March 5, 2018
BELLINGHAM, Wash. - Western Washington University sophomore Raquel Pellecer has been named the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Track & Field Female Field Athlete of the Week, announced Monday by the conference office in Portland, Ore.
Pellecer (Sandy, OR/Portland State) won the javelin competition at the season-opening Ed Boitano Invitational hosted by the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma. Pellecer, a transfer from Portland State University, made her WWU debut by recording an NCAA Division II provisional mark of 43.42m/142-5, besting the provisional standard of 41.24m. Her throw is currently the second-best mark in NCAA Division II this season, trailing Friederike Kallenberg of Point Loma (44.05m/144-6).
Freshman Natalie Vetto (Kirkland, WA/Lake Washington) tied Pellecer for 1st place in the javelin with a matching mark of 43.42m/142-5 in the javelin, but Pellecer won the event as her second-best throw was better than Vetto's.
Pellecer is the second WWU Track & Field athlete to earn a GNAC weekly award, joining junior pole vaulter J.T. Konrad (Mead, WA/Mt. Spokane) from the indoor season (Feb. 19-25).
The Vikings return to the Tacoma area next weekend for the Pacific Lutheran University Open on Saturday, March 10. Senior Jasmine McMullin (Sequim, WA) will also compete next Saturday in the triple jump at the NCAA Division II Indoor Championships, hosted at the Robert W. Plaster Center in Pittsburg, Kansas.
