ELLENSBURG, Wash. – It's been a strong start to the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Outdoor Championships for the Western Oregon University women's track and field team as they are tied for first following Friday's events that took place in Ellensburg.
WOU and Western Washington are tied for the top spot both with 61 points. These scores, however, don't include the combined events heptathlon results from last week which would move the Wolves into first alone.
Jenelle Hurley, Moana Gianotti and Kaylee Wright all won GNAC titles on Friday. Hurley claimed her first-place finish in the long jump reaching a distance of 19-5.5. Gianotti hit a mark of 45-3.5 in the shot put to come in first to repeat as champion, while Wright's throw of 149-6 in the javelin took home the title.
Caitlin Heldt and Luz Garcia tallied multiple points in the 10,000 with Heldt coming in third with a time of 38:20.48 and Garcia in fourth with a time of 38:43.13.
Halle Hargett and Krystal Andres both added points in the discus with Hargett hitting a mark of 124-7 to come in sixth, while Andres reached a distance of 118-4 to come in eighth.
In addition to Wright in the javelin, Lyndee McLauchlin picked up points coming in fourth with a distance of 132-5 and Hurley just missed getting a point hitting a mark of 112-5 to come in ninth. Andres also competed in the javelin coming in 11th.
Ana Popchock collected points in the long jump coming in seventh with a distance of 17-11.5. Amity Deters placed 12th.
Katie Chapman and Lindie Larson each earned points in the 3,000 steeple with Chapman coming in fifth with a time of 11:48.82 and Larson in eighth with a time of 12:27.23.
Liliana Lyness-Morales added more points for the Wolves in addition to Gianotti's in the shot put when she came in fifth with a distance of 41-5.25. Hargett came in 14th and Andres finished 15th.
In the prelims, Maya Hopwood and Maliyah Thompson qualified in the 100 with Hopwood coming in with a time of 12.25 and Thompson with a time of 12.30. Popchock and Taryn Wilson also competed in the event, but just missed qualifying.
Popchock, Hurley and Thompson all qualified in the 100 hurdles. Popchock posted a time of 14.54, Hurley with a time of 14.78 and Thompson with a time of 14.80. Hailey Blue also competed in the event.
Thompson and Hopwood were close to qualifying in the 200, but just fell short. Thompson posted a time of 25.67 and Hopwood with a time of 26.13.
Jessy Hart advanced in the 400 with a time of 58.17.
Hurley and Madeline Lambing both qualified in the 400 hurdles with Hurley coming in at 1:05.19 and Lambing with a time of 1:05.32.
Peyton Green competed in the 800, but just missed qualifying.
Events on Saturday begin around 10:15 a.m. for day two of the GNAC Outdoor Championships.
