ELLENSBURG, Wash. – Western Washington University sophomore Seren Dances finished in 6^thplace in the Decathlon at the 2019 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Combined Event Championships that concluded Tuesday at the CWU Recreation Sports Complex.

 

Dances tallied 6,452 points in his 6^th-place finish to lead three WWU competitors in the decathlon, while freshman Aliyah Dawkins placed 13^th in the Heptathlon. The 6^th-place finish by Dances will earn the Vikings three team points in the GNAC Outdoor Championships that will be held May 10-11 in Monmouth, Oregon.

 

Freshman Cooper Cummings had a strong second-day performance in the decathlon to finish in 9^thplace overall in the decathlon with 5,758 points, while freshman Ian Rinefort no-heighted in the pole vault to drop him out of the top 10 for a 12^th-place finish with 5,033 points.

 

Dances (Port Townsend, WA) recorded personal-best marks in four of the five events held on Tuesday, but ran out of gas in the 1500m to conclude the event. If Dances equaled his PR in the 1500m (4:52.40) in the final event, he would have had a chance to move finish in the top four or five. But he ran a 5:07.45 in the 1500m to finish 11^th out of 13 that started the event, dropping from 3^rd to 6^th in the final standings.

 

Cummings (Lake Stevens, WA/Arlington) recorded three personal-best marks on Tuesday, including a 5^th-place finish in the pole vault (4.00m/13-1.5) and a 20-second PR in the 1500m finishing 6^th in 4:38.09. Overall, Cummings scored 5,758 to finish just outside of the points in 9^th place, bettering his previous best mark in the decathlon of 5,487 set at the UBC Open.

 

Rinefort (Ashland, OR) is known as a second-day specialist in the multi-events, but no-heighted in one of his specialty events, the pole vault, causing him to slip in the standings to 12^th with 5,033 points. The freshman was in 5^th place after the first day, but after his no-height slipped outside of the top 10 and did not finish the final event, the 1500m. Earlier this season Rinefort scored 6,682 points for the 3^rd-best mark in WWU history, and currently in the top 20 in NCAA Division II.

 

Dawkins (North Mankato, MN) was in a fight for points in a battle for the 7^th and 8^th position, but did not finish the final event (800m) with an injury. Despite competing in only six of the seven events, she recorded 3,530 points, just short of her PR of 3,686. She set a personal best in five of seven events.

Here is a look at the results from the three WWU student-athletes that competed in the Decathlon at the 2019 GNAC Combined Event Championships in Ellensburg:

 

 

Personal Best

Here is a look at the results by Aliyah Dawkins from the Heptathlon at the 2019 GNAC Combined Event Championships in Ellensburg:

 

 

Personal Best

 

The WWU Track & Field team concludes the 2019 regular season this Saturday, May 4 at the Ken Shannon Invitational hosted by the University of Washington. The 2019 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships will be held May 10-11 at McArthur Field on the Western Oregon University campus in Monmouth, Oregon.