2015 GNAC Track & Field Championships - Final Results

MONMOUTH, Ore. - Western Washington University sprinter Alex Donigian (Jr., Mission Viejo, CA/Trabuco Hills) won both the 100 and 200 meter dashes and ran the second leg on a victorious 4x100 relay in helping the Viking men to a 176-174 upset of heavy favorite Alaska Anchorage at the 14th annual Great Northwest Athletic Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships which concluded Saturday, May 9, at McArthur Field on the campus of host Western Oregon University.

Running the third leg for the winning 4x100 quartet was Brett Watson (Sr., Ferndale), who was named the Outstanding Male Athlete of the Meet. On Friday, his winning long jump mark of 24-1 3/4 broke a school record that had stood since 1966 and he won his third league title in the high jump by clearing 6-7.

Donigian's winning times were 10.44 in the 100 and 21.56 in the 200. The victorious relay was clocked in 41.79. Alex Binkerd (Fr., Redmond), a transfer from Washington, ran the leadoff leg and the anchor leg was run by Nate van Tuinen (Jr., Yakima/Riverside Christian).

Watson also ran a leg on the 4x400 relay, which placed fourth in a season-best 3:16.31 as WWU clinched the title. UAA finished second to Simon Fraser by a fraction of a second, 3:13.84 to 3:13.92. A win by the Seawolves would have given them a tie for the championship.

Together, Watson and Donigian scored 46-1/4 points for the Vikings, Watson finishing with 23-3/4 and Donigian with 22-3/4.

The title was the fourth straight for WWU and the sixth overall. The Vikings entered the meet as a 45-1/2 point underdog to UAA and their two-point victory in the nine-team field was the closest in GNAC history. They held a 20-point lead, 72-52, after Friday's competition.

"This team is made of heart and it showed with an amazing swing of 47-1/2 points," said WWU head coach Pee Halsell (27th year). "And for Watson to get that award was very fitting. He's been the glue for this team."

"There were lots of great performances all the way around. It was a total team effort."

The Vikings' only other event winner Saturday was Travis Milbrandt (Jr., Longview/Mark Morris) in the men's 110 hurdles with a time of 14.38. In Friday's qualifying heats, he had the best clocking of 14.21, breaking school, conference, meet and stadium standards.

Placing second in the pole vault (14-10) on Saturday was Gordie Kordas (So., Blaine).

On Friday, WWU's Ryan Macdonald (Sr., Bellingham/Sehome) captured the men's discus for the second straight year with a toss of 166-1 1/2 and placed second in the shot put with a personal best mark of 48-9 1/2. And Matthew Lutz (Jr., Bremerton/Olympic) was runner-up in the men's steeplechase with a time of 9:13.84.

WWU placed fourth in the women's division with 88 points. Seattle Pacific won its seventh conference crown with 183 points, snapping a streak of two titles by runner-up UAA (154). Central Washington was third (90).

The Vikings' Haley O'Connor (Sr., Sammamish/Eastlake) set a school record of 4:29.17 as she placed second in the 1,500. Katie Reichert (Jr., Longview/Kelso) was runner-up in the javelin (145-9 1/2) as was Miranda Osadchey (So., Dupont/Steilacoom) in the high jump (5-5 3/4).

On Friday, WWU's Katelyn Steen (Sr., Sammamish/Eastlake) set meet and stadium records in winning a second straight 3,000-meter steeplechase in 10:14.16, and Megan Mortensen (So., Tacoma/Franklin Pierce) took the discus with a mark of 142-10 3/4.

The Outstanding Female Athlete of the Meet was UAA's Jamie Ashcroft.

2015 GNAC Track & Field Championships

Men's Team Scores - Western Washington 176, Alaska Anchorage 174, Central Washington 109 ½, Western Oregon 88, Northwest Nazarene 85, Simon Fraser 85, Saint Martin's 54 ½, Seattle Pacific 21, MSU Billings 17.

Saturday's Finals

100 - 1. Alex Donigian, WWU, 10.44; 2. Cody Warner, WOU, 10.76; 3. Jordan Todd, CWU, 10.81; 4. Rimar Christie, NNU, 10.89; 5. Alex Binkerd, WWU, 10.97; 6. Darrion Gray, UAA, 10.99; 7. Garret Steuk, CWU, 11.05.

200 - 1. Alex Donigian, WWU, 21.56; 2. Darrion Gray, UAA, 21.91; 3. Jordan Todd, CWU, 22.19; 4. Jacob Oswalt, NNU, 22.35, 5. Joel Webster, SFU, 22.42; 6. Mario Lopez, SPU, 22.42; 7. David Ferguson, SPU, 22.43; Cody Warner, WOU, did not finish.

400 - 1. Daniel Kelloway, SFU, 47.62; 2. Adam Commandeur, UAA, 47.75; 3. Joel Webster, SFU, 48.41; 4. Ryan McArthur, WWU, 48.52; 5. Aaron Whitaker, WOU, 48.95; 6. Liam Lindsay, UAA, 49.04; 7. Nathan Vanderby, MSUB, 49.30; 8. Mario Lopez, SPU, 49.34.

800 - 1. Badane Sultessa, WOU, 1:52.31; 2. Cameron Proceviat, SFU, 1:53.05; 3. Josh Dempsey, WOU, 1:54.33; 4. Nathan Kipchumba, UAA, 1:54.37; 5. Josh Hanna, WOU, 1:54.42; 6. Max Trummer, SFU, 1:54.90; 7. Jesse Miller, UAA, 1:57.222; 8. Michael Mendenhall, UAA, 2:01.84.

1500 - 1. David Ribich, WOU, 3:50:58; 2. Marc-Antoine Rouleau, SFU, 3:51.29; 3. Robert Peterson, MSUB, 3:51.58; 4. Travis Vugteveen, SFU, 3:53.37; 5. Sam Naffziger, WOU, 3:54.80; 6. Nathan Kipchumba, UAA, 3:54.86; 7. Dylan Brown, WWU, 3:55.19; 8. Phillipe Gravel, SFU, 3:55.20.

5000 - 1. Dylan Anthony, UAA, 14:39.17; 2. Henry Cheseto, UAA, 14:44.92; 3. Dominik Notz, UAA, 14:47.65; 4. Max Romey, WWU, 14:51.90; 5. Victor Samoei, UAA, 14:53.35; 6. Andrew Wise, WWU, 15:01.60; 7. Oliver Jorgensen, SFU, 15:02.25; 8. Edwin Kangogo, UAA, 15:05.50.

110 Hurdles - 1. Travis Milbrandt, WWU, 14.38; 2. Travis Turner, UAA, 14.93; 3. Payton Lewis, NNU, 15.04; 4. Rimar Christie, NNU, 15.20; 5. David Durden, SMU, 15.22; 6. Kyle McLaughlin, NNU, 15.24; 7. Dennzell Mickelson, CWU, 17.38; Micah Spatz, NNU, did not finish.

400 Hurdles - 1. Elliott Bauer, UAA, 52.90; 2. Kaleb Dobson, WOU, 53.23; 3. Jade Wilson, WWU, 54.20; 4. Travis Turner, UAA, 54.28; 5. Kyle McLaughlin, NNU, 54.84; 6. Trevaughn Scott, CWU, 56.31; David Durden, SMU, disqualified.

4x100 Relay - 1. Western Washington (Binkerd, Donigian, Watson, Van Tuinen) 41.79; 2. Western Oregon 42.03; 3. Central Washington 42.12; 4. Northwest Nazarene 42.27; 5. Seattle Pacific 42.89; 6. MSU Billings 42.90; Alaska Anchorage did not finish; Saint Martin's did not finish,

4x400 Relay - 1. Simon Fraser (Ellenwood, Proceviat, Webster, Kelloway) 3:13.84 (meet record, old, 3:15.03, Alaska Anchorage, 2012); 2. Alaska Anchorage 3:13.92; 3. Western Oregon 3:15.50; 4. Western Washington 3:16.31; 5. Central Washington 3:21.57; 6. MSU Billings 3:21.60; 7. Seattle Pacific 3:22.51; 8. Northwest Nazarene 3:27.16.

Pole Vault - 1. Payton Lewis, NNU, 5.00 - 16-4 ¾; 2. Gordon Kordas, WWU, 4.52 - 14-10; 3. Tysen Campbell, WWU, 4.37 - 14-4; 4. Zach McClanahan, NNU, 4.37 - 14-4; 5. Zane Irvine, CWU, and Joseph Keeton, SMUm 4.22 - 13-10; 7. Berlie Walker, CWU, 4.22 - 13-10; 8. Chris Rickard, SMU, 4.22 - 13-10.

Triple Jump - 1. Luke Plummer, CWU, 14.69 - 48-2 ½; 2. Tevin Gladden, UAA, 13.79 - 45-3; 3. Mark Seely, WWU, 13.60 - 44-7 ½; 4. Somit Chhim, WWU, 13.53 - 44-4 ¾; 5. Jonathan Osborne, CWU, 13.38 - 43-10 ¾; 6. Justin Peterson, CWU, 13.31 - 43-8; 7. DeAndre Baines, CWU, 13.30 - 43-7 ¾; 8. Brian McElroy, CWU, 13..24 - 43-5 ¼.

Hammer - 1. Kevin Stanley, CWU, 59.17 - 194-1; 2. Peter Behnecke, SFU, 52.33 - 171-8; 3. Armando Tafoya, CWU, 52.16 - 171-1; 4. Mitch Wilkens, SMU, 51.74 - 169-9; 5. Vincent Fualefau, SMU, 50.67 - 166-3; 6. Matt Silva, NNU, 49.48 - 162-4; 7. Kegan Allen, WOU, 47.44 - 155-8; 8. Nels Flanagan, MSUB, 44.97 - 147-6.

Javelin - 1. Franz Burghagen UAA, 67.31 - 220-10; 2. Cody Parker, UAA, 65.91 - 216-3; 3. Brian Chalkley, SMU, 65.19 - 213-10; 4. John Haskin, WWU, 64.70 - 212-3; 5. Slater Hirst, WWU, 63.65 - 208-10; 6. Tyler Kostiuk, UAA, 59.10 - 193-11; 7. Justin Larson, WOU, 59.05 - 193-9; 8. Bryan Moon, CWU, 52.83 - 173-4.

Women's Team Scores - Seattle Pacific 183, Alaska Anchorage 154, Central Washington 90, Western Washington 88, Western Oregon 82, Northwest Nazarene 74, Simon Fraser 74, Saint Martin's 59, MSU Billings 13.

Saturday's Finals

100 - 1. Jamie Ashcroft, UAA, 11.84; 2. Becca Houk, SPU, 11.99; 3. Taylor Deskins, NNU, 12.30; 4. Tasia Baldwin, SPU, 12.37; 5. Kelsey Chase, SPU, 12.41; 6. Veronica Ivancic, WWU, 12.47; 7. Laura Patrick, WOU, 12.55; 8. Lisa Petersen, SMU, 12.69.

200 - 1. Jamie Ashcroft, UAA, 24.45; 2. Becca Houk, SPU, 24.70; 3. Jahzelle Ambus, SPU, 24.89; 4. Tasia Baldwin, SPU, 25.20; 5. Kyra Brannan, SPU, 25.54; 6. Madison Garcia, CWU, 25.85; 7. Taylor Deskins, NNU, 25.88; 8. Rosie Smith, UAA, 27.02.

400 - 1. Jahzelle Ambus, SPU, 55.91; 2. Chantel Desch, SFU, 56.00; 3. Mary Kathleen Cross, UAA, 57.06; 4. Jayna Inderbitzin, CWU, 57.71; 5. Cheryl Hong, SPU, 57.89; 6. Ashley Harmon, CWU, 58.21; 7. Hayley Bezanson, UAA, 58.43; 8. Gracia Reynolds, WWU, 58.75.

800 - 1. Lindsey Butterworth, SFU, 2:06.67; 2. Lynelle Decker, SPU, 2:09.43; 3. Alana Mussatto, SFU, 2:11.52; 4. Paige Nock, SFU, 2:11.52; 5. Bailey Beeson, WOU, 2:14.00; 6. Beatrice Decker, UAA, 2:15.09; 7. Miryam Bassett, SFU, 2:17.59; 8. Jessica Pahkala, UAA, 2:19.25.

1500 - 1. Lynelle Decker, SPU, 4:29.60; 2. Haley O'Connor, WWU, 4:29.71; 3. Stephanie Stuckey, WOU, 4:35.26; 4. Beatrice Decker, UAA, 4:36.24; 5. Jessica Rawlins, SPU, 4:36.55; 6. Nocona Frame, MSUB, 4:40.19; 7. Jessica Pahkala, UAA, 4:43.87; 8. Tamara Perez, UAA, 4:44.73.

5000 - 1. Jennifer Johnson, SFU, 17:04.46; 2. Dani Eggleston, CWU, 17:07.24; 3. Megan Rogers, CWU, 17:08.50; 4. Shannon Porter, SMU, 17:12.25; 5. Anna Patti, SPU, 17:14.84; 6. Caroline Kurgat, UAA, 17:17.78; 7. Amy Johnston, UAA, 17:18.99; 8. Taylor Guenther, WWU, 17:43.60.

100 Hurdles - 1. Rosie Smith, UAA, 14.18; 2. Lexi Tubbs, NNU, 14.31; 3. Haleigh Lloyd, UAA, 14.68; 4. Rochelle Pappel, WOU, 14.82; 5. Maliea Luquin, SPU, 14.82; 6. Lisa Petersen, SMU, 14.85; 7. Alexia Blalock, UAA, 15.16; 8. Tianna Banfro, CWU, 15.24.

400 Hurdles - 1. Haleigh Lloyd, UAA, 1:00.29 (meet record, old, 1:00.54, Lloyd, 2013 prelims); 2. Maliea Luquin, SPU, 1:03.54; 3. Jalen Tims, SPU, 1:04.41; 4. Maddi Hommes, SPU, 1:04.75; 5. Audrey Hellesto, WOU, 1:05.27; 6. Laura Knudson, WOU, 1:05.44; 7. Monique Lisek, SFU, 1:07.34; 8. Megan Teigen, SMU, 1:09.39.

4x100 Relay - 1. Seattle Pacific (Houk, Ambus, Brannan, Baldwin) 46.82; 2. Alaska Anchorage 47.84; 3. Central Washington 47.99; 4. Northwest Nazarene 48.13; 5. Simon Fraser 48.28; 6. Western Washington 49.11; 7. Western Oregon 49.45; 8. MSU Billings 49.92.

4x400 Relay - 1. Simon Fraser (Mussatto, Butterworth, Lisek, Desch) 3:45.64; 2. Seattle Pacific 3:48.75; 3. Alaska Anchorage 3:51.18; 4. Central Washington 3:51.77; 5. Western Oregon 3:54.44; 6. Northwest Nazarene 3:57.60; 7. Western Washington 3:57.93; 8. MSU Billings 4:05.86.

High Jump - 1. Karolin Anders, UAA, 1.67 - 5-5 ¾; 2. Miranda Osadchey, WWU, 1.67 - 5-5 ¾; 3. Katelyn Wright, WWU, 1.62 - 5-3 ¾; 4. HarLee Ortega, CWU, 1.62 - 5-3 ¾; 5. Lexi Sarver, NNU, 1.57 - 5-1 ¾; 6. Hope Reid, MSUB, 1.57 - 5-1 ¾; 7. Naphtali Ward, SPU, 1.57 - 5-1 ¾; 8. Luisa McInnis, SPU, 1.57 - 5-1 ¾.

Triple Jump - 1. Rebecca Laible, WOU, 11.79 - 38-8 ¼; 2. Ella Brown, SFU, 11.75 - 38-6 ¾; 3. Kylie Reinholdt, WOU, 11.69 - 38-4 ¼; 4. Jasmine McMullin, WWU, 11.61 - 38-1 ¼; 5. Karolin Anders, UAA, 11.52 - 37-9 ½; 6. Alexia Blalock, UAA, 11.21 - 36-9 ½; 7. Kelly Cronic, CWU, 11.19 - 36-8 ½; 8. Harlee Ortega, CWU, 11.10 - 36-5.

Hammer - 1. Caitlin Curtis, NNU, 51.59 - 169-3; 2. Ami Wick, SMU, 50.18 - 164-7; 3. Emily Wetherell, WOU, 48.70 - 159-9; 4. Angel Rodgers, SMU, 48.12 - 157-10; 5. Emmi Collier, WOU, 47.02 - 154-3; 6. Elizabeth Knope, WWU, 46.40 - 152-3; 7. Sam Lester, CWU, 45.99 - 150-11; 8. Dorothy Moore, CWU, 45.90 - 150-7.

Javelin - 1. Kathryn Walker, SMU, 45.19 - 148-3; 2. Katie Reichert, WWU, 44.43 - 145-9; 3. Amanda Short, WOU, 44.12 - 144-9; 4. Sheila Limas De La Cruz, WOU, 44.04 - 144-6; 5. Selina Byer, SFU, 41.79 - 137-1; 6. Michaela Farner, SPU, 40.81 - 133-11; 7. AnnaMarie Forza, NNU, 39.80 - 130-7; 8. Angelique Whistocken, CWU, 39.05 - 128-1.

Western Washington Edges Alaska Anchorage For GNAC Men's Outdoor Track & Field Championship

MONMOUTH, Ore. - Alex Donigian won both the 100 and 200 meters and also ran the second leg on the Vikings' victorious 4x100 relay team to lead Western Washington to its fourth straight Great Northwest Athletic Conference Men's Track and Field title Saturday at McArthur Field.

The Vikings edged pre-meet favorite Alaska Anchorage by two points (176-174) in what was the closest race in GNAC history. The two relays, in the end, turned out to be pivotal.

Early on, WWU scored 10 points in the 4x100 relay as Alex Binkerd, Donigian, Brett Watson and Nate van Tuinen raced to a time of 41.79 to finish .24 seconds ahead of Western Oregon. UAA did not finish the race.

Then in the final event of the day, WWU placed fourth in the 4x400 relay as Binkerd, Ryan McArthur, Watson and Jade Wilson finished in a time of 3:16.31, effectively clinching at least a tie for the team championship - the Vikings sixth since 2005.

Alaska Anchorage needed to win the race to claim that tie and it took a GNAC-meet record run of 3:13.84 by Simon Fraser to deny them that tie.

The difference between first and second for the Seawolves? A scant .08 seconds.

Watson's contributions to the two WWU relays along with his wins Friday in the high jump (6-7) and long jump (24-1 3/4) earned him Outstanding Performer honors for the meet. He won the high jump for the third year in a row and his long jump mark broke a 49-year old school record.

Watson was one of four men to win two events in the Championships. Joining Watson and Donigian as two-event winners was Kevin Stanley of Central Washington and Payton Lewis of Northwest Nazarene.

Stanley won the hammer Saturday (194-1) after winning the shot put (50-11) on Friday. Stanley also won the hammer last year. Lewis, who won the decathlon last week at Lacey, earned his second win in his freshman season Saturday in the pole vault, clearing 16-4 3/4.

The only meet record set Saturday in the men's meet was by the Simon Fraser relay team of Stuart Ellenwood, Cameran Proceviat, Joel Webster and Daniel Kelloway. They eclipsed the old record of 3:15.03, ironically set by Alaska Anchorage in 2012.

Among the winners Saturday were two UAA athletes that won their third titles in a row - Elliott Bauer in the 400 hurdles in a time of 52.90 and Franz Burghagen in the javelin with a heave of 220-10.

Winning second titles in the same event Saturday were Luke Plummer who repeated in the triple jump with a hop, skip and a jump of 48-2 1/2, and Dylan Anthony of Alaska Anchorage who defending his 5,000 title leading a 1-2-3 5K sweep in a time of 14:39.17.

Other Saturday winners included Kelloway in the 400 (47.62), Badane Sultessa of Western Oregon in the 800 (1:52.31), WOU freshman David Ribich in the 1500 (3:50.58) and WWU hurdler Travis Milbrandt in the 110 hurdles (14.38). On Friday, Milbrandt set a meet record in the prelims with a time of 14.21.

Seattle Pacific Claims Seventh GNAC Women's Outdoor Track & Field

MONMOUTH, Ore. - Wins by Jahzelle Ambus in the 400 meters and Lynelle Decker in the 1,500 Saturday were enough to carry Seattle Pacific to the victory in the 2015 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Women's Track and Field Championships at McArthur Field on the campus of Western Oregon University.

The Falcons outscored two-time defending champion Alaska Anchorage 183-154 to earn their seventh GNAC title. That gave the Falcons a sweep of the GNAC Indoor and Outdoor titles for the sixth time.

Ambus and Decker combined to score 34 points on Saturday. Ambus won the 400 in a time of 55.91 and finished third in the 200 in a time of 24.89.

Meanwhile, Decker, after winning the 1500 meters (4:29.60) came back to finish second in the 800 (2:09.43) as NCAA Division II national leader Lindsey Butterworth of Simon Fraser cruised to the victory in a time of 2:06.67. Butterworth, along with Alana Mussatto, Monique Lisek and Chantel Desch, also led SFU to a win in the 4x400 relay in a time of 3:45.64.

Seattle Pacific also won the 4x100 relay in a time of 46.82. Ambus was joined on that foursome by Becca Houk, Kyra Brannan and Tasia Baldwin. On Friday, the Falcons got wins from Anna Patti in the 10,000, Michaella Kahns in the pole vault and Brannan in the long jump,

UAA was the only women's team to have an athlete win two events in the meet as Jamie Ashcroft swept the 100 and 200 meters for the second year in a row. Ashcroft, who set a meet record in Friday's 100 prelims (11.81), was selected the Outstanding Performer.

Also winning two events for the Seawolves was heptathlete Karolin Anders who added a win in the high jump (5-5 3/4) to her multi-event championship she won last week. Anders, who also won the high jump in 2013, finished second in the long jump on Friday.

In addition to Ashcroft, two other athletes won their second titles in the same event Saturday. Haleigh Lloyd won the 400 hurdles in a meet-record time of 1:00.29, breaking her own record of 1:00.54, she set in the 2013 prelims when she won the title in a time of 1:01.21.

Western Oregon triple jumper Rebecca Laible claimed her second consecutive win with a mark of 38-8 1/4. She went 37-10 in winning the event a year ago.

Other winners Saturday included Jennifer Johnson of Simon Fraser in the 5000 (17:04.46), UAA's Rosie Smith in the 100 hurdles (14.18), Caitlin Curtis of Northwest Nazarene in the hammer (169-3) and Kalli Walker of Saint Martin's in the javelin (148-3) who dethroned defending champion and nationally No. 3 ranked Katie Reichert of Western Washington.