ELLENSBURG, Wash. --- The Western Oregon track and field women's team brought home two individual titles while the men snagged a second-place finish on the first day of the GNAC Outdoor Championships on Friday on the campus of Central Washington.
 
Kaylee Wright became the first woman in GNAC history to claim three straight javelin titles as she took first with a season-best mark of 46.71 meters (153 feet, 3 inches). The distance also puts her into contention for a spot at nationals as she sits in 11^th in NCAA Division II. Teammate Emillia Carpenter scored points for the Wolves by taking fifth with a PR of 40.13 meters (131-08) and she also took fourth in the hammer (47.28/155-01).
 
Wright wasn't the only one to repeat as champion for the Wolves as Ujunwa Nwokoma took home her second straight outdoor long jump title with a distance of 5.84 meters (19-02). It also marks the fourth consecutive conference long jump title for the senior after also claiming the 2023 and 2024 indoor GNAC long jump crowns.  Amity Deters scored for the Wolves as well in the event as she took fifth with a PR of 5.37 meters (17-7.5).
 
WOU's Caitlin Heldt took second in the 10,000 with a time of 37 minutes, 26.66 seconds to pick up eight points for the Wolves. Also picking up points for WOU was Olivia Flack in the 3,000 steeple with a seventh-place finish (11:35.97).
 
In the women's prelims for Saturday's finals, Maliyah Thompson (100 hurdles) Jessy Hart (400), Madeline Lambing (400 hurdles), Amelia Merritt (800).
 
The WOU women sit in second place with 55 points heading into day two as Western Washington leads with 101 points.
 
On the men's side, Justin Conklin took second in the high jump at 1.95 meters (6-4.75) while teammate Gabe Burchfield took seventh and scored a point (1.82/5-11.5). Bailey Smith scored four points for the Wolves in the 3,000 steeple with a time fifth-place finish (9:35.13).
 
In the men's prelims, freshman Elwood Hosking made some noise in the 800 with a personal best of 1:51.26 – the eighth-fastest time in WOU history and the No. 2 time in qualifications.  Conklin (110 hurdles), Gabe Burchfield (110 hurdles), JJ Walker (110 hurdles), Alex Driesner (200), Brennen Murphy (400), Amari Hendrix (400), Isaiah Rodriguez (800) and Grant Bohannon (800) also qualified for Saturday's finals.
 
The WOU men are in fourth place heading into Saturday's final day with 26 points. Western Washington leads with 96 points.