By: Jeff Evans, Assistant AD for Athletic Communications
BELLINGHAM, Wash. – Sophomore Calvin Gutierrez set the WWU and GNAC record in the hammer throw to highlight several standout performances by the Western Washington University Track & Field team Friday at the Pee Wee Halsell Invitational held in near-perfect conditions at Civic Stadium.
Gutierrez (Everett, WA/Mariner HS) set four PR's throughout his series, saving his best throw for last hitting a mark of 64.03m/210-1 to win the event and set the Western and GNAC record.
Entering the meet with a season and career-best mark of 58.92m/193-4, Gutierrez blew that mark away crushing the previous WWU record of 62.87m/206-3 by Michael Hoffman in 2011 and broke the longest standing GNAC record that was previously set by Pro Escobedo (62.89m/206-4) of Western Oregon in 2003.
The Western throws group recorded eight top 10 marks in addition to Gutierrez's record-breaking hammer throw. Junior Noah Turner equaled his PR of 16.67m/54-8.24 to win the shot put and senior Angelo Ramos set a PR to finish just behind Gutierrez in the hammer throw with a mark of 58.79m/192-10.
Senior Andrew Nelson won the men's javelin competition with a personal-best throw of 65.78m/215-9 to rank No. 4 in WWU history and just inside the national top 20 for NCAA II this season.
Freshman Azadeh Teague set a trio of outdoor PR marks on Friday winning the discus competition with a throw of 45.04m/147-9 (6th in WWU history) and placing 2nd in the hammer throw with a mark of 53.05m/174-0 (3rd in WWU history).
Sophomore Kathryn Chapin won the hammer with a lifetime best mark of 55.08m/180-8 to remain at No. 2 in WWU history and move into the national top 20.
Junior Sydney Mohlman won the pole vault clearing a PR height of 3.84m/12-7.25 and just missed the school record attempting 4.02m/13-2.25.
Junior Ella Edens set a PR winning the 3000m steeplechase in 10:54.45 to move up to No. 8 in WWU history. Senior Emmy Kroontje placed 2nd in the 800m running 2:08.89, just off her school record time of 2:08.60 set last weekend in Southern California.
WWU dominated the team scoring in the meet with the men scoring 223 points and the women 174 points. The Viking men totaled 21 podium finishes (top 3) with five event wins and the women had 16 top three finishes and six event wins.
WWU is back in action Saturday with a full day of events in the Ralph Vernacchia Invitational. A detailed listing of meet information, including event schedule, live results and meet history can be viewed online at WWUVikings.com.
Ticket Prices:
- Adult: $12
- Non WWU Student/Senior/WWU Employee: $8
- WWU Students: Free
- Parking: Free
- Card Only (no cash) at Civic Stadium
THE VERNACCHIA INVITATIONAL
The Ralph Vernacchia Invitational is named in honor of the former mentor of the Track & Field and Cross Country programs at Western Washington University. Ralph's career included one cross country and seven track & field district titles, as well as countless NAIA All-Americans and NAIA Scholar-Athletes. Ralph is retired from Western, where he was a professor in the PE Department, and from USA Track & Field, where he was the Sports Psychological subcommittee chair. He served as sport psychologist for the 2000 USA Track & Field Olympic team in Sydney. He was inducted into the WWU Athletics Hall of Fame in 1988.
Established last season, the Halsell Invitational pays respect to longtime WWU Track & Field and Cross Country head coach Pee Wee Halsell, who spent 36 years leading the program and taking the Vikings to new heights. In all, Halsell received 44 Coach of the Year honors while directing the Vikings to 36 team championships. When combining cross country, indoor track and field and outdoor track and field, Halsell received 26 GNAC Coach of the Year awards dating back to the start of the conference in 2001. He coached 10 individual national champions, 28 WWU Athletes of the Year, 18 WWU Scholar-Athletes of the Year, 163 All-Americans, 210 academic All-Americans, 237 conference champions, 385 West Region all-stars, 560 national participants, and 630 conference academic all-stars.
