Monday, March 12, 2018

PORTLAND, Ore. –  A historic weekend that saw Western Oregon men’s indoor track and field tie for sixth (26 points) at the NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field Championships continues to gain recognition as the Wolves have been named the Red Lion/GNAC Team of the Week.

Not only did Western Oregon come away the highest GNAC team finish, the Wolves saw four of their athletes garner First Team All-American trophies.

The Wolves successfully defended their men’s distance medley relay championship Friday afternoon to lead GNAC performances on the opening day of the event at Pittsburg State University’s Plaster Center. The team of Dustin Nading, Aaron Whitaker, AJ Holmberg and David Ribich won in a time of 9:41.40, crossing the line fourth-tenths of a second ahead of CSU-Pueblo and five-tenths ahead of third place Grand Valley State.

“Whatever happens tomorrow, this is a legendary performance in WOU history. The announcer sensed it and the crowd started to get a feel of what was happening every time a runner was passed. It was electric in the arena over those final laps,” said Western Oregon head coach Mike Johnson on the medley’s performance.

On Saturday, Nading gave Western Oregon its second national title of the meet in the men’s mile after pulling away over the final lap to win with a time of 4:13.30. He edged out Brett Meyer of Fort Hays State, who crossed second in 4:13.66, and George Kelly of Adams State, who was third in 4:13.71.

Ribich’s third-place finish in the 3,000 meters allowed Western Oregon to tie for sixth in the team competition with Grand Valley State to lead all GNAC teams. Ribich, the Division II record-holder in the event, was edged by Adams State’s Sydney Gidabuday at the finish to win in 8:01.26. Harding’s Nehemia Too was second in 8:01.34 while Ribich crossed third in 8:01.55.

"We had a wonderful group watching from back home and we are happy to represent those people cheering us on as well as Western Oregon University. The reactions received from campus only reinforces the fact that this is a family and a quality team in and out of competition," said Johnson.