May 14, 2016 Photo Gallery 
| Results 
MONMOUTH, Ore. - Bolstered by several outstanding performances, the Western Washington University Track & Field program wrapped up competition at the 2016 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships held Friday and Saturday at McArthur Field on the campus of host Western Oregon University.
The men's squad finished 2nd scoring 128 points, trailing only Alaska Anchorage (163.5 points), to have the Vikings string of four consecutive team titles snapped. The women's team placed 4th in the 10-team competition with 101 points, with Seattle Pacific (148.5 points) taking home the team title.
2016 GNAC Track & Field Championship Team Scores:
Men's Team Scores: |
1. | Alaska Anchorage | 163.5 |
2. | Western Washington | 128 |
3. | Western Oregon | 118 |
4. | Central Washington | 101.5 |
5. | Northwest Nazarene | 72.5 |
6. | Simon Fraser | 72 |
7. | Concordia (OR) | 63 |
8. | Saint Martin's | 47.5 |
9. | MSU Billings | 23 |
| Seattle Pacific | 23 |
Women's Team Scores: |
1. | Seattle Pacific | 148.5 |
2. | Central Washington | 143.5 |
3. | Alaska Anchorage | 119 |
4. | Western Washington | 101 |
5. | Northwest Nazarene | 79.5 |
6. | Concordia (OR) | 70.5 |
7. | Western Oregon | 56 |
8. | Simon Fraser | 53 |
9. | Saint Martin's | 35 |
10. | MSU Billings | 10 |
The Vikings had seven individual event winners from competition Saturday and eight total during the two-day meet: Alex Donigian (100m and 200m), Travis Milbrandt (110m Hurdles), Mark Seely (Triple Jump), Katie Reichert (Javelin), Jasmine McMullin (Triple Jump), Anna Paradee (Pole Vault) and Megan Mortensen (Discus).
"I thought both of our teams did a great job competing and really made me proud to be a Viking," said head coach Pee Wee Halsell. "Lots of great individual performances from Alex Donigian, Mark Seely, Travis Milbrandt, Jasmine McMullin and the javelin throwers. Lots of names to mention, but overall just a solid meet with some great performance."
Donigian (Mission Viejo, CA/ Trabuco Hills/Saddleback JC/Northern Colorado) swept the spring events for the second year in a row winning both the 100m (10.66) and 200m (21.82) in dominating fashion. He became the second athlete in GNAC history to sweep the sprint events in back-to-back years, joining UAA's Michael Madrid in 2007-08. Donigian finished his career with nine individual GNAC titles (4 outdoor, 5 indoor) and is the conference record holder in the 100m and 200m in the outdoor season and the 60m in the indoor season.
"It was great to see Alex go out and defend his titles and really competed well today," added Halsell. "I am looking forward to watching him at the national meet."
Milbrandt (Longview, WA/Mark Morris) repeated as the winner in the 110m Hurdles clocking a 14.38 to win by over 3/10ths of a second. The victory was the fourth individual title of his career, also sweeping the 60m Hurdles as a junior and senior during the indoor season.
Led by Reichert's (Longview, WA/Kelso) second GNAC title with a conference championship record throw of 50.19m/164-8.25, the Vikings placed 1-2-3-6 in the women's javelin competition to earn 27 team points. Junior Bethany Drake (Sandy, OR) placed 2nd with a throw of 49.34m/161-10.75 and freshman Anosi Laupola (Port Orchard, WA/South Kitsap) was 3rd with a throw of 44.34m/145-6. Freshman Mariah Horton (Castle Rock, WA/Kelso) added three team points with a 6th-place finish (41.56m/136-4.5).
"What a performance by these ladies and I know there is more in there," said Halsell. "They made the program proud today and continues the legacy of great javelin throwers at WWU."
Junior Jasmine McMullin (Sequim, WA) added the outdoor triple jump title to her indoor title by leaping 11.83m/38-9.75.
Junior Mark Seely (Spokane, WA/Central Valley) improved upon his 3rd-place finish last season to take home the men's triple jump title with a jump of 14.65m/48-0.75. Seely set a PR with his jump and moved into a tie for 2nd in the WWU outdoor record books. Sophomore Somit Chhim (Kelso, WA) added 2 team points placing 7th with a jump of 13.64m/44-9.
"Mark really did a great job today and pulled kind of an upset," said Halsell. "A great moment for him and our team."
The women's pole vault squad also gave a solid performance brining home 18.5 points, led by sophomore Anna Paradee (Tacoma, WA/Decatur) winning the event by clearing 3.53m/11-7. Paradee cleared the winning mark on her final attempt. Freshman Rachael Roberts (Woodinville, WA/Bellevue College) placed 4th clearing 2.93m and sophomore Leah Huey (Broomfield, CO) tied for 5th clearing 2.78m/9-1.5.
The men's javelin combo of senior John Haskin (Bainbridge Island, WA/Olympic CC) and freshman Alex Barry (Sequim, WA) picked up 13 team points. Haskin recorded his highest GNAC placing after finishing 4th in 2015 and 3rd in 2014 with a mark of 62.44m/204-10.5. Barry was 4th with a throw of 57.85m/189-9.75. Both had already achieved NCAA II provisional marks entering the meet.
Junior Brittany Grant (Port Townsend, WA) capped a great meet by placing 3rd in the 5,000m with a PR of 16:46.17, the 3rd-fastest time in WWU history. Grant also placed 4th in Friday's steeplechase in 10:44.38 for the 4th-best time in school history in that event. She now has recorded NCAA II provisional marks in both the 5000m and 3000m Steeplechase this season.
"Brittany had a tremendous meet, first in the steeplechase and then coming back today in the 5,000m. I am very proud of her," said Halsell.
Other notable performances by the Vikings on Saturday included the following:
Friday's Event Recap:
Junior Megan Mortensen (Tacoma, WA/Franklin Pierce) repeated as the champion in the women's discus competition, setting a meet record with a throw of 46.08m/151-2.5. The old meet record was recorded by WWU's record holder Jessica Telleria (45.52m) in 2006. Mortensen also finished 5th in the shot put with a PR of 12.95m/42-6 for the 2nd-best mark in school history. She accounted for 14 points towards the team total.
The trio of junior Andrew Wise (Denver, CO/East), Matt Lutz (Bremerton, WA/Olympic) and Noah Ripley (Wasilla, AK) combined to record 17 team points in the 3,000m Steeplechase. Wise (9:05.64) and Lutz (9:13.00) finished 2-3 in the race, while Ripley set a PR by over 12 seconds to claim 6th place.
Junior Kevin Yates (Snohomish, WA) and junior Jasmine McMullin (Sequim, WA) both placed 2nd in the long jump in their respective competitions.
Junior pole vaulters Gordie Kordas (Blaine, WA) and J.T. Konrad (Mead, WA/Mt. Spokane) picked up 9 team points by placing 4th and 5th respectively. Kordas cleared 4.66m/15-3.5 on his first attempt, but could not go over 4.81m.
Sophomore Brandon Pless (Sedro Woolley, WA) picked up 8 team points by finishing 6th in the discus (45.15m/148-1.75) and 4th in the shot put (15.95m/52-4). His throw in the shot moved him up to 5th in WWU history.
Freshman Bridget Henry (Bellingham, WA/Sehome) tied for 3rd in the women's high jump with a PR of 1.62m/5-3.75 to earn 5.5 team points.
Senior Ryan Peterson (Seattle, WA/Garfield) and freshman Peter Butler (Port Angeles, WA) placed 7th and 8th in the 10,000m to close out the running events for the day.
The NCAA Division II selections will be made Tuesday (May 17) at 12 pm PT. The NCAA II Championships will be held May 26-28 in Bradenton, Florida.
