Track & Field | 5/8/2015 6:54:00 PM

OFFICIAL RESULTS

MONMOUTH, Ore. – Junior Emmi Collier became the Wolves' first individual champion in the shot put since 2006, as Western Oregon University's track & field teams competed Friday during the opening day of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) Outdoor Track & Field Championships held at McArthur Stadium.

Collier, who set a lifetime personal best in the event with a mark of 13.89 meters (45-7), is the fourth WOU athlete to win the shot put since 2002 joining former Wolves Dorothy Kerr (2003), Alicia Vandervelden (2004), and Chevonna Lynch (2006).

After finishing as the GNAC runner-up as a freshman and sophomore, Collier literally inched past her lifetime best throwing the shot put one inch further than she ever had to win the event by 0.04 meters (1.75 inches) over Saint Martin's Kahili Novikoff. Finishing atop the podium as well in third place was Northwest Nazarene's Taylor VanValey.

Also for the women's team, junior Rochelle Pappel qualified for the finals of 100 meter hurdles with a time of 14.46 seconds finishing fourth overall in the preliminaries. Sophomore Laura Patrick also earned a spot in the finals of the 100 meter dash with a time of 12.36 seconds, while a pair of Wolves – seniors Audrey Hellesto and Laura Knudson – posted times of 1:04.31 and 1:04.96, respectively, to qualify for Saturday's finals in the 400 meter hurdles.

Sophomore Jeremy Moore would highlight the men's performances on Friday, as he finished atop the podium with a runner-up finish in the discus with a mark of 45.34 meters (148-9.25) en route to earning eight points toward Western Oregon's overall team total.

Also for the men's team, sophomore Aaron Whitaker qualified for the finals in the 400 meter dash with a time of 49.35 seconds earning the seventh position in tomorrow's race. Freshman Cody Warner also earned a spot in a pair of finals qualifying in the 100 meter dash with a time of 10.67 seconds finishing second overall before posting a time of 21.68 seconds in the 200 meter dash also finishing second in the preliminaries. Freshman Kaleb Dobson would win the preliminaries of the 400 meter hurdles with a time of 54.18 and move onto Saturday's finals, while three Wolves – junior Badane Sultessa, sophomore Josh Dempsey, and junior Josh Hanna – earned spots in the finals of the 800 meter run with Sultessa winning the preliminaries with a time of 1:51.46.

Western Oregon will return to competition tomorrow – Saturday, May 9 – for the second and final day of the GNAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships beginning at 9:30 AM with the women's hammer held at McArthur Stadium in Monmouth.