Track & Field | 4/15/2009 6:36:15 PM

[L&C Invite schedule] [Mt. SAC Relays schedule] [Long Beach Invite schedule]

What's happening:
The Western Oregon University track and field team has a packed weekend to look forward to as it heads down the final stretch of its 2009 outdoor season. The team will start in Salem, Ore., at Western Oregon-Willamette mini meet Thursday Apr. 16, before going to Portland for the Lewis and Clark Invitational Apr. 17-18 and to Long Beach, Calif., for the Mt. SAC relays on Friday (Apr. 17) and the Long Beach Invitational Saturday (Apr. 18).

Men's and women's teams both ranked nationally:
The men's track and field team is ranked No. 6 in the NCAA Division II dual meet rankings with 306.18 points, according to the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Apr. 9 poll. The men fell a spot in the rankings from week one's poll despite gaining almost 25 points in the poll (up to 306.18 from 281.68). The Wolves are one of the two teams ranked from the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (Northwest Nazarene being the other) and are one of the three West Region teams ranked in the top six (Chico State first, UC San Diego second).

The women are coming in at No. 12 with 238.9 points on the USTFCCCA dual meet rankings after not being ranked in week one's poll. The Wolves are the third ranked team in the NCAA West Region and the second ranked team in the GNAC (NNU ranks sixth).

The WOU-WU Mini Meet:
Western Oregon and Willamette will compete against each other in the third of three non-scoring dual meets Thursday (Apr. 16). The field events will start at 3:00 p.m., with the track events beginning at 4:30 p.m.

The Mt. SAC Relays:
The Wolves will be at the 51st annual Mt. SAC relays Friday, Apr. 17. The meet will start at 10:00 a.m., with the men's hammer throw and the track events will open with the women's 5000m at 10:05 a.m.

The Lewis & Clark Invitational:
The two-day Lewis & Clark Invitational will be held Friday Apr. 17 and Saturday Apr. 18 at the Eldon Fix Track in Portland. Friday will feature only the men's and women's hammer and javelin throws. The rest of the events will place Saturday beginning at 11:00 a.m., with the men's shot put and the men's and women's 10000m.

The Long Beach Invitational:
Western Oregon will send student-athletes to the Long Beach Invitational Saturday Apr. 18. The field events will start off the one-day meet beginning at 8:30 a.m., with the men's and women's javelin throw. The running events will start at 10:00 a.m., with the women's 3000m steeple chase.

Head Coach Mike Johnson:
On the track and field team's short term goals: "We are two weeks from the GNAC meet and our focus in towards the championship. We have the goal of preparing everyone for the GNAC championship. Each person is going to a meet this week which will best affect their meeting of those goals."

On the team: "Many of the student-athletes now have good marks for conference and we will now use this part of the season to tune up for the championships."

On the team's preparation/training: "We look at the season in three phases: the first part is the training meets, and then we get into the championship training meets before finishing up with the championship meets. We are just beginning the championship training portion of our season but we are already seeing the benefits from trying things out during the training meets. I am pleased with the way this team responded getting to this phase of the season."

On the Western Oregon track and field student-athletes/team: "We will have our individual ups and downs but we will be getting better as a team. This team is good but we are still a year away and each week we are getting better."

Wolves leading the GNAC:
Western Oregon sits atop the GNAC list in seven categories, five on the men's side and two on the women's.

On the men's list, Gabe Aguilar leads 100m with a time of 10.75 and Anthony Marin has the best toss in the hammer 175-9 (53.58m). Zeb Udell leads the conference both the pole vault (16-6/5.03m) and the decathlon (6,149 points) while Braxton Jackson put up the fastest 3,000m time this season by 17 seconds (8:53.32).

The women's 4x100m relay team holds the top time in the conference with a 48.50 and Jacque Helbling paced the conference with a time of 14.99 in the 100m hurdles.

NCAA Provisional qualifiers:
Western Oregon track and field team has had four student-athletes earn five NCAA provisional qualifying standards this season.

Zeb Udell cleared a height of 16-6 (5.03m) in the pole vault at the Oregon Preview (Mar. 21) to earn the NCAA provisional qualifying standard (15-9) and top his own school-record. His mark is just .75 (.03m) off the NCAA automatic qualifying standard of 16-6.75.

Anthony Marin recorded a toss of 180-1 (54.90m) in the hammer throw to maintain his top mark in the conference and earn an NCAA provisional qualifying mark. He is currently ranked 11th in the country.

Jeff Long ran a 3:51.33 in the 1500m at the Willamette Invite for his NCAA provisional standard. He is currently ranked third in the event in the GNAC but fifth in the country.

Annan Applebee has earned a provisional qualifying times in the 800m and the 1500m as she posted times of 2:12.90 and 4:37.44, respectively.

A look the Wolves:
A number of Western Oregon student-athletes have placed their name on the GNAC performance list while others have achieved season and personal-best this season, here are a look at a couple of the top individual performances this season.

The men
Dylan Wells ranks third on the GNAC list in the 100m (10.97) and sixth in the 200m (22.75).

In addition to leading the conference in the pole vault and the decathlon, Udell is also ranked second in the long jump (22-10.5/6.97m), sixth in the high jump (6-0.5/1.84m) and 10th in the 110m hurdles (16.40).

Marin is fifth in the discus (149-9/45.64m) to go along with his top mark in the hammer (180-1/54.90m).

Bryce Johnson is ranked second in GNAC in the javelin with a throw of 191-0 (58.24).

In the triple jump, Tyler Reisnaur is fifth in the conference with a leap of 44-10.25 (13.67m) while Matt Lariza is sixth (44-0.75/13.43m) and Isaiah Smith is eighth (43-8/13.31m).

Ashtin Mott is currently second in the 400m with a time of 49.13 while Blake Estep is fourth in the event with a time of 49.62.

Michael Kendrick is third in the 110m hurdles (15.50) and Andy Loscutoff fifth in the 400m hurdles (55.70).

In the 800m, Carson O'Brien is coming in at No. 5 (1:54.23) and Kyle Larson at No. 6 (1:54.99).

Chris Reed's time of 14:45.89 in the 5000m places him sixth in the conference.

In the high jump, Matt Lariza and Robert Wegner are tied for third in the GNAC after clearing a height of 6-2.75 (1.90m).

The women
Applebee's provisional qualifying mark in the 800m (2:12.90) places her eighth in NCAA Division II but just third in the GNAC. In the 1500m, she is ranked 20th in the country with an NCAA provisional qualifying standard of 4:37.44.

Lacey Meusec stands in fourth place in the GNAC in the 200m (25.43), fifth in the 100m (12.57) and 10th in the 400m (1:00.73) while running the second leg for the top 4x100m relay team in the conference.

Mandy Keifer has the second highest total in the heptathlon in the GNAC this season with 4061 points. She is also ranked in the top 10 in the conference in the long jump (sixth, 16-11.5/5.17m), the high jump (seventh, 4-11.75/1.52m), the 400m hurdles (sixth, 1:06.32) and the 100m hurdles (eighth, 15.67).

Stefani Dittmar was also a member of the relay team which earned the top place in the GNAC at the Oregon Preview. She has placed herself on the GNAC list in the 100m (eighth, 12.75) and the 200m (10th, 26.59).

Jacque Helbling in addition to leading the GNAC in the 100m hurdles, Helbling is fourth in the long jump (17-4.25/5.29m) and third the heptathlon (3,989).

Kelsey Neilson is fourth on the GNAC list in the high jump after clearing 5-1.75 (1.57m).

Last week:
Pacific Northwest Relays: The Wolves had numerous student-athletes improve on their season-best marks at the Pacific Northwest Relay Friday, Apr. 10.

On the women's side, Mandy Keifer won the triple jump with a leap of 35-8.75 (10.89m) to move to into fourth place on the GNAC performance list. Jillian Lorenzen also moved into fourth place on the 2009 GNAC list with a distance of 126-4 (38.51m) while Alyssa Taylor recorded a toss of 37-5 (11.4m) in the shot put to move into sixth.

Jason Slowey won the shot put and discus throws while finishing third in the hammer as he improved his season-best mark in each event. He moved to sixth place in the hammer with a mark of 154-3 (47.03m) and seventh in both the shot (46-2/14.07m) and the discus (143-8/43.78m). Matt Lariza leaped a distance of 44-0.75 (13.43m) in the triple jump to move to third in the GNAC as Western Oregon now holds the second thru fourth spots in the event. The Wolves also faired well in the distance races as Travis Banker (9:23.70), Kyle Seick (9:28.20) and Nik Karr (9:31.30) finished one-two-three in the 3000m. In the 5000m, Western Oregon claimed the top two spots as Braxton Jackson finished first with a time of 15:23.10 and Karr second with a time of 15:25.70.

Rafer Johnson/Jackie Joyner Kersee Invite - Five Western Oregon student-athletes moved into the top five in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference performance list for 2009 while three went to No. 2 on the list.

Ashtin Mott ran a 49.13 in the men's 400m to improve on his previous season-best time of 49.65 and move to second in the conference. Close on his heels was Blake Estep who finished with a time of 49.62 to move to fourth in the GNAC in the event. Annan Applebee, who was previously unranked in the event, placed her name second in the conference with an NCAA provisional qualifying time of 2:12.90 in the women's 800m. Her time also moves her to fourth place on the Western Oregon all-time list. Zeb Udell leaped 22-10.5 (6.97m) in the long jump to earn his second place mark in the GNAC. Lacey Meusec posted a time of 12.57 in the women's 100m, good for fifth place in the league. Chris Reed ran the 5000m in the time of 14:45.89 to move to sixth in the conference and just miss an NCAA provisional qualifying standard (14:45.0).

Pacific Luau Meet - Tricia Morrison completed the women's 3000m steeplechase in a time of 11:43.77 to move into fifth place in Western Oregon school-history as she won the event at the Pacific Luau Meet. Her time also moves her into third place in the GNAC.