COMPLETE RESULTS
NAMPA, Idaho – Derek Holdsworth led five Wolves in the 800-meter, while Dominique Loggins ran away with the 60-meter title to highlight the second day of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships for the Western Oregon University track and field programs Saturday. Maya Hopwood added a second-place finish in the 60-meter, Kalulusno Ngaida reached a new season-best in the triple jump to finish second, Moana Gianotti continued her strong weekend placing third in the shot-put and the men's 4x400 relay nearly claimed the title before ending up second in a photo finish.
Following all the events from the Championships, WOU finished sixth on the men's side with 73 points, with Western Washington taking the title with 137 points. The Wolves placed seventh on the women's side with 51 points, with Concordia winning the title with 128.33 points.
Holdsworth paced a loaded WOU field in the 800-meter when he won the GNAC title with a time of 1:54.20. Max Carmona was right behind with a time of 1:55.25 to place second. Adam Alnazer added a fourth-place result with a time of 1:57.93, with Trey Reed the next one across in fifth with a time of 1:59.70. Rounding out the five Wolves in the 800 was Zach Kanelis coming in with a time of 2:02.09 to place seventh. All totaled from the 800, WOU collected 29 points in the event.
"I knew everyone in the field and everyone is a threat, especially in a final. Coach Mike Johnson has a good history of making sure of what we need to do in a final to be successful. I had some breathing issues, but I still had a job to do," Holdsworth said. "Our team has a lot of potential to come around. I'm very excited to see what they can do heading into the outdoor season."
"Having four guys in the top-five of the 800-meter final says a lot about the middle distance program that Western Oregon has," Carmona said. "I'm proud of how we performed on a championship stage and I think that confidence will translate into the start of the outdoor season."
Loggins has continued to put together an impressive indoor season, running in just his second meet this season, the freshman rolled to the GNAC title in the 60-meter posting a new season best time of 6.86. The next closest runner crossed at 7.05. His time is also an NCAA Division II Provisional Mark with that time set at 6.87. Loggins will now look to see if he can reach the automatic qualifying time of 6.72 during the SPU Last Chance meet next week before nationals. Loggins' time also currently leaves him in a tie for 34th in all of Division II in the 60.
"It was a good race, I definitely have a lot to work on and improve on and hopefully I can run a 6.70 to pick up the national qualifying time," Loggins said. "I definitely didn't expect the results coming in right away, as this was my first time running a 60 when coming to WOU. I have surprised myself and will see how far I can take it."
Hopwood then finished second in the 60-meter and seventh in the 200-meter during the finals on Saturday. In the 60, she was able to hold off a loaded field to come in second with a time of 7.64. Concordia's Paige Johnson took the title with a time of 7.52. Times right behind Hopwood were 7.66 and 7.69 in a very competitive 60. Then in the 200, Hopwood came in seventh with a time of 25.25. She just missed sixth with a time of 25.24.
Ngaida has put together impressive numbers throughout the indoor season in both the high jump and triple jump and on Saturday, she reached a new season best in the triple jump hitting a mark of 38-7.50 to come in second. Earlier in the day, Ngaida cleared a mark of 5-3.75 in the high jump to come in sixth.
Gianotti capped an overall impressive weekend when she added a top-three finish in the shot-put throwing to a mark of 43-7 to come in third. This comes after she placed sixth last night in the weight throw.
"This shot-put competition was probably the best I have ever competed in and was definitely the most competitive one I've been apart of since stating track and field at WOU," Gianotti said. "I am pretty happy with my performance because I was able to go from second place to fourth and then finally third and just compete to the best of my ability. I'm glad I could end the indoor season on a high note!"
The men's 4x400 relay team of Gabe Arce-Torres, Lashaun Emile, Aaron Hanible and Holdsworth pushed to very close photo finish coming in with a time of 3:17.80 to come in second. WOU just missed the title with Wester Washington holding on with a time of 3:17.76. The finish for the relay team is the third best on the WOU all-time list.
In the women's 4x400 relay, Grayson Burke, Bethanie Altamirano, Ana Popchock and Greene crossed with a time of 4:00.64 to come in fifth.
Justin Crosswhite just missed a top-three finish in the mile when he put together a time of 4:16.73 to place him fourth. He was just behind Alaska Anchorage's Lawson Sims who came in third with a time of 4:16.39. Hunter Hutton also added a team point when he came in eighth with a time of 4:23.88. Emmett Klus wasn't far behind as his time of 4:25.11 placed him 10th overall.
Arce-Torres added a pair of team points when he came in seventh with a time of 49.98 in the 400-meter. He was able to trim a few seconds off his prelim time of 50.02 from Friday.
Early on in the day Saturday, Jillian Greene moved her time to ninth on the all-time WOU record book list when she ran to a time of 5:10.69 to place seventh in the mile. Greene's time is also a new season best, breaking her previous mark of 5:10.79.
Brennen Sorah certainly made the most of his chance in the finals of the 60-meter hurdles, after just qualifying the day before, the freshman made sure to move up the leaderboard when he came in with a time of 8.73 to place him fifth. After posting a time of 8.74 during the prelims on Friday, his time Saturday sets a new personal best this season.
Finishing the heptathlon, Mitch Kruse, Sorah, Jake Thompson and Deshaun Stevens all competed in the event for the Wolves, as Kruse was fifth, Sorah sixth, Thompson eighth and Stevens ninth entering the final three events Saturday. The 60-meter hurdles opened the day Saturday with Sorah leading the way for the Wolves coming in second with a time of 8.92. Stevens added a time of 9.62 to place seventh, Kruse in ninth with a time of 9.86 and Thompson in 10th with a time of 10.62. The pole vault was up next with Kruse leading the way for WOU with a mark of 11-3.50 to come in fifth. Stevens and Sorah each had the same distance of 10-7.50, with Stevens coming in seventh having hit the mark on his first attempt, while Sorah came in eighth hitting the mark on his third try. Thompson was right behind in ninth with a distance of 10-3.50. Stevens capped the day strong when he won the 1k with a time of 2:43.67. Kruse was next in at sixth with a time of 2:55.83, Sorah in eighth with a time of 2:59.90 and Thompson in ninth with a time of 3:00.25. Overall, Kruse was the highest finisher for the Wolves coming in fifth with 4,216 total points. He was followed closely by Sorah's 4,211 points to come in sixth. Stevens climbed to seventh as he finished with 4,130 points and Thompson ended up 10th with a total of 3,781 points.
Hunter Mosman picked up a team point in the 3k as he crossed with a time of 8:44.98 to place him eighth overall. The Wolves also had Dominic Giordano and Sawyer Heckard competing in the 3k with Giordano coming in 20th with a time of 9:03.63 and Heckard in 27th with a time of 9:08.00.
In the women's 3k, Grace Knapp put together a strong race in which she came in sixth with a time of 10:11.54 to earn three team points.
In the men's shot-put, Nick Sieber picked up a team points when his throw of 47-10 placed him eighth. Sam Cole just missed that mark as well coming in ninth with a throw of 47-2.50. Owen Collins came in 14th with a mark of 46-10.75 and brother Karsten Collins in 16th with a distance of 45-7.
WOU will now have one more indoor meet to try and pick up last qualifying marks before nationals when the Wolves will travel to Seattle next Saturday, Feb. 29 to compete in the Seattle Pacific Last Chance Qualifier.
