>>> Day 1 Results (PDF)

NAMPA, Idaho—Advancing seven individuals to finals on the opening day, the Western Oregon University track & field teams is set up for a busy Saturday at the GNAC Indoor Championships.

Highlighted by top-seed performances by sprinter Cody Warner and middle distance ace Curt Knott, the Wolves advanced runners in the 60-, 400- and 800-meter distances.

In all, 22 of the 37 individual performers with a previous mark for the Wolves bettered their pre-meet seed in their respective events.

The team's top finish, however, came in the women's weight throw with Mariah Gronbach earning the team's first All-GNAC accolade of the meet. Gronbach landed a season-best mark of 52-3 1/4 (15.93m) to score a runner-up finish in the event and give the squad eight points.

Teammate Moana Gianotti notched three additional points with a sixth-place finish after recording a career-best 48-4 1/2 (14.74m). With the toss, Gianotti moved into the No. 9 position on the school's all-time indoor performance list.

Entered as the league's top sprinter, Warner backed up his ranking with the fastest time of the day in the men's 60-meter dash. Warner popped a 7.01 out of the second section to advance to Saturday's finale and will be joined by teammate Codi Blodgett after Blodgett clocked a 7.11 in the same heat.

All five women's sprinters either set or tied their season bests in the 60-meter dash and 60-meter hurdles. Ana Popchock scored the highest result of the crew with an 11th-place result in the hurdles with a personal collegiate best of 9.40.

Leading the group in the flat 60, sophomore Natalie Legras crossed in 8.26 for a significant personal record while freshman Taryn Wilson notched a 26.26 in the 200 to snare the No. 8 place on WOU's all-time indoor list.

A pair of Wolves secured places in the finals of the 400 as Gabe Arce-Torres unleashed a career-best 49.60 in the men's competition and Grayson Burke a 58.14 in the women's races. With the result, Arce-Torres moved into the No. 9 spot on WOU's all-time career list in the event. Burke's time represented a slight indoor personal record and a one-spot jump to No. 3 on the WOU all-time indoor list.

Placing 10th overall and narrowly missing out on advancing to finals, freshman Bethanie Altamirano cracked a career-best 59.02 to slide into the No. 10 position on WOU's all-time 400 list.

Moving up to the 800, pre-meet favorite Curt Knott controlled the second section of the distance with a new GNAC-leading time of 1:53.89. A life-time indoor best for Knott, the time also flirted with dipping below the NCAA DII provisional standard of 1:53.25. Alaska Anchorage's Eduardo Orozco landed the next best mark at 1:54.58 while a second Wolf, Max Carmona, will race in Saturday's final after crossing in 1:55.57.

Also winning her section to advance to finals, Olivia Woods eased her way through the prelims with a 2:18.72 out of the second section. Woods crossed several strides ahead of the next competitor to nab an auto qualifier to the next round. The first heat of the women's 800 produced the top six times of the day as the group battled for the coveted qualifying spots.      

In the men's 5,000, Sawyer Heckard scored a lifetime best to place eighth overall and add a point to the men's ledger. Heckard crossed the line in 15:37.32 to slash almost three seconds off his former best set during the 2017 outdoor season.

Racing in the women's 5,000, Cassie McKinney finished one spot away from the points in the ninth position. In her first attempt at the distance this winter, McKinney nearly eclipsed her career best of 19:11.43 by logging a 19:16.67.

Western Oregon capped the day's action on the track with scoring runs in both distance medley relays. The men's quartet placed sixth with a time of 10:39.25 while the women's team placed seventh with a 12:57.24.

Saturday's action inside the Jacksons Indoor Facility will begin at 9:15 a.m. (MST) as the men's heptathlon will resume. The women's shot put will open competition in the field events at 10:05 a.m. while the women's mile will be the first running event at 11:10 a.m.

In addition to competitors in both shot put and triple jump events, Western Oregon will have representation in 11 of the 16 event finals on the track Saturday.

WOU ALL-GNAC
2nd, Mariah Gronbach, Weight Throw
 

WOU Competition List / Results
Friday Running Events
Time	Event	Place / Name / Mark	Seed	Mark
2:30 pm	W-60 Hurdles (Pre)	11. Ana Popchock, 9.40	13th	9.56
		14. Darian Wilson, 9.61	16th	9.66
		T17. Michaela Yonkman, 9.71	18th	9.71
		T17. Natalie Legras, 9.71	20th	9.92
3:05 pm	W-60 (Pre)	18. Hailey Sears, 8.33	16th	8.37
		17. Natalie Legras, 8.26	17th	8.38
3:20 pm	M-60 (Pre)	1. Cody Warner, 7.01	1st	6.99
		12. Devon Fortier, 7.20	5th	7.12
		7. Codi Blodgett, 7.11	9th	7.23
3:35 pm	W-400 (Pre)	8. Grayson Burke, 58.14	7th	58.94
		10. Bethanie Altamirano, 58.61	11th	59.02
		18. Sarra Soladey, 1:01.10	17th	1:02.25
		19. Nicole Niskanen, 1:03.01	18th	1:03.80
4:05 pm	M-400 (Pre)	3. Gabe Arce-Torres, 49.60	9th	50.07
		13. Lashaun Emile, 50.63	-	NT
4:35 pm	W-800 (Pre)	7. Olivia Woods, 2:18.72	2nd	2:09.35
4:50 pm	M-800 (Pre)	1. Curt Knott, 1:53.89	1st	1:54.88
		9. Neal Cranston, 1:55.85	6th	1:56.28
		8. Max Carmona, 1:55.57	8th	1:56.84
		14. Simon Walsh, 2:00.13	9th	1:57.86
		10. Zach Kanelis, 1:56.19	10th	1:59.18
		13. Trey Reed, 1:58.61	11th	1:59.50
		18. Stephen Fey, 2:05.74	15th	2:04.41
		11. Adam Alnazer, 1:56.64	-	NT
5:05 pm	W-200 (Pre)	19. Hailey Sears, 26.75	20th	26.89
		16. Taryn Wilson, 26.26	21st	26.96
		24. Logan Jackson, 27.89	26th	28.02
5:35 pm	M-200 (Pre)	15. Gabriel Campos-Davis, 22.90	15th	23.07
		13. Codi Blodgett, 22.83	17th	23.43
		21. Travis Tagad, 23.55	18th	23.77
		17. Devon Fortier, 22.98	-	NT
6:05 pm	W-5,000 (Final)	9. Cassie McKinney, 19:16.67	-	NT
	M-5,000 (Final)	8. Sawyer Heckard, 15:37.32	-	NT
6:55 pm	W-Distance Medley (Final)	7. 12:57.24 (Soloman, Yonkman, Zimmerdahl, Knapp)	-	NT
7:15 pm	M-Distance Medley (Final)	6. 10:39.25 (Crosswhite, Emile, Huttin, Walsh)	1st	9:54.85
Friday Field Events
Time	Event	Place / Name / Mark	Seed	Mark
9:00 am	M-Heptathlon	10. Mitchell Kruse, 2,131 points	-	NM
2:45 pm	W-Weight Throw	2. Mariah Gronbach, 52-3 1/4 (15.93m)	3rd	15.91m
		6. Moana Gianotti, 48-4 1/2 (14.74m)	8th	13.79m
		11. Halie Korff, 43-2 1/2 (13.17m)	11th	13.26m
5:30 pm	M-Weight Throw	13. Karsten Collins, 47-9 1/4 (14.56m)	10th	15.12m
		6. Mont Child, 52-5 1/4 (15.98m)	11th	15.10m
		14. Owen Collins, 46-10 (14.27m)	13th	14.35m
		9. Sam Cole, 51-0 3/4 (15.56m)	17th	13.89m
5:40 pm	W-Long Jump	17. Lauren Berry, 15-9 (4.80m)	16th	5.08m
		NM: Darian Wilson	18th	5.06m
Saturday Running Events
Time	Event	Place / Name / Mark	Seed	Mark
11:10 am	W-Mile (Final)	Grace Knapp	6th	5:11.05
		Kendra Zimmerdahl	-	NT
11:30 am	M-Mile (Final)	Justin Crosswhite	5th	4:20.10
		Stephen Fey	-	NT
		Hunter Hutton	-	NT
		Tyler Jones	-	NT
		Hunter Mosman	-	NT
12:15 pm	W-400 (Final)	Grayson Burke	8th	58.14
12:25 pm	M-400 (Final)	Gabe Arce-Torres	3rd	49.60
12:40 pm	M-60 (Final)	Cody Warner	1st	7.01
		Codi Blodgett	7th	7.11
12:50 pm	W-800 (Final)	Olivia Woods	7th	2:18.72
1:00 pm	M-800 (Final)	Curt Knott	1st	1:53.89
		Max Carmona	8th	1:55.57
1:30 pm	W-3,000 (Final)	Kaylin Cantu	18th	11:03.29
2:00 pm	M-3,000 (Final)	Tyler Jones	3rd	8:17.20
2:30 pm	W-4x400 (Final)	WOU	3rd	3:55.37
2:45 pm	M-4x400 (Final)	WOU	5th	3:24.56
Saturday Field Events
Time	Event	Place / Name / Mark	Seed	Mark
9:15 am	M-Heptathlon	Mitchell Kruse	-	NM
10:05 am	W-Shot (Final)	Moana Gianotti	9th	11.66m
		Halie Korff	12th	10.96m
		Mariah Gronbach	16th	10.47m
10:15 am	W-Triple Jump (Final)	Ana Popchock	8th	11.02
		Darian Wilson	-	ND
12:30 pm	M-Shot (Final)	Karsten Collins	12th	14.27m
		Mont Child	14th	14.15m
		Owen Collins	15th	14.07m
		Sam Cole	19th	13.19m