Wednesday, April 21, 2021

THIS WEEK'S GNAC ATHLETES OF THE WEEK
MEN’S TRACK
Keola Yadao, Western Oregon
Freshman • Honolulu, Hawaii

In his first collegiate meet, Yadao won the 100 meters at the Titan Invitational in Eugene with a time of 10.62 seconds. The time is the fastest in the GNAC this season, fifth-fastest in Western Oregon history and is No. 11 on the GNAC All-Time List.

Also Nominated: Gunner Vallatini (Central Washington), Tyler Shea (Northwest Nazarene), Koby Okezie (Western Washington).

MEN’S FIELD
Andrew Harris, Central Washington
Senior • North Bend, Wash.

Harris broke the Central Washington school record in the hammer, winning with a mark of 188 feet, 8 inches at the CWU Wildcat Invitational. It is the furthest throw in the event in the GNAC since 2018, is an NCAA Championships provisional qualifier, ranks 17th in Division II this season and is No. 5 on the GNAC All-Time List.

Also Nominated: Turner Nye (Northwest Nazarene), Jalon Fields (Western Oregon), Ben Malquist (Western Washington).

WOMEN’S TRACK
Lauren Wuertz, Northwest Nazarene
Senior • Eagle, Idaho

Wuertz finished in second place in the 400 meters at the Bengal Invitational in Pocatello, Idaho, with a time of 56.68. The personal-best mark ranks No. 3 in Northwest Nazarene history.

Also Nominated: Molly Mattson (Central Washington), Ana Popchock (Western Oregon), Aliyah Dawkins (Western Washington).

WOMEN’S FIELD
Renick Meyer, Seattle Pacific
Junior • Gresham, Ore.

Meyer was the winner of the heptathlon at the CWU Wildcat Invitational with an NCAA Championships provisional qualifying score of 4,629 points. Meyer won the 100-meter hurdles in a GNAC-leading time of 14.55 seconds and then opened day two by winning the long jump with a mark of 18 feet, 3 inches. Meyer closed the day by finishing third in the 800 meters in a time of 2:30.74 that allowed her to pass Western Oregon’s Jenelle Hurley for the victory.

Also Nominated: Avery Fisk (Central Washington), Kinsey Langin (Northwest Nazarene), Moana Gianotti (Western Oregon), Aliyah Dawkins (Western Washington).

AROUND THE GNAC
ALASKA ANCHORAGE
• Alaska Anchorage did not compete last week. The Seawolves will return to the track on Friday, competing at the Western Oregon Pop-Up Meet in Monmouth, Oregon.

• The Seawolves last competed at the John Knight Twilight on April 9 and 10, winning seven events.

• Senior Lawson Sims was named the GNAC Men’s Track Athlete of the Week on April 13 after he won the steeplechase in a time of 9:05.88. The NCAA Championships provisional qualifying time ranks No. 15 in Division II this season.

• Freshman Joshua Wagner won the men’s 200 meters in 22.40 seconds. He went on to place second in the 110-meter hurdles in 14.84 seconds and third in the 100 meters in 10.97 seconds.

• Senior Elena Cano won the 400-meter hurdles in 1:04.81. She also took second in both the 100-meter hurdles (15.03) and the long jump (17-1) and placed third in the high jump (5-2.5).

• Freshman Cole Nash was the winner by a literal hair in the men’s 5,000 meters. His time of 14:38.886 just beat out Ian Vickstrom, who finished in 14:38.887.

• Junior Tylantiss Atlas picked up the victory in the women’s 400 meters with a time of 56.97 seconds.

CENTRAL WASHINGTON
• Central Washington had a great weekend on its home track, winning 13 events at their own CWU Wildcat Invitational on Friday and Saturday.

• Senior Andrew Harris was named the GNAC Men’s Field Athlete of the Week after he broke the CWU school record in the hammer. His mark of 196 feet, 7 inches, bettered the mark of 194 feet, 1 inch set by Kevin Stanley in 2015. The NCAA Championships provisional qualifying mark ranks No. 5 on the GNAC All-Time List and No. 17 in Division II this season.

• Senior Braydon Maier led a 1-2 finish for the Wildcats in the men’s decathlon. His score of 6,849 points in an NCAA Championships provisional qualifying mark and ranks No. 12 in Division II this season. Maier won the 100 meters, long jump, 110-meter hurdles, discus, pole vault and javelin. Freshman Ryan Thoma was second with 6,399 points.

• Senior Jasmyne Neria won the women’s 400 meters with a time of 59.21 seconds. Freshman Rachel Krill added a first-place finish in the women’s 400-meter hurdles, clocking 1:04.56.

• In the distances, senior Molly Mattson took first place in the women’s 3,000 meters in 10:39.73 while freshman Tailer Cochran took the women’s 5,000 meters in a time of 21:19.60.

• Junior Avery Fisk led the women’s field events as she won the discus with a mark of 144 feet, 11 inches. Junior Meagan Smallbeck was the winner in the women’s hammer with her mark of 160 feet, 2 inches. Senior Aidan Cain won the men’s discus with his mark of 158 feet, 3 inches.

• Central Washington returns to action on Saturday, participating in the Peyton-Shotwell Invitational in Tacoma, Washington.

MONTANA STATE BILLINGS
• A win by freshman Bryce Olson in the men’s triple jump and solid performances in the distances led Montana State Billings at the Idaho State Bengal Invitational in Pocatello, Idaho.

• Olson won the triple jump with his mark of 43 feet, 7 inches. He was the only event winner for the Yellowjackets in the meet. Freshman Justin Wells placed fourth with a mark of 41 feet, 2.5 inches.

• Sophomore Ase Ackerman led the distance efforts, placing eighth in the men’s 5,000 meters in a personal-best time of 15:26.10 with junior Logan Straus placing 10th in 15:32.73. Junior Kailee Stoppel a personal-best performance in both the women’s steeplechase in a time of 11:53.78.

• Senior Isaiah Girard added a fourth-place finish in the men’s high jump, clearing 6 feet, 6.25 inches. Freshman Payden Lynn finished seventh in the men’s long jump with a leap of 21 feet. 10.75 inches.

• Freshman Kendall Lynn took sixth in the women’s long jump with a mark of 36 feet, 7.5 inches.

• Montana State Billings will head to Helena to take part in the Trudnowski Open on Friday and Saturday. Girard and Beau Ackerman will go east to compete in the prestigious Drake Relays on Friday in Des Moines, Iowa.

NORTHWEST NAZARENE
• Senior Lauren Wuertz’s performance in the women’s 400 meters led Northwest Nazarene’s efforts at the Idaho State Bengal Invitational in Pocatello, Idaho.

• Wuertz was named the GNAC Women’s Track Athlete of the Week after she placed second in the event in a GNAC-leading time of 56.68 seconds. She was one of just two non-Division I competitors in the field.

• Freshman Kinsey Langin showed well again in the women’s pole vault, placing second with her clearance of 12 feet, 1.5 inches. She was the only non-Division I competitor in the field of 15 athletes.

• Junior Tyler Shea added a top-three finish in the men’s 5,000 meters, clocking a time of 14:56.34. The performance ranks seventh in the GNAC this season by actual time and second after conversion to 14:36.30 for altitude.

• The Nighthawks also sent a cadre of combined event performers to the CWU Wildcat Invitational in Ellensburg, Washington. Sophomore Turner Nye placed third in the men’s decathlon with a score of 5,708 points. He won the 400 meters. Junior Jaidyn Kinneeveauk placed fifth in the women’s heptathlon with a score of 4,092 points.

• Northwest Nazarene travels this week to Provo, Utah, for its final meet of the regular season, the BYU Robison Invitational, on Friday and Saturday.

SAINT MARTIN’S
• Saint Martin’s did not compete last week. The Saints will return to the track on Saturday, competing in the Peyton-Shotwell Invitational in Tacoma, Washington.

• It was a full day for Saint Martin’s as the Saints had 10 event winners at the PLU Invitational in Tacoma, Washington on April 10.

• Sophomore Michael Russell picked up victories in both the men’s 100 meters and 200 meters. He won the 100 meters in a time of 10.96 and the 200 meters in a time of 22.10 seconds, which tied his season-best time.

• Freshman Makiya Worthy made it a sweep of the 100 meters, winning the women’s race in a time of 12.35 seconds. Worthy placed second in the 200 meters in 24.94 seconds.

• In the distances, freshman Cassidy Sloan-Walchak won the women’s 1,500 meters in a time of 4:51.28 and freshman Nicholas Sarysz won the men’s metric mile in 4:07.62. In the women’s 5,000 meters, freshman Elaina Hansen won in a time of 18:51.96.

• Freshman Margaret Zilla won the women’s triple jump with her mark of 34 feet, 2.25 inches. Freshman Jocelyn Saribay added a first-place finish in the women’s shot put with her mark of 38 feet, 3.25 inches.

• Sophomore Andrew Boyd added a victory in the men’s 110-meter hurdles, clocking a time of 15.74 seconds. In the men’s javelin, sophomore Landon Armstrong won with his throw of 163 feet, 9 inches.

SEATTLE PACIFIC
• Junior Renick Meyer’s winning performance in the women’s heptathlon led Seattle Pacific’s efforts at the CWU Wildcat Invitational.

• Meyer was named the GNAC Women’s Field Athlete of the Week after she won with an NCAA Championships provisional qualifying score of 4,629 points. Meyer won two of the seven events, the 100-meter hurdles and the long jump, before running 2:30.74 in the 800 meters to pass Western Oregon’s Jenelle Hurley for the win. Meyer ranks 18th in Division II this season.

• Meyer was one of four individual event winners for the Falcons. Sophomore David Njeri was the lone men’s winner, taking the triple jump with a mark of 47 feet, 1.75 inches. The mark ranks second in the GNAC this season.

• Senior Grace Bley collected first place in the women’s 100 meters, clocking a time of 12.26 seconds that is third in the GNAC by one-hundredth of a second. She also took second in the 200 meters in 25.04 seconds, leading a 2-3-4 finish for the Falcons.

• Senior Scout Cai won the women’s pole vault for the seventh time in as many competitions this season, clearing 12 feet, 1.5 inches. Freshman Lizzy Daugherty placed third with a mark of 11 feet, 1.75 inches.

• Freshman J.R. Hentges placed third in the men’s 800 meters in a time of 2:01.70 while sophomore Jared Putney was third in the 1,500 meters in a time of 4:02.42.

• Seattle Pacific returns to action this Saturday at the Peyton-Shotwell Invitational in Tacoma.

SIMON FRASER
• Due to the closure of the U.S./Canada border due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Simon Fraser’s will not compete in the GNAC track and field season.

WESTERN OREGON
• A red-hot debut for freshman Keola Yadao led Western Oregon’s efforts at both the CWU Wildcat Invitational and the Lane Invite in Eugene.

• Yadao was named the GNAC Men’s Track Athlete of the Week after he won the 100 meters at the Lane Invite in a GNAC-leading time of 10.62. It was Yadao’s first collegiate meet and just misses the GNAC Top-10 List. It is also the fifth-fastest time in WOU history.

• Yadao’s win was one of four for the Wolves at the Lane Invite. Senior Shayla Solomon won in the first event of the day, the women’s 800 meters, in 2:21.74. junior Ashley Hauger was right behind in second place in 2:23.94.

• Junior Ana Popchock won the women’s 400-meter hurdles in a time of 1:05.58 while senior Michaela Yonkman was second in 1:06.99.

• Senior Dominic Giordano added a first-place finish in the men’s 5,000 meters with a time of 15:36.65. Sophomore Emmett Klus was second in the men’s 800 meters in 1:55.24, finishing behind former teammate Derek Holdsworth.

• The WOU multi-eventers went north to Ellensburg to compete in the CWU Wildcat Invitational. Sophomore Jenelle Hurley placed second in the women’s heptathlon with an NCAA Championships provisional qualifying mark score of 4.596 points. She held the lead on Saturday until the 800 meters when she was passed up by Seattle Pacific’s Renick Meyer. Junior JJ Walker took fourth in the men’s decathlon with his score of 5,665 points.

• Western Oregon will host the Western Oregon Pop-Up meet in Monmouth on Friday while some Wolves competitors will travel to the Oregon Relays on Friday and Saturday at the new Hayward Field.

WESTERN WASHINGTON
• Twelve event victories, including three for sophomore Aliyah Dawkins, led Western Washington at the CWU Wildcat Invitational.

• Dawkins won the women’s 100-meter hurdles in a season-best time of 14.61 seconds. She cleared 5 feet, 5.75 inches to win the high jump with the conference’s leading mark and won the long jump with a season-best of 18 feet, 2.5 inches.

• Sophomore Koby Okezie improved his GNAC-leading mark in the men’s 110-meter hurdles, clocking a time of 14.55 seconds that moves him to No. 5 on the GNAC All-Time List.

• Senior Karlie Hurley collected her third victory of the season in the women’s triple jump with a mark of 38 feet, 7.5 inches. Senior Hannah Nienaber won the women’s javelin for the fourth time this year with a mark of 148 feet, 10 inches.

• Senior Cordell Cummings made it a sweep in the hurdles on the men’s side, winning the 400-meter hurdles in 54.50 seconds.

• The Vikings won four of the men’s field events, with freshman Trent Kibler taking the high jump with a mark of 6 feet, 3.25 inches and freshman Ryan Greenwalt winning the long jump with a mark of 21 feet. 11.75 inches. Junior Ben Malquist won the shot put with a mark of 52 feet, 6.5 inches and freshman Sean Witters captured the javelin with a throw of 180 feet, 2  inches.

• Western Washington is right back in action on Saturday, taking part in the Peyton-Shotwell Invitational in Tacoma.