VANCOUVER, BC & HAYWARD, Calif. – The Western Washington University Track & Field team wrapped up its spring break competition on Saturday with student-athletes competing at the UBC Open in Vancouver, BC and the Mike Fanelli Track Classic in Hayward, California.
 
Senior pole vaulter J.T. Konrad and sophomore javelin thrower Natalie Vetto both joined the group of Vikings to record NCAA provisional marks in their events this season at the UBC Open.
 
WWU now has four women's javelin throwers with NCAA II provisional marks, with Vetto the latest to join the group. Freshman Paige Shimkus improved her mark placing 2^nd at the UBC Open with a top throw of 47.01m/154-2 to jump up one spot to No. 9 in the WWU all-time outdoor top 10.
 
Konrad cleared 4.80m/15-9 to meet the NCAA Championships standard for a provisional mark.
 
Additional top performances for the Vikings at the UBC Open included the following student-athletes. Official results were not available for distribution at the time of this news release, so all results are based off live scoring provided by the event host University of British Columbia.
 
Men's Highlights:
»       Cordell Cummings: Placed 1^st in the 400m Hurdles (54.35)
»       Garrett Davies: Placed 1^st in the High Jump (1.94m/6-4.25)
»       J.T. Konrad: Placed 1^st in the Pole Vault (4.80m/15-9) – NCAA II Provisional Mark
»       Ethan Sterkel: Placed 1^st in the Long Jump (6.63m/21-9)
»       Avery Lux: Placed 1^st in the Discus (43.01m/141-1)
»       Bryant Welch: Placed 2^nd in the 200m (22.46) and 4^th in the 400m (50.17)
»       Seren Dances: Leads the Decathlon after the first day with 2,838 points
»       Nick Makrakis: 2^nd in the Decathlon after the first day with 2,675 points
»       Ian Rinefort: 3^rd in the Decathlon after the first day with 2,593 points
»       Javelin: WWU contingent of Cooper McNatt (3^rd, 57.96m), Mason Salley (4^th, 57.84m) and Costel David (5^th, 57.55m) placed 3^rd, 4^th and 5^th
 
Women's Highlights:
»       Javelin U: Had six competitors in the javelin competition with freshman Paige Shimkus setting a PR at 47.01m/154-2…Natalie Vetto recorded a NCAA II provisional mark placing 6^thwith a throw of 43.27m/141-11…Raquel Pellecer placed 3^rd with a throw of 45.41m/148-11…senior Amanda Short made her WWU debut throwing 41.09m/134-9.
»       Hannah Bradley: Placed 2^nd in the 100m (12.40) and 200m (25.59)
»       Savannah Smith: Placed 2^nd in the 400m (57.38) and 3^rd in the 200m (25.70)
»       Molly House: Won the 100m Hurdles in 16.36
»       Jewels Oliquiano: Won the Pole Vault clearing 3.30m (10-10)…WWU owned the top four spots in the pole vault with all clearing 3.20m
»       Aliyah Dawkins: 1^st in the Heptathlon after the first day with 1,855 points
  Both the women's heptathlon and the men's decathlon will wrap up Sunday at the Rashpal Dhillon Track and Field Oval starting at 10 am. Live results can be tracked through WWUVikings.com/TF_Live.
  A handful of Viking distance runners competed over the last three days at the Mike Fanelli Track Classic at Chabot College in Hayward, California.
 
On Saturday, three Vikings competed in the 800m race with senior Kyler Sager leading the way with a 7^th-place finish in 1:53.49. Senior James Jasperson finished 21^st (1:54.71) and senior Ben Crowellplaced 65^th (1:57.81).
 
On Thursday, a pair of Western runners recorded NCAA II provisional marks. Junior Sophia Galvez finished 24^th in the 10,000m race, clocking a PR and the 3^rd-best time in WWU outdoor track history in 36:28.86. Galvez was well below the provisional qualifying mark of 36:35.97 and will likely be a top 10 time in NCAA II following today's results. Galvez smashed her previous PR of 37:11.23 set at last year's GNAC Outdoor Championships where she placed 2^nd to earn all-conference honors.
 
Senior Dylan Hayes finished 22^nd in the 3,000m steeplechase, recording the 5^th-best mark in WWU history at 9:10.99. He also notched an NCAA II provisional mark going below the 9:15.02 standard. He broke his previous career best in the event of 9:17.33 set at the 2017 GNAC Outdoor Championships while placing 5^th. Hayes entered the meet with a season-best mark of 9:25.57 set at the Lewis & Clark Spring Break Open, ranking 10^th at the NCAA II level.
  The Vikings host the first of two home meets this upcoming Friday with the WWU Team Invitational at Civic Stadium in Bellingham. WWU will host Seattle Pacific, Saint Martin's and the University of British Columbia in the track meet that is scheduled to start with the field events at 2 pm. WWU will also host the annual Ralph Vernacchia Track & Field Meet on April 27 at Civic Stadium.