Western Oregon Journal

The Western men’s and women’s track squads aim to run, jump and throw their way to conference titles on Saturday, May 7.

This year’s edition of the Great Northwest Conference Championships for track and field is hosted by Central Washington University in Ellensburg, Wash.  Both the men’s and women’s teams are the defending conference champions, although repeating this year will not be easy.  Especially on the women’s side, Seattle Pacific looms large as a contender with threats in multiple events.  Nevertheless, the men of Western aim for their 10^th straight conference crown (Cascade, Pac West and GNAC), while the women look for a three-peat.

The men look to athletes in the middle distance, distance, throws and jumps to score the bulk of their points, while the women are particularly strong in the sprints and relays.

Athletes on the men’s team that are currently ranked first in the conference in their respective events include sophomore Sam Hobbs in the 110-meter and 400-meter hurdles races and senior Ethan Barrons in the 3,000 meter steeplechase.  Barrons is also ranked fourth in the 1,500 meters.

A whole host of other athletes are also ranked in the conference in position to score points for the men’s team, including senior Jarret Mantalas (ranked fifth in the 800 and 1,500 meters), sophomore Troy Banker (eighth in the 800), sophomore Nick Crawford (sixth in the 800), senior Brad Bolin (sixth in the 5,000 meters and fifth in the 10,000 meters), senior Spencer Walsh (fourth in the 10,000), Lee Clarkson (seventh in the 400 hurdles), freshman Jeremy Parker (fifth in the high jump and seventh in the long and triple jumps), freshman Joe Twigg (tied for fourth in the pole vault), freshman Blake Herrington (second in the long and triple jumps), sophomore Jason Buckmeir (fourth in the long jump), sophomore Carlos Aguilar (third in the shot put, fourth in the discus and second in the hammer throw), sophomore Justin Kline (fourth in the shot put, sixth in the discus and fifth in the hammer), sophomore Collin Babcock (sixth in the shot put), sophomore Brandon Jasmin (eighth in the hammer), freshman Mat Hutchinson (second in the javelin), sophomore Evan Corbin (third in the javelin), junior Stuart Powell (fourth in the javelin) and freshman Matt Cole (sixth in the javelin).  The 4x100 and 4x400 relay teams are ranked fifth and fourth, respectively.

On the women’s side, senior Bonnie Galloway is ranked first in the 100 meters and second in the 200 meters; senior Monica Smith is ranked first in the 200 meters, second in the high jump, second in the 100-meter hurdles and fifth in the high jump; senior Kari Konrad is ranked first in the 1,500 meters, third in the 800, and second in the 3,000 and senior Jaci Cederberg is tops in the hammer and seventh in the discus.  Both relay teams also currently hold top rankings in the conference.

Other women in position to score points include senior Katy Kociemba (ranked third in the 100 meters, sixth in the 200, second in the 400, second in the long jump and seventh in the triple jump), junior Keyanna Jenkins (tied for fourth in the 100), freshman Sarah Howell (seventh in the 400 and fifth in the 800), senior Nini Callan (seventh in the 100 hurdles and sixth in the triple jump), junior Jennie Rummell (third in the 400 hurdles), junior Bridget Johnson (seventh in the high jump, fourth in the long jump, sixth in the shot put and fourth in the javelin), sophomore Danielle Smith (eighth in the pole vault) and  freshman Sabrina Freed (fourth in the hammer).              

Each squad kicked off GNAC championship action on Monday and Tuesday, April 25-26, at the GNAC Combined Events Championships, also in Ellensburg, Wash. Johnson and Monica Smith got the women’s team off to a strong start with a 1-3 finish in the heptathlon to give the squad 16 points toward the meet standings.  Johnson not only won the competition, but she also set a new personal best and school record in the event as well, totaling 4,997 points to break the old Western record of 4,784, set by Sharon Jensen in 1987.  Johnson also destroyed her former personal record of 4,670.  Smith also tallied a huge career best in the heptathlon.  Her score of 4,652 points now ranks third all-time at Western and far outdistances her former best of 4,457 points.  Marks for both women were NCAA Division II Provisional Qualifiers, and Johnson and Smith are currently ranked sixth and 14^th nationally in the event, respectively.

Freshman Dan Davenport and Parker contributed eight points to the men’s team total with respective fourth and sixth place finishes in the decathlon.  Davenport scored 5,886 points and Parker tallied 5,491 points in the 10-event, two-day competition.

The meet is slated to start at 10 a.m.

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