Saturday, February 20, 2016

NAMPA, Idaho – Distance performers led the way for Alaska Anchorage Saturday as the Seawolves won the 2016 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Men’s Indoor Track and Field Championships at the Jackson Track at the Ford Idaho Center.

Alaska Anchorage finished with 164 points to win their second straight team title, with 80 of those coming in the distance events. The Seawolves easily out-pointed second place Western Oregon, who finished with 93 points. Western Washington was third with 92 points.

Dominik Notz led the Seawolves individually with wins in the 3,000 meters and 5,000 meters. He led five UAA finishers in the top-five in the 5,000 on Friday with a meet record time of 14:36.42 before outdistancing teammate and defending champion Henry Cheseto in the 3,000 meters in 8:31.91. Alaska Anchorage ended the meet by winning the 4x400-meter relay in a time of 3:16.76.

Payton Lewis of host Northwest Nazarene was honored as the Outstanding Male Athlete of the Meet. The sophomore claimed his first GNAC heptathlon title with a score of 5,163 points that is the third best performance in GNAC history. He won the long jump on the opening day before setting a GNAC heptathlon record in the pole vault with his mark of 16 feet, 6.75 inches. Lewis went on to repeat as pole vault champion later in the day with a clearance of 15 feet, 10 inches.

Lewis was one of seven repeat men’s champions in the meet. Simon Fraser’s Joel Webster repeated in the 200 meters with a GNAC record of 47.80 seconds, surpassing the mark of 48.27 set by Simon Fraser’s Andrew Boss in 2011. Western Oregon’s Cody Warner won his second 200-meter title with a time of 21.78 seconds while Simon Fraser’s Cameron Proceviat repeated in the 800 meters with a time of 1:55.86. Luke Plummer became a three-time champion in the triple jump with his mark of 49 feet, 2.25 inches. On Friday, the Clan’s Vladislav Tsygankov repeated in the long jump with a GNAC record of 24 feet, 2.5 inches.

Montana State Billings’ Robert Peterson prevented an Alaska Anchorage sweep with a meet record in the mile, running 4:10.13 to out-lean Western Oregon’s David Ribich by one-hundreth of a second. In all Peterson raced in four events, placing third in the 3,000 meters while anchoring the Yellowjackets’ winning distance medley relay and 4x400-relay squads.

Saint Martin’s Mikel Smith and Northwest Nazarene’s Cole Hoberg tied the meet record in the high jump at 6 feet, 9 inches, with Smith claiming the championship on fewest misses. Central Washington’s Kent McKinney won the 60 meters in a time 6.91 seconds while Josh Koch completed a throwing sweep for Concordia with his win in the shot put at 53 feet, 7.5 inches. His teammate, Tyler Lamott, set a meet record in the weight throw on Friday with his throw of 61 feet, 1.5 inches.

TEAM SCORES: Alaska Anchorage 164, Western Oregon 93, Western Washington 92, Northwest Nazarene 77, Concordia 64, Central Washington 63, Simon Fraser 46, Montana State Billings 30, Saint Martin’s 24, Seattle Pacific 12.