Contact: Bob Guptill (503-305-8756/www.gnacsports.com)
Feb. 18, 2015
GNAC Conference Championships Begin Friday at Nampa
THIS WEEK: Friday-Saturday – GNAC Championships (at Nampa)
30 Qualifying Marks Set at Seattle, Nampa
PORTLAND, Ore. – Alaska Anchorage and Seattle Pacific
are the only schools to ever win the GNAC Women’s
Indoor Track and Field Championships and they figure to
finish 1-2 this weekend in the 12th annual event at
Jacksons Indoor Track in Nampa.
GNAC athletes established a total of 27 NCAA Division II
qualifying marks last weekend in two meets at Seattle.
Three more were established by GNAC athletes in the
Boise Team Challenge at Nampa.
At UW, Alaska Anchorage led the way with 10, eight in
individual events and two in relays. Simon Fraser had six
and Central Washington had four.
In the latest USTFCCCA regional rankings, the Seawolves,
who are the two-time defending women’s champions, are
ranked third in back of Azusa Pacific and Academy of Art
from the PacWest Conference.
Western Oregon had three, including one relay, while
Western Washington and Seattle Pacific had two. One of
the Falcons’ came in a relay.
Seattle Pacific, which won nine consecutive women’s team
titles between 2004 and 2012, is ranked fourth just ahead
of fifth-ranked Simon Fraser in the regional poll.
At Nampa, Northwest Nazarene had three, including an
auto mark by Payton Lewis who became just the second
pole vaulter in GNAC history to clear the bar at 17 feet,
going ¾ of an inch higher.
The Clan, however, figures to have more national meet
potential as they are the highest ranked West Region team
in the national computer rankings coming in at No. 6.
Simon Fraser’s Jennifer Johnson also had an automatic
time in the 3000 meters, running a time of 9:28.24.
In fact, SFU is the only GNAC team ranked in the Top 25 in
those rankings which are based primarily on projected
point totals at the NCAA Division II national meet.
Among last weekend’s top performances was a GNACrecord time of 8.09 in the 60 hurdles by Western
Washington’s Travis Milbrandt.
The NCAA Division II national meet will be held this year
Mar. 13-14 at Birmingham, Ala.
Three other performances rank No. 2 all-time in the GNAC
in those events – Lewis’ pole vault, Becca Houk’s women’s
60 meter time of 7.67 and a 60 hurdles time of 8.72 by
Chelsey Knott of Northwest Nazarene.
On the men’s side, Western Washington has overtaken
season-long leader Simon Fraser in the regional poll,
earning it the favorite role in this weekend’s meet.
The Vikings are still second in the rankings, however,
Academy of Art has taken over first place in the computer
rankings and SFU has fallen to third.
Last Week’s National Qualifiers: Men: 60 – Kent McKinney, CWU,
6.86. 800 – Joe Day, UAA, 1:52.66; *Scott Commandeur, UAA,
1:52.74; Sam Naffziger, WOU, 1:53.37. Mile – Travis Vugteveen,
SFU, 4:08.20; Brady Beagley, WOU, 4:10.60. 3000 – Marc-Antoine
Rouleau, SFU, 8:16.92; *Henry Cheseto, UAA, 8:18.59. 60 Hurdles
– Travis Milbrandt, WWU, 8.09. Distance Medley Relay –
Western Oregon (Sultessa, Whitaker, Hanna, Beagley) 9:59.24;
Alaska Anchorage (Messina, A. Commandeur, Kipchumba,
Mendenhall). Pole Vault - +Payton Lewis, NNU, 5.20 – 17-0 3/4;
*Gordon Kordas, WWU, 4.72 – 15-5 ¾. Weight Throw – *Kevin
Stanley, CWU, 17.51 – 57-5 ½. Women: 60 – *Becca Houk, SPU,
7.67. 200 – Jamie Ashcroft, UAA, 24.80. 800 – Paige Nock, SFU,
2:12.16; Jessica Pahkala, UAA, 2:14.14; *Haleigh Lloyd, UAA,
2:14.76; *Alana Mussatto, SFU, 2:15.07. Mile – Rebecca Bassett,
SFU, 4:57.47. 3000 – Jennifer Johnson, SFU, 9:28.24. 5000 – Amy
Johnston, UAA, 17:18.25; Dani Eggleston, CWU, 17:25.63. 60
Hurdles – +Chelsey Knott, NNU, 8.72; *Rosie Smith, UAA, 8.79.
Distance Medley - Alaska Anchorage (Pahkala, Smith, Lloyd,
Decker) 11:44.78; Seattle Pacific (Rawlins, Johnson, Decker, Patti)
11:50.92. High Jump - *Tayler Fettig, CWU, 1.73 – 5-8. Weight
Throw - +Caitlin Curtis, NNU, 16.92 – 55-6 ¼.
(Note: All
WWU will be seeking its third consecutive GNAC men’s
championship and its fifth overall.
Following is the latest USTFCCCA West Regional computer
rankings.
USTFCCCA West Region (Feb. 17): Men – 1. Academy of Art; 2.
Western Washington, 3. Simon Fraser; 4. Azusa Pacific; 5. Alaska
Anchorage, 6. Northwest Nazarene, 7. Saint Martin’s, 8. Central
Washington, 9. Western Oregon, 10. Montana State Billings.
Women – 1. Azusa Pacific; 2. Academy of Art; 3. Alaska
Anchorage; 4. Seattle Pacific; 5. Simon Fraser; 6. Central
Washington, 7. Northwest Nazarene, 8. Western Washington, 9.
Cal State Stanislaus; 10. Western Oregon
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