-time list and No. 4 in Division II this season, Franks placed third in the 1,500 on Friday with a time of 3:47.25 that led all collegiate finishers and is 17th in Division II this season. Both are NCAA Championships provisional qualifying times. On Saturday, Franks placed second in the 800 meters at the WWU Invitational in a time of 1:52.49.

• Senior Calahan Warren earned an NCAA provisional qualifier in the men’s 5,000 meters at the Mike Fanelli. His time of 14:13.90 is 14th in Division II this season.

• Sophomore Jeret Gillingham placed third in Thursday’s men’s steeplechase in 8:59.90, ranking No. 7 in Division II. Freshman Drew Weber placed seventh in 9:12.25, which ranks No. 15 in Division II this season. Weber went on to win the men’s 800 in Bellingham on Saturday in a time of 1:51.78.

• Freshman Ila Davis placed third in the women’s steeplechase at the WWU Invitational with an NCAA provisional qualifying time of 10:51.21, ranking sixth in Division II this season.

• Freshman Jaden Edwards established a personal best in the men’s 400-meter hurdles in 54.60 seconds while freshman Jaydon Tryon won the men’s javelin with a personal-best mark of 190 feet, 9 inches.

• Western Washington returns to action on Saturday at the PLU Invitational in Tacoma.