FINAL RESULTS - GNAC OUTDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS

MONMOUTH, Ore. - The Western Oregon track and field team wrapped up the first phase of their postseason at the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) Championships at McArthur Field. The men of WOU finished fourth in the team standings with 107 points while the women finished ninth with 36 points.
 
Senior Wesley Gray became the first triple jumper in GNAC history to reach 50 feet with his effort in the second round. After outpacing the field with a 14.82m (48-7 ½) jump in round one, Gray got the crowd involved clapping as he paced down the runway. His attempt was so good, WOU coaches had to run back to the storage area to bring out a longer tape, since no man in conference history had ever jumped so far. His mark of 15.50m – 50 feet, 10 ¼ inches – bested the previous league record by almost a full foot (49-11, Justin Lawrence, CWU 2004) and topped Lawrence's 2003 championship record of 49 2 ½ by 19 inches.
 
Sophomore Kolton Koenig-Rohde also made the finals in the triple jump, finishing ninth at 44-1 ¼.
 
Gray began his day running the lead leg as the Western Oregon 4 x 100 relay team successfully defended their league championship with a time of 41.62 seconds. Seniors Devonte Woods and Aaron Whitaker pushed the Wolves to the front of the pack and junior Codi Blodgett held off late pushes from Northwest Nazarene and Central Washington to win the event.
 
Whitaker also culminated a four-year quest by capturing the league title with a career-best time of 47.59 in the 400 meters to improve on his own school record set a few weeks ago at the Oregon State High Performance meet in Corvallis.
 
Junior David Ribich once again was one of the highlights of the meet as he repeated as GNAC champion at 1,500 meters with a time of 3:47.37. He achieved a double by coming back to win the 800-meter race at 1:52.71 to earn 20 points toward the Wolves' team total. Sophomore Dustin Nading came in second behind Ribich in the 1,500 in a tight race at 3:47.63 and then tested the long distance waters to come in fifth debuting at 5,000 meters with a time of 15:34.79.
 
Western Oregon earned more points in the men's 800 with senior Michael Chin coming in fourth at 1:54.94 and freshman Curt Knott getting into the final scoring spot finishing eighth at 1:57.02. Junior Thomas Normandeau took eighth place with a time of 3:58.04 in the 1,500-meter race.
 
In the sprints, junior Cody Warner returned to the podium taking second in the 200 meters with a time of 22.33. Fellow junior Codi Blodgett took fifth place in the 100 (11.15) and 200 (22.81).
 
Junior thrower Kegan Allen scored in the finals of the men's hammer on Saturday with a third-round toss of 51.20m (168-0) to take eighth place.
 
For the Western Oregon women, junior Megan Rose finished fourth in the 800 meters leading a trio that finished fourth through sixth. Rose's time of 2:11.65 was followed by junior Suzanne Van De Grift in fifth at 2:12.53 and sophomore Olivia Woods in sixth place with a time of 2:13.14.
 
Nicole Maurmann scored in the women's 1,500 meters finishing fifth place with a time of 4:43.51. The women's quarter of freshman Grayson Burke, Van De Grift, Rose and Woods finished fourth in the 4x400m relay posting a time of 3:50.27.
 
Also in the field, junior Sylvia Dean finished seventh in the hammer with a career-best mark of 151-8, a seven-inch improvement. Sophomore Alecia Falck finished tenth in the same even just missing the finals at 142-10 ¾.Freshman Haley Korff used the strength of her first round attempt in the javelin to place eighth at 134-6 ¾, a season best.
 
The Wolves will now await the official selections to the 2017 NCAA Division II Outdoor National Championship. The three-day meet begins Thursday, May 25 at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla.