Thursday, January 29, 2015

PORTLAND, Ore. –  Simon Fraser is the top ranked GNAC team in the first USTFCCCA Division II Indoor Track & Field national computer rankings of the season.

The rankings are based on each school’s point potential at the NCAA national meet.

SFU’s men are ranked 18^th and its women are ranked 15^th.  The only other Top 25 ranked team is Montana State Billings’ men, who are ranked 19^th.

In the West Regional rankings, which is based on regional or conference point potential based on performances to date, Northwest Nazarene’s men and Alaska Anchorage’s women are the top ranked teams.

Seven of the GNAC’s nine teams head to Seattle this weekend to compete in the University of Washington Invitational Friday and Saturday.

Competing at the Dempsey Indoor will be Alaska Anchorage, Central Washington, Saint Martin’s, Seattle Pacific, Simon Fraser, Western Oregon and Western Washington.

MSUB travels south to compete in the Mountain State Games at Pocatello, Idaho.  Northwest Nazarene is idle.

USTFCCCA West Region (Jan. 26): Men – 1. Northwest Nazarene, 2. Alaska Anchorage, 3. Western Washington, 4. Saint Martin’s, 5. Simon Fraser, 6. Academy of Art, 7. Central Washington. 8. Azusa Pacific, 9. MSU Billings, 10. Western Oregon.  Women – 1. Alaska Anchorage, 2. Simon Fraser, 3. Seattle Pacific, 4. Central Washington, 5. Academy of Art, 6.  Northtwest Nazarene, 7. Azusa Pacific, 8. Western Washington, 9. Cal State Stanislaus, 10. Saint Martin’s.

Duhamel Earns Two Top 20 National Rankings 

Becki Duhamel had two of the top performances in GNAC history last weekend at the Idaho Intercollegiate in Moscow, Idaho.

Duhamel finished second in the shot put (45-11 ¼) and third in the weight throw  (57-0 ¼).  Both marks rank second on the GNAC Top 10 all-time list.

They also are both provisional national qualifying marks and also currently rank in the Top 20 nationally. Her shot mark ranks 14^th on the TFRRS performance list and her weight throw mark ranks 16^th.

Duhamel’s two performances and a high jump mark of 5-5 by CWU’s Tayler Fertig, who has a career-best of 5-9 ¾, at the Idaho Intercollegiate were the lone national qualifying marks in meets last week by GNAC athletes.

Those performances also earned Duhamel GNAC Women’s Field Athlete of the Week honors.

Also earned Athlete of the Week honors were Shannon Porter of Saint Martin’s (women’s track), Chase Cunningham of Nortthwest Nazarene (men’s track) and Armando Tafoya of Central Washington (men’s field).

Two GNAC athletes – Robert Peterson of Montana State Billings and Lindsey Butterworth of Simon Fraser - in the men’s (4:07.50) and women’s mile (4:44.80), respectively, currently are the Division  II national leaders in their events.

Two others – Mikel Smith of Saint Martin’s in the men’s high jump (7-0 ½) and Payton Lewis of Northwest Nazarene in the men’s pole vault (16-9 ¼) – current rank second.

Two athletes also currently rank third on TFRRSS – Alex Donigian of Western Washington in the men’s 60 (6.72) and Karolin Anders of Alaska Anchorage in the pentathlon (3791).

NCAA National Top 20 Leaders

Men: 60 – 3. Alex Donigian, WWU, 6.72. 200 – 12. Alex Donigian, WWU, 21.67.  400 – 7. Joel Webster, SFU, 48.45. Mile – 1. Robert Peterson, MSUB, 4:07.50; 5. Cameron Proceviat, SFU, 4:10.25; 10. Travis Vugteveen, SFU, 4:12.17.  3000 – 4.  Robert Peterson, MSUB, 8:15.52; 6. Marc-Antoine Rouleau, SFU, 8:19.41; 8. Oliver Jorgensen, SFU, 8:22.54. 60 Hurdles – 19. Travis Milbrandt, WWU, 8.20.  High Jump – 2. Mikel Smith, SMU, 2.15 - 7-0 ½. Pole Vault – 2. Payton Lewis, NNU, 5.11 – 16-9 ¼; 13. Matt DeHan, SMU, 4.80 – 15-9. Long Jump – 10 Brett Watson, WWU, 7.19 – 23-7 ¼.  Triple Jump – 16. Luke Plummer, CWU, 14.41 – 47-3 ½.  Heptathlon – 6. Payton Lewis, 5075.

Women: 800 – 4.  Lynelle Decker, SPU, 2:12.83; 6. Haleigh Lloyd, UAA,, 2:15.27; 9. Paige Nock, SFU, 2:15.42.     Mile – 1. Lindsey Butterworth, SFU, 4:44.80. 3000 – 4. Jennifer Johnson, SFU, 9:36.18; 6. Katelyn Steen, WWU, 9:47.97; 10. Peggy Noel, SFU, 9:54.42. High Jump – 8. Karolin Anders, UAA, 1.72 – 5-7 ¾.  Shot Put – 14. Becki Duhamel, CWU, 14.00 – 45-11 ¼.  Weight Throw – 16. Becki Duhamel, CWU, 17.38 – 57-0 ¼.  Pentathlon – 3. Karolin Anders, UAA, 3791.

LAST WEEK’S RESULTS

Idaho Vandal Intercollegiate (Jan. 23 at Moscow): Women (Top 3): 200 - 3. Tianna Banfro, CWU, 26.35. 400 - 2. Ashley Harmon, CWU, 1:00.22.  3000 - 2. Dani Eggleston, CWU, 10:17.72.  60 Hurdles - 1. Tayler Fettig, CWU, 9.30; 2. Tianna Banfro, CWU, 9.43.  4x400 -1. Central Washington (Harmon, Banfro, Anderson, Inderbitzin) 4:03.70.  High Jump - 3. Tayler Fettig, CWU, 1.65 - 5-5.  Long Jump - 2. Ali Anderson, CWU, 5.09 - 16-8 1/2; 3. Juliana Joy, CWU, 4.83 - 15-10 1/4.  Triple Jump - 3. Kelly Cronic, CWU, 11.03 - 36-2 1/4.  Shot Put - 2. Becki Duhamel, CWU, 14.00 - 45-11 1/4.  Weight Throw - 3. Becki Duhamel, CWU, 17.38 - 57-0 1/4.  Men (Top 3): Triple Jump - 2. Luke Plummer, CWU, 14.23 - 46-8 1/4.  Shot Put - 3. Armando Tafoya, CWU, 14.56 - 47-9 1/4.  Weight Throw - 3. Armando Tafoya, CWU, 17.10 - 56-1 1/4.

Bronco Invitational (Jan. 23-24 at Nampa):  Women (Top 8): 60 Hurdles – 6. Chelsey Knott, NNU, 9.03.  4x400 Relay – 8. Northwest Nazarene 4:06.87.  Pole Vault – 8. Alison Silva, NNU, 3.50.  Weight Throw – 6. Caitlin Curtis, NNU, 15.99. Men (Top 8): 60 – 7. Rimar Christie, NNU, 7.06.   Mile – 5. Isaac Mitchell, NNU, 4:222.46.  3000 – 1. Chase Cunningham, NNU, 8:52.11.  60 Hurdles – 4. Kyle McLaughlin, NNU, 8.55, 6. Andrew Galbraith, NNU, 8.63. 4x400 – 6. Northwest Nazarene 3:33.29; 8. Northwest Nazarene 3:35.97.  High Jump – 3. Cole Hoberg, NNU, 1.95; 7. Andrew Galbraith, NNU, 1.90.  Pole Vault – 3. Payton Lewis, NNU, 5.10; 8. Jared Webster, NNU, 4.50. 

Washington State Indoor Open (Jan. 23-24 at Pullman): Women (Top 6): 400 – 3. Alexis Carandang, SMU, 1:05.01.  1000 – 4. Claire McCloskey, SMU, 3:24.96; 5. Nicole Ide, SMU, 3:34.06; 6. Victoria Nunez, SMU, 3:41.89. 3000 – 4. Shannon Porter, SMU, 10:29.64. 4x400 Relay – 6. Saint Martin’s 4:33.40.  4x800 Relay – 1. Saint Martin’s 10:48.68.  Shot Put – 4. Kirby Neale, SMU, 11.78 – 38-7 3/4; 5. Quiana Lawrence, SMU, 11.72 – 38-5 ½. Weight Throw – 1. Angel Rodgers, SMU, 14.35 – 47-1; 4. Kahili Novikoff, SMU, 13.45 – 44-1 ½; 5. Kirby Neale, SMU, 13.37 – 43-10 ½. Men (Top 6):  200 – 5. David Durden, SMU, 23.29.  600 – 3. Frank Krause, SMU, 1:23.20.  3000 – 2. Nathan Morgan, SMU, 9:04.06; 6. Josiah Shelman, SMU, 9:31.57. 4x400 – 6. Saint Martin’s 3:36.36. 4x400 Relay – 4. Saint Martin’s 8:10.43.  High Jump – 4. Mikel Smith, SMU, 1.99 – 6-6 ¼; 5. Jaysen Yoro, SMU, 1.94 – 6-4 ¼. Pole Vault – 4. Matt DeHan, SMU, 4.66 – 15-3 ½. Weight Throw – 5. Mitch Wilkens, SMU,, 15.31 – 50-2 ¾.

GNAC ATHLETES OF THE WEEK

MEN: Track - Chase Cunningham, Northwest Nazarene (So., Kuna, ID) won the 3,000 meters as the Bronco Invitational in Nampa in a time of 8:52.11.  Field - Armando Tafoya, Central Washington (So,, George, WA - Quincy) posted the best mark in the GNAC this winter in the weight throw falling a quarter inch shy of the provisional national qualifying standard with a throw of 56-1 1/4.  He also had a put of 47-9 1/4 in the shot and finished third in both events Friday at the Idaho Intercollegiate.

WOMEN: Track - Shannon Porter, Saint Martin's (Jr., Vancouver, WA - Treasure Valley), running in just her first meet with the Saints, set a school record in the 3,000 meters finishing fourth in a time of 10:29.64 at the Washington State Open.  She also ran on SMU's 4x800 relay team which finished first in a school-record time of 10:48.68.   Field - Becki Duhamel, CWU (Sr., Wenatchee, WA - Lehigh) posted the second-best marks in GNAC history in both the shot put (45-11 1/4) and weight throw (57-0 1/4) finishing second and third, respectively, in those events Friday at the Idaho Intercollegiate.  Her marks were the best in the conference since 2009 when CWU's Krissy Tandle set the GNAC record in the shot put (48-9 1/2)  and since 2004 when Kristen Hepler of Western Oregon set the standard in the weight throw with a mark of 58-2 1/2