Wednesday, March 15, 2023
THIS WEEK'S GNAC ATHLETES OF THE WEEK
MEN’S TRACK
Isaac Cortes, Saint Martin’s
Sophomore • Granite Falls, Wash.
Cortes ran the fastest time in the GNAC this season in the 800 meters, winning the event at the PLU Open on Saturday. Cortes crossed the line in 1:56.26 and was over a second ahead of second-place Ryan Stracke of Pacific Lutheran.
Also Nominated: Jaden Edwards (Western Washington).
MEN’S FIELD
Gabe Menicke, Western Washington
Freshman • Whitefish, Mont.
Menicke won the long jump at the PLU Open on Saturday. His winning mark of 21 feet, 4 inches was over three inches better than second-place teammate Anouthai Vongphet and is No. 2 in the GNAC this season.
WOMEN’S TRACK
Ila Davis, Western Washington
Sophomore • Spokane, Wash.
Davis won the steeplechase at the PLU Open on Saturday. She won the race by 51 seconds with a time of 10:36.03 that is an NCAA Championships provisional qualifying mark and is the top mark in Division II this season.
WOMEN’S FIELD
Katie Potts, Western Washington
Sophomore • Everett, Wash.
Potts was the winner by nearly two feet in the discus at the PLU Open on Saturday. Her winning mark of 138 feet, 4 inches is the fifth-best mark in Division II so far this season.
AROUND THE GNAC
ALASKA ANCHORAGE
• Alaska Anchorage will not open its outdoor season until Mar. 23-25, traveling south to compete at the Aztec Invitational in San Diego and the Mangrum Invitational in San Marcos, California.
• Sophomore Coleman Nash competed at the NCAA Division II Indoor Championships in the men’s 5,000 meters, placing 12th in a time of 14:19.39. He was also entered in the 3,000 meters but did not compete.
CENTRAL WASHINGTON
• Central Washington did not compete outdoors last week. The Wildcats return to the track on Saturday at the Doris Heritage Track Festival in Renton, Washington.
• Central Washington had two athletes compete in the NCAA Division II Indoor Track and Field Championships. Junior Lauryn Chandler placed 13th in the women’s 60-meter hurdles in 8.77 seconds. Junior E’lexis Hollis placed 14th in the women’s 60 meters in a time of 7.51 seconds.
• Central Washington opened the 2023 outdoor season at the Ed Boitano Invitational on Mar. 3 and 4.
• Freshman Isaiah Webster won the long jump by nearly 11 inches with a mark of 21 feet, 10.25 inches. Webster finished fourth in the event at the GNAC Indoor Championships.
• Freshman Ellie DeGroot and sophomore Sarah Sewell finished one-two in the women’s 100-meter hurdles. DeGroot won in a time of 15.44 seconds while Sewell placed second in 15.71 seconds. The two flipped places in the 400-meter hurdles with Sewell winning in 1:05.49 and DeGroot placing second in 1:06.71.
• Two weeks after placing second in the event at the GNAC Indoor Championships, sophomore Drew Klein won the men’s pole vault in the outdoor opener with a clearance of 14 feet, 8 inches.
• The Wildcats also picked up a pair of second-place finishes in the men’s throws. Senior Wyatt Franklin was second in the discus with a mark of 142 feet, 6 inches while junior Branden Wise was second in the javelin with a mark of 177 feet, 8 inches.
MONTANA STATE BILLINGS
• Montana State Billings will not open its outdoor season until Sat., Mar. 18, co-hosting the MSUB/Rocky Meet in Billings.
• Montana State Billings finished eighth in both the men’s and women’s team competitions at the GNAC Indoor Championships.
• The Yellowjackets received a trio of top-three finishes. Sophomore Bradley Graves finished third in the men’s 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.42 seconds. He ran 8.34 in the preliminaries to reset his own MSUB record.
• Freshman Tatum Hull placed third in the women’s long jump with a school-record mark of 17 feet, 11.5 inches. Senior Kailee Stoppel finished third in the women’s 800 meters in a time of 2:16.84.
NORTHWEST NAZARENE
• Northwest Nazarene does not return to outdoor competition until Saturday, Mar. 25 at the Willamette Invitational in Salem, Oregon.
• Junior Steven Schmidt earned All-American honors in the heptathlon at the Division II Indoor Track and Field Championships. His school record score of 5,523 points ranks No. 2 on the GNAC all-time list. In the heptathlon high jump, Schmidt won with a mark of 7 feet, 0.25 inches that tied his lifetime best in the event set at the GNAC Indoor Championships. Schmidt was also third in the pole vault with a mark of 15 feet, 7 inches.
• Northwest Nazarene opened the outdoor season by sending a limited number of distance runners to the Erik Anderson Memorial Icebreaker in McMinnville, Oregon, on Mar. 3.
• Freshman Morgan Erler opened her collegiate outdoor career as a winner, taking the women’s 10,000 meters with a time of 38:25.07.
• Freshman Brody Kemble placed seventh in the men’s 10,000 meters with a time of 31:27.97 while freshman Aaron Heberlein crossed in a time of 34:02.81.
SAINT MARTIN’S
• Saint Martin’s had four event winners as the Saints competed at the PLU on Saturday in Tacoma, Washington.
• Sophomore Isaac Cortes was named the GNAC Men’s Track Athlete of the Week after he won the 800 meters in a time of 1:56.26. He finished over a second better than second-place Ryan Stracke of Pacific Lutheran with a time that leads the GNAC this season.
• Freshman Ethan Guidry won the men’s javelin with a mark of 169 feet, 3 inches. He threw almost three feet farther than second-place Kacey Koehn of Northwest (Wash.).
• Sophomore Cassidy Walchak-Sloan led a top-two sweep for the Saints in the women’s 1,500 meters, winning in a time of 4:48.40. Freshman Alauna Carstens placed second in 4:50.04.
• In the women’s 110-meter hurdles, junior Gabriela Cintron won with a time of 15.31 seconds that currently leads the GNAC.
• In the field events, freshman Jocelyn Saribay placed third in the women’s shot put with a mark of 37 feet, 8.5 inches. Freshman Ryan Doidge was the top SMU men’s field-event finisher, placing third in the pole vault with a mark of 13 feet, 1.5 inches.
• The Saints return to action on Saturday, competing in the Lewis & Clark Spring Break Open in Portland.
SEATTLE PACIFIC
• Seattle Pacific did not compete outdoors last week. The Falcons will host the Doris Heritage Track Festival on Saturday in Renton, Washington.
• Senior Vanessa Aniteye closed out her career as a champion, winning the women’s 800 meters at the Division II Indoor Track and Field Championships. Aniteye won in a time of 2:06.84, which ranks No. 5 on the GNAC all-time list. Aniteye is the 17th women’s indoor champion in GNAC history and is the first for Seattle Pacific since Jessica Pixler and the Falcons’ women’s distance medley relay team in 2010.
• Seattle Pacific opened the outdoor season with three victories at the Ed Boitano Invitational on Mar. 3 and 4.
• Junior Aniya Green won the 200 meters in a time of 26.43 seconds. She went on to run the leadoff leg of the Falcons’ 4x400-meter relay team, which won in a time of 4:02.29.
• Junior Lizzy Daugherty won the pole vault with a mark of 11 feet, 9.75 inches which leads Division II this season. Daugherty tied with Lily Luksich of Pacific Lutheran and was awarded first based on fewer misses at the previous height.
• Junior Annika Esvelt won the women’s 1,500 meters in her first race of the season after missing the indoor schedule due to injury. Esvelt won in a time of 4:45.73.
• Junior Kainoa Lee was the top SPU men’s placer, taking second in the pole vault with his clearance of 14 feet, 2 inches. Junior Jon Owen placed third in the men’s 800 meters in a time of 1:59.22.
SIMON FRASER
• Simon Fraser opens its outdoor season on Saturday when it hosts the first of two High Performance Meets at Terry Fox Field.
• Sophomore Marie-Éloïse Leclair led the Red Leafs at the Division II Indoor Track and Field Championships, bringing home two All-America trophies. Leclair placed fifth in the women’s 200 meters in a time of 23.84 seconds and finished seventh in the women’s 60 meters in 7.47 seconds.
• Junior Megan Roxby placed 17th in the preliminaries of the women’s mile with a time of 4:53.13.
• The men’s distance medley relay team of Aiden Good, Felix Allen, Jordan Schmidt and Sebastian Brinkman placed 12th in a time of 10:00.80.
• Sophomore Charlie Dannatt was scheduled to compete in both the men’s mile and the 3,000 meters but scratched due to illness.
WESTERN OREGON
• Western Oregon did not complete outdoors last week. The Wolves are back on the track on Friday and Saturday at the Oregon Preview in Eugene.
• At the Division II Indoor Championships, junior Hunter Hutton just missed All-American honors with a ninth-place finish in the finals of the men’s mile in a time of 4:10.20. Hutton was the final time qualifier in the preliminaries with a time of 4:08.29.
• Western Oregon opened the outdoor season at the Willamette Opener on Mar. 4 in Salem, Oregon.
• The WOU women picked up four victories in the meet. Senior Kaylee Wright led the way with the victory in the javelin with a mark of 133 feet, 2 inches.
• Senior Maya Hopwood led three women’s winners on the track, winning the 100 meters in 12.44 seconds. Sophomore Katie Chapman won the 1,500 meters in a time of 5:03.47 while junior Madeline Lambing won the 400-meter hurdles by five seconds in a time of 1:06.33.
• Both of Western Oregon’s men’s victories came on the track. Sophomore Alex Driesner won the 100 meters in a time of 11.04 seconds while sophomore Wyatt Smith won the 800 meters in a time of 1:58.62.
WESTERN WASHINGTON
• Western Washington won 13 events and picked up three of the four GNAC weekly honors with performances at the PLU Open on Saturday in Tacoma.
• Sophomore Ila Davis was named the GNAC Women’s Track Athlete of the Week after she won the steeplechase in a time of 10:36.03. She won the race by 51 seconds in a time that is an NCAA Championships provisional qualifier and leads Division II this season.
• Sophomore Katie Potts earned GNAC Women’s Field Athlete of the Week honors after winning the discus with a mark of 138 feet, 4 inches. She was a winner by nearly two feet over second-place Pono Fuiava of Olympic CC with a mark that leads the GNAC this season.
• Freshman Gabe Menicke was named the GNAC Men’s Field Athlete of the Week after winning the long jump with a mark of 21 feet, 4 inches that ranks No. 2 in the GNAC this season.
• Sophomore Caitlyn Cheney won both women’s sprints, capturing the 100 meters in 12.22 seconds and the 200 meters in 25.14 seconds.
• At the Division II Indoor Championships, the Vikings’ men’s distance medley team of Drew Weber, Brian Le, Jonah Bloom and Will Henry earned All-American honors as the team placed seventh in a time of 9:51.19.
• Weber also placed 10th in the preliminaries of the men’s 800 meters with a time of 1:53.06.
• Western Washington will send athletes to both the Oregon Preview on Friday and Saturday and to the Doris Heritage Track Festival on Saturday.