Western men successfully defend title at GNAC championships, women fifth
Romney sets meet record in leading 1-2-3 sweep of men's pole vault
Feb. 18, 2006
Complete Results
NAMPA, Id. - Scott Romney (Sr., Gig Harbor) set a meet record in leading a second straight 1-2-3 sweep of the men's pole vault as Western Washington University successfully defended its men's title at the third annual Great Northwest Athletic Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships on Saturday at Jackson's Track in the Idaho Sports Center.
The Vikings, who won by just six points last year, outscored runner-up Central Washington, 151-to-134. Western Oregon, which took the title in 2004 and fell to second in 2005, placed third with 103 points among the seven participating schools.
Romney, who also won in 2004, cleared a season and career best 16-1/2 as he improved his national provisional qualifying mark. The height was one-half inch off the school record and broke the meet mark of 15-10 1/2 set by Western's Hunter Verner last year. The Vikings' Tyler Thornbrue (Sr., Shelton) placed second for the second straight year with a height of 15-5 1/2, and Andy Behl (Sr., Everett/Cascade) was third, also at 15-5 1/2, which met the national provisional standard.
In all, Western had four individual men's champions. Besides Romney, they were Dustin Wilson (Sr., Silverdale/Central Kitsap) in the 60 meters (7.15), Mike Khabibulin (Sr., Vancover/Skyview/Clark CC) in the 200 (22.80) and Jeff Word (Sr., Sequim) in the high jump (6-6).
"It was nerve wracking because I didn't know that we were that far ahead, but it was fun," said Western coach PeeWee Halsell, who was named GNAC Coach of the Year for the second straight time. "In our prediction, I had us scoring 126 points, and we ended up with 151. To me, that just shows how hard our kids competed."
"That mark by Romney should get him into the national meet. The sweep in the pole vault was huge, our sprinters came through and our finishes in the 5,000 put us over the top."
Adam Neff (Jr., White Salmon/Columbia) was second in the 400 (49.92), breaking his own school record. Three other men's school standards fell in third-place finishes by Wilson in the 60 hurdles (8.44), Mark Mellein (Sr., Olympia/Maple Grove MN/South Puget Sound CC) in the triple jump (44-6) and the distance medley relay (10:41.07).
Providing the manpower in the Vikings' 3-4-5 finish in the 5,000 were Logan Senrud (Jr., Bigfork, MT), Keith Lemay (So., Blaine/Lynden Christian) and Chad Portwood (Jr., Cheney/Western State CO).
Western had 66 points in placing fifth in the women's division for the third straight year. Seattle Pacific won its third straight title with 154 points, followed by Central (134) and Western Oregon (110).
The Vikings' Whitney Knox (Fr., Seattle/Blanchet) won the 60 (8.02) and placed fourth in the 200 (26.57). Heidi Dimmitt (Fr., Wenatchee) was second in the 60, setting a school record of 7.98 in a qualifying heat, and broke her own school standard in placing fourth in the 400 (58.96). She false started in the 200 after entering the meet as the top-ranked runner in that event.
Dimmitt and Knox also ran legs on the 4x400 relay that placed third in a school record 4:04.41.
"We've got two good ones there, and they're both just going to get better and better," Halsell said.
Western's Kim Bascom (Jr., Camano Island/Stanwood) finished second in the triple jump (36-3) and fourth in the long jump (17-0).
Also breaking school records were Erin Deasy (Sr., Gig Harbor/Tulsa) in the 5000 (19:32.68) and Katrina Schwerdtfeger (Sr., Mountlake Terrace) in the mile (5:36.62). Tying her own school mark was Clara Cook (Fr., Wenatchee) in the high jump (5-3).
In all, eight Western marks fell and another was tied.
Andy Prentice of Saint Martin's and Krissy Tandle of Central each won two events and were named the Outstanding Male and Female Performers. Prentice won the men's 800 and mile in times of 1:54.70 and 4:17.25, winning the 800 for the second year in a row. Tandle successfully defended her shot put title with a meet record mark of 44-8 3/4 and also won the 20-pound weight throw with a toss of 50-3/4.
A total of eight GNAC records were broken and one other tied.
Named the GNAC Women's Coach of the Year was Central's Kevin Adkisson.