Feb. 18, 2017 GNAC Championships Results (PDF) | 2017 GNAC Indoor Championships 
NAMPA, Idaho - Junior Anna Paradee won the pole vault with a personal best and national top 10 performance as the Western Washington University women finished 6th while the men placed 7th at the GNAC Indoor Track & Field Championships, held Friday and Saturday at Jacksons Indoor Track at the Idaho Center.
The WWU women totaled 51.5 points in 6th while the men finished with 64 points in 7th. The Alaska Anchorage men took home the men's team title (154 points) while the Seattle Pacific women (124 points) edged Simon Fraser (120.5 points) for the women's team championship.
Final Men's Results | | Final Women's Results |
Place | Team | Pts | | Place | Team | Pts |
1 | Alaska Anchorage | 154 | 1 | Seattle Pacific | 124 |
2 | Western Oregon | 82 | 2 | Simon Fraser | 120.5 |
3 | Northwest Nazarene | 78 | 3 | Alaska Anchorage | 113 |
4 | Simon Fraser | 77 | 4 | Central Washington | 84 |
5 | Concordia | 66.5 | 5 | Concordia | 60 |
6 | Central Washington | 65 | 6 | Western Washington | 51.5 |
7 | Western Washington | 64 | 7 | Northwest Nazarene | 41 |
8 | Saint Martin's | 36 | 8 | Saint Martin's | 35 |
9 | MSU Billings | 29.5 | 9 | Western Oregon | 25 |
10 | Seattle Pacific | 11 | 10 | MSU Billings | 8 |
| | | | | | | |
Paradee (Pole Vault, Tacoma, WA/Decatur), cleared 3.83m (12-6 ¾) to improve upon her previous personal best of 3.78m (12-4 ¾). The 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place finishers all cleared 3.67m (12-0 ½). Paradee's performance, an NCAA II provisional height, ranks among the top 10 nationally as well as 2nd in WWU history. Freshman Rachael Roberts (Pole Vault, Woodinville, WA/Bellevue College) finished tied for 5th at 3.32m (10-10 ¾) while freshman Jewels Oliquiano (Pole Vault, Kaneohe, HI/Castle) was 7th at the same height of 3.32m (10-10 ¾).
Senior jumper Miranda Osadchey (Dupont, WA/Steilacoom) placed 2nd in the high jump with a season-best height of 1.61m (5-3 ¼) in earning All-GNAC honors (top 3 placer). Sophomore jumper Bridget Henry (Bellingham, WA/Sehome) also scored team points, placing 6th with the same height of 1.61m (5-3 ¼). Henry's effort was a personal best, ranking in a tie for 5th on the top 10 WWU list.
Freshman sprinter Macie Allen (Gresham, OR/Barlow), who set the school record in the 60m with a time of 7.77 in the preliminaries, placed 4th in the finals on Saturday with the same school-record time of 7.77.
Senior distance runner Brittany Grant (Port Townsend, WA) finished 2nd in the 3,000m with a time of 10:04.38 to earn All-GNAC honors while junior distance runner Lillianna Stelling (Langley, WA/South Whidbey) was a scoring placer in 8th place with a time of 10:24.97.
On the men's side, senior thrower Brandon Pless (Sedro-Woolley, WA) earned All-GNAC honors in a second event after placing 3rd in the weight throw on Friday by finishing 2nd in the shot put on Saturday with a mark of 15.66m (51-4 ¾).
Junior Somit Chhim (Jumps, Kelso, WA) led three top-8 WWU finishers in the triple jump, placing 2nd with a mark of 14.21m (46-7 ½) to rank 3rd on the WWU top 10 list and net All-GNAC accolades. He was followed by sophomore Nicholas Makrakis (Jumps, Concord, CA/Northgate) in 5th with a distance of 13.58m (44-6 ¾) and sophomore Jacob Ringold (Jumps, Vancouver, WA/Columbia River) in 6th with a mark of 13.57m (44-6 ¼). The performance by Makrakis ranks 7th in WWU history while Ringold's effort is 8th.
Senior distance runner Andrew Wise (Denver, CO/East) led three Vikings in the 3,000m with a 4th-place finish (8:40.39). Sophomore distance runner Peter Butler (Port Angeles, WA) finished as a scoring placer in 8th with a time of 8:52.45.
Sophomore middle distance runner Kyler Sager (Snohomish, WA) placed 6th in the finals of the 800m in a time of 1:57.34. His personal-best time of 1:54.96 set in the preliminaries on Friday ranks 4th on the WWU top 10 list.
Freshman hurdler Cordell Cummings (Arlington, WA) placed 8th in the finals of the 60m hurdles with a time of 8.58. His personal-best time of 8.55 set on Friday ranks 9th in WWU history.
The WWU men's and women's 4x400m relay teams each placed 8th in their respective races, with the men finishing in a time of 3:28.01 and the women in a time of 4:05.28.
"I think we came alive today," head coach Pee Wee Halsell said of Saturday's performances. "Yesterday we had some good things happen, we had some not-so-good things happen, and some things that were right on par with what was supposed to happen - which is a typical track meet. Today, we had some really good things happen."
The Vikings will return to competition at the Seattle Pacific University Final Qualifier next Saturday, hosted at the Dempsey Indoor Center. The NCAA II Indoor National Championships will be held March 9-11 in Birmingham, Ala., at the Birmingham CrossPlex. The outdoor season begins for WWU on March 4 at the University of Puget Sound.
Day 2 Results
