MONMOUTH, Ore. – The Western Washington University men’s track & field team is in 3rd place while the women’s team sits in 4th after the first of two competition days at the 2018 GNAC Outdoor Championships, hosted by Western Oregon University at McArthur Field.
The Viking men totaled 48 points on Friday behind Concordia (63 points) and Central Washington (59 points). The WWU women are 4th with 37 points, just behind Central Washington (38 points) in 3rd. Concordia leads the women’s standings with 71 points ahead of Seattle Pacific (49.5 points) in 2nd.
Junior Maddie Taylor (Seattle, WA/Auburn Mountainview/Montana) claimed the high jump title on Friday with one of five All-GNAC performances for the Vikings during the first day of competition.
Taylor won the high jump with a leap of 1.66m (5-5 ¼). She cleared 1.66m on her second attempt, with Seattle Pacific’s Geneva Lehnert finishing 2nd (1.61m/5-3 ¼) followed by a four-way tie for 3rd place.
Taylor became the fourth WWU women’s high jumper to win a GNAC outdoor title (five overall titles) in the event, joining Clara Cook (2006, 2008), Amanda Overdick (2010), and Brittany Grand (2012). Taylor’s personal-best high jump mark during the season is 1.70m (5-7), which entered the weekend tied for 21st nationally as well as tied for 10th in GNAC history and 5th in WWU history. She attempted at a would-be personal-best 1.71m at the meet on Friday.
Senior Adam Thomas (Washougal, WA) earned All-GNAC honors with a 3rd-place finish in the pole vault at a height of 4.43m (14-6 ¼) for the WWU men. Junior J.T. Konrad (Mead, WA/Mount Spokane) also cleared 4.43m (14-6 ¼) and placed 4th based on a fewer misses tiebreaker as the two combined to total 11 points toward the WWU team score.
Junior Peter Butler (Port Angeles, WA) led four Vikings in the 10,000m and earned All-GNAC honors with a 2nd-place finish for 8 team points. He crossed the line in 32:09.95, just behind champion Josh Boston of Central Washington in 32:08.40. The Vikings scored 20 points in the event as freshman Ben Jacot (Tacoma, WA/Curtis), sophomore Edward Kiolbasa (Stillwater, MN/Stillwater Area/North Dakota) and freshman Bentley Wilson (Newport Beach, CA/Newport, CA) finished 4-5-6. Jacot recorded a personal-best time of 32:31.14 while Kiolbasa followed in 32:31.77 and Wilson crossed the line in a personal-best time of 32:39.93.
Freshman Seren Dances (Port Towsend, WA) was 3rd in the long jump to lead four Vikings in the event. His best leap was 6.74m (22-1 ½) to earn All-GNAC honors and 6 team points while sophomore Nick Makrakis (Concord, CA/Northgate) was also a scoring placer in 8th with a leap of 6.54m (21-5 ½).
Sophomore Sophia Galvez (Los Alamos, NM) led four Vikings placing among the top 8 in the 10,000m during the last track event of the evening. Galvez earned All-GNAC accolades with a 2nd-place finish in a personal-best time of 37:11.23, ranking No. 5 on the WWU top-10 list. WWU also had freshman Tovah Swartz-Ireland (Seattle, WA/Nathan Hale) in 5th (38:28.89 – PR), junior Tracy Melville (Lamont, WA/Lind-Ritzille/Sprague) in 6th (38:59.17) and senior Alexandra Laiblin (Oak Harbor, WA) in 8th (39:22.48) to total 12 points in the event.
The meet continues Saturday with field events starting at 10 am and track events beginning at noon. A start list is available along with the full Saturday schedule and live results link.
