Saturday, May 25, 2024
by Evan O'Kelly, Assistant Commissioner For Communications

EMPORIA, Kan. – Signaling the end of a successful 2023-24 outdoor track and field season on Saturday afternoon, Great Northwest Athletic Conference student-athletes took home multiple All-American accolades at the 2024 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships.

Megan Roxby of Simon Fraser garnered first-team All-American honors in the 1,500 meters, finishing in sixth place in the finals on Saturday. Roxby crossed the finish line in 4:24.85 to finish in the upper half of the field of 12 competitors. She also took home first-team All-America in the 800 meters, finishing seventh in that event with a time of 2:17.03.

Marie-Eloise Leclair of Simon Fraser capped her spring season with a pair of first-team All-America performances. Leclair crossed the line in fifth place in the 200 meters, with a personal best and GNAC record time of 23.17 seconds. Leclair also finished seventh in the 100 meters, running a time of 11.37 seconds (+3.2).

Central Washington’s Johan Correa finished his stellar 2023-24 season with a first-team All-America performance in the 800 meters on Saturday. Correa clocked a personal-best time of 1:49.35, finishing in fourth place in the finals heat. That effort was also the seventh-fastest in GNAC history.

Cole Nash of Alaska Anchorage competed in the men’s 5,000 meters finals on Saturday, wrapping up his season in 16th place. Nash, the GNAC champion in the event two weeks ago, clocked a time of 15:12.94 in his final race of the season.

On the women’s side in the 5,000 meters, Annika Esvelt of Seattle Pacific took home her second first-team All-America award of the weekend. The Falcon cruised to a seventh-place finish, clocking a time of 16:54.06 in the finals on Saturday. Esvelt took home the silver medal in the 10,000 meters on Thursday evening as well.

Laurenz Waldbauer of Northwest Nazarene and Jarrett Chong of Simon Fraser represented the conference in the men’s javelin finals on Saturday. Waldbauer finished in 13th place with a toss of 207-11 feet (63.38 meters), and Chong was close behind in 15th place with a top mark of 206-10 feet (63.05 meters).

On the women’s side in the javelin, three-time reigning GNAC champion Kaylee Wright of Western Oregon was the conference’s top finisher. The senior cut loose a toss of 143-0 feet (43.58 meters) on her final attempt, finishing in 16th place. Northwest Nazarene’s Madeline Gebers was the GNAC’s other competitor in the event, finishing in 18th place with a throw of 141-2 feet (43.02 meters).

Central Washington freshman standout Emy Ntekpere capped her debut collegiate season with her first outdoor national championships experience in the high jump. Ntekpere cleared a bar set at 5-5.25 feet (1.66 meters), tying for 17th place among a field of 21 competitors.