Holdsworth sets school record and GNAC indoor mark in the 800, Crosswhite and Gianotti each add strong PR’s during day two of the UW Invitational

WOU results for UW Invitational

SEATTLE, Wash. – Derek Holdsworth already had opened his Western Oregon University indoor career in style a few weeks ago in Seattle when he posted the second-fastest time in Division II this season. For an encore, Holdsworth trimmed over two seconds off that time to run a blistering mark of 1:47.74 to not only win the UW Invitational 800, but also set both the Western Oregon school record and the Great Northwest Athletic Conference record. His mark is also now the current top time in all of Division II. Overall on the day, the Western Oregon University track and field programs had a strong day with Moana Gianotti throwing a new personal best in the women's shot put and Justin Crosswhite running a new personal best in the mile.

Holdsworth blew away a field of over 40 runners in the 800, as his time of 1:47.74 was almost a full second ahead of the second-place finisher. He was the only Division II runner to finish in the top-10, as three unattached runners and six from Division I schools (UCLA (2), Washington (2), Boise State and Arizona) rounded out the top-10. Entering the weekend, the top mark in Division II was 1:49.22 set last week by Franklin Pierce's Arlabosse Hugo. Holdsworth's time earns him an NCAA Division II Auto Mark which was set at 1:49.49. Holdsworth's new time gives him the new school record and GNAC record in the 800 that were both previously set by former Wolf Badane Sultessa with a time of 1:49.68 in 2016.

"I love my team for giving me so much support. I really thank the Western Oregon staff for giving me a chance to compete! I'm happy this is my last indoor season in college. Spending it with a family is worth a million," Holdsworth said.

While Holdsworth certainly stole the show in the 800, WOU had several other strong showings in the event. Max Carmona was the next one in for the Wolves coming in with a time of 1:54.42 to place 22^nd. Neal Cranston was right behind with a time of 1:54.99 to place 27^th, while Hunter Hutton rounded out the four in the event with a time of 1:56.79 to come in 37^th. Carmona's time in the 800 is a new personal best, breaking his old mark of 1:54.56 set last year at the SPU Last Chance Qualifier. Cranston also adds a new personal best in the 800 with his old mark of 1:55.60 set in 2018 at the GNAC Championships.

Crosswhite continued to improve on his mile time this indoor season as after opening the year with a time of 4:09.72 in Seattle during the first visit in January, he paced himself to a new personal record time of 4:07.30 to place 25^th overall Saturday during the second trip to the University of Washington. His new time currently has him third in all of Division II in the mile pending other results from the weekend. Crosswhite moves to third in the WOU record books in the mile as well behind times set by David Ribich and Dustin Nading.

"Today's race was a lot of fun. It is nice to know we can still run fast when we're tired. We certainly have some fun times ahead of us this season," Crosswhite said.

Gianotti set her own personal record in the shot put reaching a throw of 44-09.00 to place 10^th overall on Saturday. She was just the second competitor from Division II to place in the top-10 in the event. Her throw also places her fourth in the WOU record books. She is close to an NCAA Division II Provisional Mark which is roughly 44-94.00.

"Today was a good day, I was able to finally put most of my technique together and just throw how I know hot to throw, which allowed me to PR and compete pretty well! I'm excited to see how the rest of the indoor season goes!" Gianotti said.

Other results from Saturday include Maya Hopwood running in the 60 in which she clocked a time of 7.74 in the preliminaries, just missing qualifying for finals out of her heat #4 section. Kalulusno Ngaida was back at it Saturday after competing in the high jump Friday, she reached a mark of 36-06.25 in the triple jump to come in 13^th. Gabe Arce-Torres performed well in the 400 when he pushed to a time of 49.48 to place 12^th overall. He was able to set a new personal record, just clipping his previous top mark of 49.60 in the GNAC Championships last year.

WOU alum Dustin Nading had a strong showing in the mile when he posted a time of 3:59.77 to come in sixth. Nading, now a member of the University of Washington's program, is currently enrolled in their graduate program this year.

WOU will return back to Portland this coming week when they will compete in the University of Portland Indoor Meet #2 on Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 8-9.

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