NEW ORLEANS – The Western Oregon University men's and women's track and field teams were well represented on the U.S. Track & Field Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) All-Region Teams that were announced this week. The top-five individuals in each event from each region earned All-Region distinction.
WOU had four earn honors on the women's side in Jenelle Hurley (pentathlon), Moana Gianotti (weight throw and shot put), Caitlin Heldt (3,000 and 5,000) and Ana Popchock (60 hurdles) all took home region acclaim.
Hurley added to her already school record in the pentathlon at the GNAC Championships when she tallied 3,457 points to win the event. During the pentathlon, Hurley finished in the top-three in fourth of the five events, winning the long jump and placing second in both the 60 hurdles and high jump. In addition, she came in second in the long jump, was part of the 4x400 relay that placed fifth and was sixth in the high jump.
Gianotti also saved her best showing for the GNAC Championships and was approaching PR marks in both events. She set a new PR in the weight throw reaching a distance of 52-3.25 to come in second. Gianotti then added a mark of 44-11.5 in the shot put to win the event at GNAC's. That mark is just off of her all-time PR (both outdoor/indoor) in the shot put that was set at the GNAC Outdoor Championships when she reached a distance of 45-0.5. Both of her marks moved into the top-10 on the all-time record books.
Heldt continued to climb up the WOU all-time record books in both the 3,000 and 5,000 throughout the indoor season. During the GNAC Championships, Heldt came in second in the 5,000 and placed fifth in the 3,000. During the season, her top time of 10:07.50 in the 3,000 occurred at the Husky Classic and her top time of 17:43.91 in the 5,000 was at the UW Invite.
Popchock set the school record in the 60 hurdles and continued to climb the record books in the 60-meter. At the GNAC Championships, Popchock came in third in the 60 hurdles tying her school record time of 8.83 and won the triple jump with a mark of 37-2.25. She also just missed advancing in the 60-meter, coming away with a new PR time of 7.82.
It was a big GNAC Championships for the Wolves as the women's team collected 115 points to come in second and the men tallied 107.33 points to come in third.
