By Rachel Shelley Staff Writer
The Great Northwest Athletic Conference Outdoor Championships were held this past weekend on the Wolves home turf to showcase the outdoor track season as well as giving those going a chance to prepare for the National meet.
The first highlight came from Emmi Collier who became the first Wolf to win an individual title in the shot put since 2006. Her lifetime personal best came Friday, May 8, en route to win the shot put with 13.89 meters.
Jeremy Moore was able to step on the podium Friday after a 45.34 mark in the discus to give him a second place finish overall.
For the runners, preliminaries took place Friday. Rochelle Pappel raced the 100-meter hurdles, qualifying for finals in 14.46 seconds. Laura Patrick raced the 100 to qualify for finals in 12.36.
In the 400 hurdles, seniors Audrey Hellesto and Laura Knudson raced to keep their season alive, qualifying for finals in 1:04.31 and 1:04.96, respectively.
The men’s side included Aaron Whitaker finishing the 400 in 49, finishing seventh and qualifying for finals. Standout first year Cody Warner earned a spot in the finals in the 100 with 10.67 and the 200 in 21.68, taking second in both events.
Kaleb Dobson raced the 400 hurdles, winning his preliminary race in 54.18. In the 800, All-American Badane Sultessa, Josh Dempsey and Josh Hanna all earned spots in Saturday’s finals. Sultessa won the prelims with a time of 1:51.46.
On Saturday, senior Rebecca Laible defended her individual title in the triple jump with 11.79 meters. She won the event by 1.50 inches and also achieved a season-best to end her career at Western. Kylie Reinholdt took third in the event with 11.69, a life-time best.
Stephanie Stuckey raced the 1,500, placing third in 4:35.26. Emily Wetherell threw a lifetime best mark of 48.70 in the hammer throw while Amanda Short and Sheila Limas De La Cruz finished third and fourth, respectively, in the javelin. They both threw lifetime bests in 44.12 and 44.04 meters, respectively.
The men took home two individual titles when Sultessa won the finals of the 800 in 1:52.31. He became the Wolves’ third 800 champion since 2011. First year David Ribich took home his first conference title in the 1,500 in 3:50.58, a lifetime best.
Warner finished in second place in the 100 after finals while Dobson finished second in the 400 hurdles after the finals race.
The men’s team finished with 88 points in the conference standings, placing fourth overall after the two days. The women’s team placed fifth with 62 points.
The last opportunity to race during this outdoor season takes place on May 21-23 in Grand Rapids, Michigan at the NCAA Division II Outdoor Championships. The Wolves will wait for the announcement of what times qualify to earn a spot in the meet.
