Contact: Bob Guptill (503-305-8756/www.gnacsports.com)
Feb. 11, 2015
Final Tuneups Set For Conference Championships At UW, Nampa
THIS WEEK: Friday - UW Husky Classic (UAA, CWU, SMU, SPU,
SFU, WOU, WWU). Saturday – UW Husky Classic (UAA, CWU,
SMU, SPU, SFU, WOU, WWU); Boise State Team Challenge (NNU).
Sunday – University of Washington Open (UAA, CWU, SMU, SPU,
SFU, WOU, WWU).
Northwest Nazarene, 8. Western Washington, 9. Western Oregon,
10. Cal State L.A.
Six Qualifying Marks Set at Pullman, Nampa
Six GNAC athletes established or improved on previous
national qualifying marks in meets at Nampa, Idaho, and
Pullman, Wash., last weekend.
PORTLAND, Ore. – GNAC athletes will mostly compete at
the University of Washington this weekend as they focus
on improving their positions for next week’s 12th annual
Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships at
Nampa, Idaho.
The men’s qualifiers were Josh Hanna of Western Oregon
and Rimar Christie of Northwest Nazarene who each won
a race.
The Seattle event is a three-day affair beginning Friday and
Saturday with the Husky Classic and concluding on Sunday
with the University of Washington Open.
Hanna won the 800 meters at the Cougar Open in a PNQ
of 1:52.75. That puts him into 19th place of the TFRRS
Division II performance list.
Alaska Anchorage, Central Washington, Saint Martin’s,
Seattle Pacific, Simon Fraser, Western Oregon and
Western Washington will all send teams to Seattle.
Christie, meanwhile, had a PNQ in winning the 60 hurdles
(8.27) at the New Balance Boise Indoor in Nampa.
Christie’s time ranks fifth all-time in GNAC history, while
Hanna’s time ranks 10th.
Northwest Nazarene will stay home to run in the Boise
State Team Challenge at Nampa. Montana State Billings,
meanwhile, is idle.
Women’s national qualifiers were Chelsey Knott of
Northwest Nazarene in the 60 hurdles, Tayler Fettig of
Central Washington in the high jump, CWU’s Becki
Duhamel in the weight throw and Taylor VanValey of NNU
in the shot.
There are no standards for the conference meet as each
team is allowed to enter up to 25 male athletes and 25
female athletes along with an unlimited number to fill its
relay teams.
Knott’s time of 8.79 moved her into 18th place on TFRSS
and third on the GNAC all-time Top 10.
Simon Fraser, which was idle last weekend, goes into this
weekend ranked among the elite teams in NCAA Division II
based on the USTFCCCA NCAA Division II National Team
Computer rankings.
Fettig’s mark doesn’t put her in either the TFRRS Top 20 or
GNAC Top 10, however, Duhamel solidified her positions
on both lists, adding 8 ¼ inches to her previous No. 2
GNAC chart position. She ranks 17th on TFRSS.
The Clan women maintained its No. 3 national ranking,
while the SFU men fell eight places to 19th place. Both SFU
teams are ranked No. 1 in this week’s regional rankings.
VanValey’s shot mark ranks sixth on the GNAC Top 10, but
she did not crack the TFRRS Top 20.
The computer rankings are based on projected point totals
at the NCAA Division II national meet. The NCAA Division II
national meet will be held this year Mar. 13-14 at
Birmingham, Ala.
NNU’s Andrew Galbraith missed the NCAA provisional
standard in the high jump, but his 6-7 leap ranks eighth alltime in the GNAC.
In this week’s regjonal rankings, GNAC teams hold down
eight of the 10 positions in the men’s rankings and seven
of the 10 in the women’s rankings.
In addition to Hanna and Christie, GNAC athletes won five
events during the weekend.
At Pullman, Ali Anderson (1:00.55 in the women’s 400) and
Dani Eggleston of Central Washington (10:17.91 in the
3,000) and the Wildcat 4x400 relay anchored by Anderson
(4:06.79) joined Hanna in the victory circle.
USTFCCCA West Region (Feb. 10): Men – 1. Simon Fraser, 2.
Western Washington, 3. Alaska Anchorage, 4. Academy of Art, 5.
Northwest Nazarene, 6. Azusa Pacific, 7. Saint Martin’s, 8. Central
Washington, 9. Western Oregon, 10. Montana State Billings.
Women – 1. Simon Fraser, 2. Seattle Pacific, 3. Azusa Pacific, 4.
Academy of Art, 5. Alaska Anchorage, 6. Central Washington, 7.
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