NAMPA, Idaho – Senior Jasmine McMullin won her third career indoor triple jump title with an NCAA Division II automatic-qualifying mark to set the conference record and junior Tupre Wickliff claimed the high jump title as the Western Washington University men’s and women’s track & field teams each placed 5th at the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Indoor Championships, held Friday and Saturday at Jacksons Indoor Center.
The WWU women finished with 76.5 points while the men totaled 78 points. Central Washington and Seattle Pacific tied for the women’s team title with 136 points apiece while Concordia (114 points) edged Alaska Anchorage (108 points) for the men’s team title.
“It was a great day for us,” head coach Pee Wee Halsell said. “Coming up from 8th place for the men and 6th place for the women to place 5th was great. We had over 20 points more for each team than we were projected to score, so really good performances.”
“To be able to come in and perform as well as they did and beat their projections, they had to beat people and earn it,”Halsell added. “That’s what I wanted them to do, come in and compete to the best of their abilities and that’s exactly what they did.”
McMullin (Sequim, WA) was named the Women’s Field Athlete of the Meet after winning conference titles in the long jump and triple jump during the weekend. She was awarded Performance of the Meet for her winning triple jump leap of 12.68m (41-7 ¼), which set the GNAC record, meet record and broke her own school record. Her effort bested the previous indoor conference record of 12.40m (40-8 ½) set by Western Oregon’s Ashley Potter in 2012.
McMullin’s previous triple jump personal-best was 12.22m (40-1 ¼), set while winning the 2016 GNAC title. Her mark, which ranks No. 3 nationally as an automatic-qualifying mark for the NCAA Championships, made her the first three-time triple jump champion in GNAC indoor history after previous titles in 2015 and 2016. Potter (2012, 2014) and Amanda Merrill of Northwest Nazarene (2005-06) had each won the event twice in their respective careers.
Wickliff (Vancouver, WA/Evergreen/Clark College) won the high jump at a height of 2.01m (6-7) with a personal-best effort to tie for No. 3 on the WWU top-10 list. He is the fifth WWU jumper to win the indoor high jump (sixth overall WWU high jump title) and first since Brett Watson won in back-to-back years during 2014-15.
Freshman Bryce Bryant-Leat (Spokane, WA/Lewis and Clark) became the third Viking to record an NCAA Division II provisional-qualifying mark during the season, placing 4th in the shot put with a personal-best mark of 15.99m (52-5 ¾). His effort ranks No. 4 in WWU top-10 history.
On the women’s side, freshman Kelsey McLean (Kirkland, WA/Juanita) took 4th (7.93) while sophomore Hannah Bradley(Bellingham, WA) finished 5th (7.93) in the 60m final to add 9 points to the WWU total.
Junior Savannah Smith (Renton, WA) scored points in two events for the Vikings, finishing 3rd in the 200m final with a personal-best time of 25.31 (No. 2 WWU history) and also placing 5th during the 400m final in another personal-best time of 57.15 (No. 2 WWU history).
Freshman Claire Hansen (Federal Way, WA/Todd Beamer) was 5th (9.09) in the 60m hurdles final with a personal-best time ranking No. 3 on the WWU top-10 list. Freshman Jane Barr (Seattle, WA/Roosevelt) had a top-8 finish in the mile with a time of 5:09.98.
The 4x400m relay team of Smith, sophomore Emily Sytsma (Lynden, WA/Lynden Christian/Concordia), freshmanIsabella Foos (Olympia, WA/Tumwater), and freshman Shawnee Konrad (Mead, WA/Mount Spokane) placed 6th (4:01.15) to add to the team score as well.
Sophomore Chanelle Eddy (Bellingham, WA/Sehome/Whitworth) was 17th in the shot put with a personal-best mark of 10.94m (35-11) to rank No. 6 in WWU history.
Along with the performances from Wickliff and Bryant-Leat, the WWU men had many other strong performances as well.
Freshman Bryant Welch (Burien, WA/Mount Rainier) took 5th in the 400m final with the No. 2 time in WWU history at 49.01 to record a personal-best effort.
Junior Kyler Sager (Snohomish, WA/Everett CC) was 4th in 1:54.89 during the 800m final, just behind his personal-best time of 1:54.63 set in the preliminaries on Friday.
Sophomore James Jasperson (Everett, WA/North Thurston/Everett CC) added points for WWU with a personal record in the mile, running the No. 9 time in WWU history for a 6th-place finish in 4:18.19.
Junior Isaac Derline (Kent, WA/Kentridge) and sophomore Jadon Olson (Mill Creek, WA/Henry M. Jackson) were both among the top 8 in the 3,000m with Derline placing 6th (8:40.25) and Olson coming in 8th (8:41.50).
Sophomore Cordell Cummings (Arlington, WA) finished 3rd with a personal-best time of 8.35 (No. 4 WWU history) in the 60m hurdles final after tying for 5th in preliminaries on Friday.
The 4x400m relay team of Welch, junior Reid Lovercamp (Wenatchee, WA), freshman Wyatt Longley (Bainbridge Island, WA/Bainbridge) and senior Ryan McArthur (Lynnwood, WA) placed 2nd with a time of 3:20.49, the No. 3 time on the WWU top-190 list.
In the field events, junior Jacob Ringold (Vancouver, WA/Columbia River) and junior Nick Makrakis (Concord, CA/Northgate) were both among the top 8 in the triple jump with Ringold finishing in 5th (13.82m, 45-4 ¼) and Makrakis in 6th (13.76m, 45-1 ¼). Both were personal-bests with Ringold ranking No. 7 and Makrakis No. 8 in WWU history.
Freshman Garrett Davies (Vancouver, WA/Mountain View) also finished among the top 8 in the high jump behind Wickliff in the high jump, tying for 5th (1.91, 6-3 ¼). Junior Adam Thomas (Washougal, WA) placed 5th in the pole vault with a height of 4.50m (14-9).
WWU is set to compete at the Seattle Pacific University Final Qualifier next Saturday at Dempsey Indoor. The outdoor season begins with the University of Puget Sound Ed Boitano Invitational on March 3. The NCAA Indoor Championships are set to take place March 9-10 in Pittsburg, Kan.
GNAC Indoor Championships Results
Men’s Team Scores:
1. Concordia (114)
2. Alaska Anchorage (108)
3. Western Oregon (91)
4. Northwest Nazarene (84)
5. Western Washington (76.5)
6. Central Washington (64.5)
7. Simon Fraser (56)
8. MSU Billings (39.5)
9. Saint Martin’s (17.5)
10. Seattle Pacific (7)
Women’s Team Scores:
1. Central Washington (136)
1. Seattle Pacific (136)
2. Concordia (93)
3. Alaska Anchorage (83)
4. Western Washington (78)
5. Simon Fraser (67)
6. Western Oregon (43)
7. Saint Martin’s (11)
8. Northwest Nazarene (10)
9. MSU Billings (5)
Meet Details:
Event: GNAC Indoor Championships (Host: Northwest Nazarene University)
Site: Nampa, ID (Jacksons Indoor Center at the Ford Idaho Center)
Date: Friday and Saturday, February 16-17, 2018
— @WWUTFXC —