KINGSVILLE, Texas – Two members of the Western Washington University Track & Field team opened competition Thursday night at the 2019 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Javelina Stadium on the campus of Texas A&M Kingsville.
 
Freshman Karlington Anunagba (Lagos, Nigeria) and junior Cordell Cummings (Lake Stevens, WA/Arlington) didn't have the performances they were hoping for, as both entered the national meet seeded in the top eight in the nation with their season-best performances.
 
Anunagba got off to a good start in the second heat of the 100m, but a nagging hamstring injury that caused him to scratch out of the final of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships got the best of him. The 17-year-old freshman pulled up grabbing his hamstring close to the 70m mark and crossed the finish line in 12.41 to finish in 20^th place. Anunagba entered the championships with a season-best time of 10.33, the 2^nd-best mark in WWU and GNAC history.
 
Cummings stumbled over the ninth hurdle (out of 10) in the 400m hurdles, and was unable to recover down the stretch to originally finish 16^th in 53.72. He was in 2^nd place in his heat prior to the mishap. After the completion of the event, Cummings was disqualified for technical reasons. The junior entered nationals ranked 6^th in the event with a season-best time of 51.77, the 2^nd-best mark in WWU and GNAC history. He was a double winner in the 400m and 110m hurdles at the GNAC Championships to earn Male Track Athlete of the Meet.
 
WWU has one student-athlete competing in Friday, with senior Maddie Taylor (Seattle, WA/Auburn Mountainview) in the high jump beginning at 3:05 pm PT/5:05 pm CT.
  The three-day NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships can be followed online via the following social media channels and links:
 
»       Webcast
»       Live Results
»       Meet Schedule
»       Meet Information
»       #D2TF
  The following is an event rundown with timing (in Central Time) of events WWU athletes will compete in. The complete schedule for the NCAA II Outdoor Track & Field Championships is available online at the championships website:
 
»       Women's High Jump (Taylor) – Friday, 5/24 (5:05 pm)
»       Women's Javelin (Short, Pellecer, Shimkus) – Saturday, 5/25 (11:30 am)
»       Men's Javelin (Barry) – Saturday, 5/25 (2:25 pm)
  Here is the list of Vikings that will compete over the final two days of the 2019 NCAA II Outdoor Track & Field Championships and where they are seeded heading into their events:
 
»       Maddie Taylor, High Jump, 7^th, 1.74m/5-8.5
»       Amanda Short, Javelin, 8^th, 47.62m/156-3
»       Raquel Pellecer, Javelin, 9^th, 47.31m/155-2
»       Paige Shimkus, Javelin, 11^th, 47.01m/154-3
»       Alex Barry, Javelin, 17^th, 62.87m/206-3