May 3, 2008

Complete Results

ELLENSBURG, Wash. - Heidi Dimmitt's (Jr., Wenatchee) meet record time in the women's 400-meter hurdles was the top performance for Western Washington University as the Vikings placed third in both the men's and women's standings at the seventh annual Great Northwest Athletic Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships which ended Saturday at Tomlinson Stadium.

The Viking women finished with 142 points. Western Oregon won the women's title with 162, its fourth team championship in the last six years. Seattle Pacific, second with 158 points, had won the last two titles.

The Western men had 152 points, narrowly edging defending champion Central Washington for third by 0.5 of a point. Western Oregon claimed the team title with 166.5 points, and Alaska Anchorage was second at 157.

"I've got some good competitors and they competed well in every area," said Western coach Pee Wee Halsell. "I'm very proud of these guys."

"We had some injuries that really hurt us, but we persevered and still did pretty darn good."

Dimmitt defended her 2007 title in the 400 hurdles in 1:01.78, trimming more than half-a-second off her previous best of the season, which was already a NCAA Division II national provisional qualifier.

Also successfully defending her crown in the women's discus was Erica Rance (Sr., Seattle/Renton) with a season-best mark of 140-9 on her last throw. That was just four inches short of the provisional qualifying standard.

The other individual winner for the Western women Saturday was Clara Cook (Jr., Wenatchee) in the high jump. Cook, the GNAC champion and an NCAA Division II All-American in 2006, cleared 5-4 1/4.

The Western men also had three individual champions Saturday. Kevin Myhre (Jr., Edmonds/Meadowdale) won the 400 hurdles in a season-best time of 53.75, Keefe Brockman (Fr., Richland/Hanford) won the high jump at 6-6, also a season-best, and Jordan Welling (Fr., Burlington/Burlington-Edison) won the 5,000.

Brockman was one of four high jump competitors to clear 6-6, but won on fewest misses. Western's Brian Martinelli (Fr., Sonoma, CA/Sonoma Valley) was third.

The men also had a national provisional qualifying standard reached Saturday as Ryan Brown (Fr., Bellingham/Squalicum) cleared a school-record 16-0 and finished second in the pole vault.

On Friday, Western's Sarah Porter (Fr., Hockinson) bettered her own school record by nearly 15 seconds in winning the women's 10,000 meters in 36:31.85, and Monika Gruszecki (So., Lynnwood/Meadowdale) became the first Viking in school history to earn an automatic national berth by placing third in the women's javelin with a toss of 146-2.

Michael Madrid of Alaska Anchorage was the lone competitor to claim four conference titles, winning the men's 100 and 200 and running legs of the Seawolves' victorious 4x100 and 4x400 relays. He was the Men's Outstanding Performer, and Northwest Nazarene's Ashley Puga was the Women's Outstanding Performer.