SPOKANE, Wash. – The long-awaited return to the indoor track is finally here for the Western Oregon University men's and women's track and field teams. The Wolves will travel to the newly opened facility in Spokane at The Podium this Saturday to begin the indoor season.
This will be the first indoor meet since the end of February, 2020 when WOU competed in the Seattle Pacific University Last Chance Qualifier.
Gabe Arce-Torres is coming off of an outdoor season where he was able to run in the 200 and 400 over the final two meets, including in the 200 at the GNAC Championships. He was part of the Distance Medley Relay that came in first at the SPU Final Qualifier and also ran a leg of the 4x400 relay that came in second at that same meet.
Hailey Blue will open her WOU collegiate career this week. Blue arrived from Sherwood High School in Sherwood, Ore., where she competed in multiple events during this past outdoor season. Blue ran in the 200, 4x400 relay, 800, 100-meter hurdles, and also competed in the heptathlon.
Gabe Burchfield will make his debut for the Wolves this week on the track after also competing for the football team this fall. During his prep career at Hidden Valley High School in Grants Pass, Ore., Burchfield competed in the 110-meter hurdles, high jump, long jump, triple jump and 4x400 relay during the past outdoor season.
Kaylin Cantu will be competing in her first indoor meet since the GNAC Indoor Championships in Feb. 2020 where she ran in the 5,000. Cantu was able to run in one outdoor meet in 2020 winning the 5k at the Willamette Opener and then ran in both the WOU Pop Up Meet and the Frank Haskins Invite this past outdoor season in the 1,500. Cantu ran in the recently completed cross country season coming in 32nd at the GNAC Championships and 79th at the NCAA Division II West Regional.
Emillia Carpenter will make her Wolves debut this week after transferring in from Lane CC. Competing in the throws, Carpenter hit a distance of 116-2 in the javelin to place fourth at the NWAC Southern Region Championship. Her top mark of 120-10 in the hammer took place at WOU during the John Knight Twilight.
Katie Chapman will open her Wolves track and field career this week after completing her first cross country season this fall. Chapman opened her collegiate career coming in second at the Linfield Harrier Classic. Later in the season she placed 33rd at the GNAC Championships and came in 88th at the NCAA Division II West Regional.
Riley Clark will open his Wolves track and field career this week after competing at Hermiston High School in Hermiston, Ore. This past outdoor season, Clark ran in the 100, high jump, long jump, triple jump and the 4x400 relay.
Macy Clemens will begin her Wolves track and field career this week after competing at Mazama High School in Klamath Falls, Ore. This past outdoor season, Clemens ran in the 100-meter hurdles, 300-meter hurdles, high jump, long jump and both the 4x100 and the 4x400 relays.
Justin Conklin will begin his Wolves track and field career this week after transferring in from Concordia (OR). During the 2020 indoor season, Conklin came in sixth in the 60-meter hurdles during the GNAC Indoor Championships. He also competed in the high jump. Conklin posted a pair of top-four finishes at the Portland Indoor Meet #2 coming in second in the 60-meter hurdles and fourth in the high jump.
Amity Deters will get the chance to compete in her first indoor track and field season this year after participating in the outdoor season this past spring. During the outdoor season, Deters came in fourth in the high jump during the GNAC Outdoor Championships. She also competed in the heptathlon. Deters competed in eight overall meets during the spring season for the Wolves.
Moana Gianotti will return to the indoor track and field for the first time since the SPU Final Qualifier in Feb. 2020. During the last indoor season, Gianotti came in third in the shot put and sixth in the weight throw at the GNAC Indoor Championships. This past outdoor season, Gianotti set several new personal-best marks in the hammer with a distance of 153-3 and in the shot put with a distance of 45-0.5. Her PR in the shot put came during the GNAC Outdoor Championships that helped her win the event. Also during the championships, Gianotti came in fourth in the discus and fifth in the hammer.
Halle Hargett will begin her Wolves track and field career this week after transferring in from Lane CC. During this past outdoor season at Lane CC, Hargett won the shot put, came in second in the discus and sixth in both the hammer and javelin during the NWAC Southern Region Championship. Hargett also won the shot put and discus during the LCC Ice Breaker earlier in the year.
Marlon Harrison will get a chance to compete in his first indoor track and field event as a member of the Wolves this week after participating in the outdoor season this past spring. Before transferring to WOU, Harrison competed in the 2020 indoor season for Concordia coming in eighth in the triple jump at the GNAC Indoor Championships. He also competed in the long jump during the championships. During this past outdoor season, Harrison opened the year coming in third in both the long jump and triple jump at the Oregon State PNW Team Clash. He later placed fifth in the GNAC Outdoor Championships in the triple jump and competed in seven meets overall this past spring.
Devin Hasher last competed in an indoor event during the SPU Final Qualifier in Feb. 2020. He placed sixth in the high jump during the GNAC Indoor Championships. During this past outdoor season, Hasher competed in five meets coming in first in the high jump at the Linfield Invitational and added a pair of second-place results in the high jump at John Knight Twilight and the Titan Invitational. During the GNAC Outdoor Championships he came in fifth in the high jump.
Caitlin Heldt will get the chance to compete in her first indoor events for the Wolves this week. Heldt recently completed a successful cross country season coming in second during the Ash Creek Collegiate, 12th at the GNAC Championships and 23rd at the NCAA Division II West Regional. During this past outdoor season, Heldt set the school record in the outdoor 5,000 crossing with a time of 17:08.22 at the Oregon State High Performance Meet. Heldt won the 1,500 twice in the outdoor season at the WOU Tri Meet and the WOU Pop Up Meet, along with winning the 5,000 at the John Knight Twilight. During the GNAC Outdoor Championships she placed second in the 10,000.
Amari Hendrix will begin his Wolves track and field career this week after competing at Glencoe High School in Hillsboro, Ore. During this past outdoor season, Hendrix participated in the 100, 200, and both the 4x100 and the 4x400 relay.
Maya Hopwood will compete in her first indoor meet this week since the SPU Final Qualifier on Feb. 2020. During her first indoor season, Hopwood set a new school record in the 60-meter indoor when she posted a time of 7.58 at the Candy Cane Invite. Later that season, Hopwood placed second in the 60 and fourth in the 200 during the GNAC Indoor Championships. During this past outdoor season, Hopwood won the 100 at the WOU Tri Meet and the John Knight Twilight and was part of the 4x100 and the 4x400 that each came in first during the WOU Tri Meet. At the GNAC Outdoor Championships, Hopwood came in seventh in the 100 and was part of the 4x100 that placed third.
Jenelle Hurley also lasted competed in an indoor meet during the SPU Final Qualifier on Feb. 2020. During her first indoor season, Hurley came in third at the GNAC Indoor Championships in the pentathlon. Earlier that season she placed first in the long jump at the Portland Indoor #1. This past outdoor season, Hurley placed third in the heptathlon during the GNAC Combined Multi Championships. She also added a third-place finish in the high jump, third-place in the 4x100 relay and fifth in both the 4x400 relay and the long jump all at the GNAC Outdoor Championships. Earlier in the outdoor season, Hurley came in second in the heptathlon at the CWU Wildcat Invite and won the high jump at both the WOU Tri Meet and John Knight Twilight.
Logan Jackson will compete in her first indoor meet since the Portland Indoor Meet #2 back in Feb. 2020. During the last indoor season, Jackson came in fourth in the 200 and third in the 4x400 relay at the Portland Indoor Meet #1. This past outdoor season, Jackson competed in the Oregon State PNW Team Clash helping the 4x400 come in fourth and then helped the 4x100 come in first during the WOU Tri Meet.
Liliana Lyness will get the chance to compete in her first indoor meet as a member of the Wolves track and field team this week. This past outdoor season, Lyness competed in eight meets, placing eighth in the shot put at the GNAC Outdoor Championships. Earlier in the season she came in second in both the shot put and the hammer during the WOU Pop Up Meet.
James Mazzeo will compete in his first meet as a member of the Wolves track and field team this week after transferring from Orange Coast College. During his time at Orange Coast, Mazzeo competed in the 100, 200, 400, long jump and triple jump.
Maxwell Moore will compete in his first meet as a member of the Wolves track and field team this week after transferring from Lane CC. During his time at Lane CC, Moore competed in the shot put, discus, hammer and javelin. He placed first in both the discus and javelin, along with coming in second in the shot put and sixth in the hammer during the NWAC Southern Region Championship. Moore competed in the John Knight Twilight this past outdoor season winning the discus and coming in fourth in both the hammer and shot put.
Eli Nafziger will compete in his first indoor meet since the Portland Indoor Meet #2 in Feb. 2020. During his first indoor season, Nafziger ran the 60 at both the Portland Indoor Meets. This past outdoor season he competed in eight meets, coming in seventh at the GNAC Outdoor Championships in the javelin. Nafziger added a pair of second-place finishes in the high jump and long jump during the WOU Tri Meet.
Easton Pomrankey will compete in his first indoor meet as a member of the Wolves track and field team this week. He opened his collegiate career this fall running cross country coming in 14th at the Ash Creek Collegiate in his first race. Pomrankey came in 56th during the GNAC Championships.
Ana Popchock will compete in her first indoor meet since the GNAC Championships in Feb. 2020. During the GNAC's, Popchock helped the 4x400 place fifth and also competed in the 60-meter hurdles and the 200. Earlier in the indoor season, Popchock came in second in the 60-meter hurdles at the Portland Indoor #1. This past outdoor season, Popchock placed fifth in the triple jump, seventh in the 100-meter hurdles and helped the 4x100 come in third and the 4x400 come in fifth. Earlier in the outdoor season she placed first in the 400-meter hurdles in the Titan Invitational and competed in the heptathlon in the WOU Opener Multi's.
Timothy Rambo will compete in his first indoor meet as a member of the Wolves track and field team after beginning his collegiate career this past outdoor season. During the outdoor season, Rambo placed eighth in both the 800 and the 1,500. Earlier in the season he came in third in the 800 at the WOU Pop Up Meet. This past fall during the cross country season, he opened the year coming in seventh in the Ash Creek Collegiate and later came in 23rd in the GNAC Championships and 88th in the NCAA Division II West Regional.
Keeton Sanchez began the year competing in cross country and will enter his first indoor meet as a member of the Wolves track and field team this week. During the cross country season, Sanchez came in 35th during the Ash Creek Collegiate and also ran in the Mike Johnson Classic and the Lewis Crossover.
Bailey Smith will compete in his first indoor meet as a member of the Wolves track and field team this week. Smith recently finished up the cross country season coming in 17th at the GNAC Championships and 70th at the NCAA Division II West Regional. During this past outdoor season, Smith won the 1,500 at the WOU Tri Meet and won the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the Oregon State High Performance. At the GNAC Outdoor Championships he placed sixth in the steeple and seventh in the 5,000.
Caleb Southworth will compete in his first meet for the Wolves track and field team this week. Southworth competed at Rex Putnam and is from Milwaukie, Ore. This past outdoor season he competed in the 100, 200, 400, long jump and both the 4x100 and 4x400 relays.
Deshaun Stevens will compete in his first indoor meet this week since the GNAC Indoor Championships in Feb. 2020. During the championships Stevens placed seventh in the heptathlon. This past outdoor season, Stevens opened the year coming in third in the decathlon during the WOU Opener Multi's. At the GNAC Outdoor Championships he placed eighth in the decathlon and the long jump, while helping the 4x400 to a third-place finish. Earlier in the season Stevens won the high jump at the second WOU Tri Meet and won the 110-meter hurdles in the first WOU Tri Meet.
Maliyah Thompson will compete in her first indoor meet as a member of the Wolves track and field team this week after participating in this past outdoor season. Thompson began her WOU career strong winning both the 200 and the 100-meter hurdles at the WOU Tri Meet and was also part of the first-place 4x100. She then added to that a pair of first-place wins in the WOU Pop Up in the 100 and the 100-meter hurdles. At the GNAC Outdoor Championships, Thompson ran in both the 100 and the 100-meter hurdles and was part of the 4x100 that placed third.
JJ Walker will compete in his first indoor meet as a member of the Wolves track and field team this week after participating in this past outdoor season. He began his WOU career winning the decathlon during the WOU Opener Multi's and later won both the pole vault and the long jump during the second WOU Tri Meet. Walker came in second at the GNAC Outdoor Championships in the decathlon, placed fourth in the pole vault, seventh in the high jump and was part of the 4x100 that came in fifth.
The Spokane Invitational will start at 9 a.m. Saturday morning. Live results will be available and can be found here. Live video will also be available here.
