Meet Results
NAMPA, Idaho (Feb. 18) -- Junior Scott Hunter (Hilo, Hawaii) and senior Bryan Mack (Arlington) each won one event and finished second in another, as the Central Washington University men's track and field team finished second at the 2012 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships that concluded Saturday at Jackson's Track at the Idaho Center.
Central Washington, which led the meet after four events held on Friday, finished second behind Western Oregon in the final team standings. Overall, the Wildcats scored 122 points in 16 events, including 81 in 12 events completed on Saturday, to finish 20 1/2 points behind WOU. The second-place finish was the highest team rank since CWU won the men's team title in 2007.
The Wildcats used three events to accumulate a large percentage of their points on Saturday. They scored 19 points in the heptathlon, 18 in the weight throw, and 14 in the triple jump.
In the heptathlon, Hunter led a charge of finishers in second, third, and fourth, totaling 4,757 points to finish 103 points behind Nate Johnson of Seattle Pacific University. Senior Jason Caryl (Omak) was third with 4,582 points, while junior Brandon Roddewig (Fall City/Mount Si HS) was fourth with 4,573.
Hunter won the men's pole vault by clearing 4.55 meters (14 feet, 11 inches), edging out Cal Rosenberg of Western Washington based on fewer misses.
Mack, who finished eighth in the long jump on Friday, won the men's 60 meters in a blistering time of 6.90 seconds. That time was 0.01 seconds shy of the conference championship meet record, and was the lone sub-seven-second time in the event. He also added a second-place mark in the triple jump, leaping 14.21 meters (46-7 1/2).
Led by Mack, Central Washington chalked up a large quantity of points in the triple jump. In addition to Mack's second-place finish, junior Manny Melo (Battle Ground) was fourth at 13.86 meters (45-5 3/4) and Erik Lee (Shoreline/Shorewood HS) was eighth at 13.35 meters (43-9 3/4).
A quartet of Wildcats finished third through sixth in the men's weight throw, led by junior Mike Jensen (Tenino) with a best throw of 15.71 meters (51 feet, 6 1/2 inches). Junior Quinton Agosta (Bainbridge Island/Bainbridge HS) was fourth at 15.53 meters (50-11 1/2), followed by senior Tommy Sheriff (Bellevue) in fifth (14.98 meters/49-1 3/4) and Eric Holmstrom (Mount Vernon) in sixth (14.70 meters/48-2 3/4).
On the women's side, Central Washington finished sixth of eight teams, marking the lowest team finish in the nine-year history of the GNAC indoor meet. The Wildcats scored 54 points, finishing ahead of Montana State Billings and Saint Martin's. Seattle Pacific University successfully extended its streak of women's indoor conference titles, winning its ninth straight crown in commanding fashion over second-place Western Washington University.
Following a victory by senior Kati Davis (Olympia/Tumwater HS) in the women's pole vault on Friday, the Wildcats had just six top-five event finishes on Saturday. Leading the way were third-place finishes by freshman Tayler Fettig (Olympia), junior Katharine Lotze (Benton City/Kiona-Benton HS), and junior Kelsey Kreft (Lake Stevens) in the high jump, triple jump, and 5,000 meters, respectively.
Fettig, who competed in just her second collegiate track and field meet on Saturday, jumped 1.66 meters (5-5 1/4) to place third in the high jump. Lotze leaped 11.61 meters (38-1 1/4) as the Wildcats' lone competitor in the triple jump. Kreft added her third-place finish in the longest race of the championship, posting a time of 18:35.50.
Junior Kaylee Baumstark (Port Angeles) finished with a fourth-place mark in the shot put and a fifth-place toss in the weight throw, while freshman Taylor Swanson (Seattle/Roosevelt HS) was fifth in the 60-meter dash.
The majority of the indoor track and field season is now complete for the Wildcats, with a last-chance qualifying meet next weekend in Seattle. The NCAA Division II Indoor Track and Field Championships will be held Mar. 9-10 in Mankato, Minn., on the same weekend that the outdoor season is scheduled to begin.
