May 2, 2007

BELLINGHAM, Wash. - Western Washington University freshman sprinter Michael Dean (Tacoma/Stadium) will be looking to win three events when the Vikings host the sixth annual Great Northwest Athletic Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships on Friday and Saturday at Civic Stadium.

Dean enters the meet with the GNAC's best time in both the men's 200 (21.98) and 400 (48.52) meters. He also will be running the anchor leg on Western's top-ranked 4x400 relay.

Dean also has the league's top time in the 100, but is not entered in order to be rested for the other events.

The Viking men, who placed second last year after taking top honors in 2005, are expected to give defending champion Central Washington its biggest challenge. Western Oregon will also be a challenger in the eight-team meet.

"I'm excited about our chances," said Western coach Pee Wee Halsell. "One thing I know about my athletes is that they know how to compete."

Seattle Pacific is looking to defend its title in the women's division. Expected to provide the toughest competition for the Falcons is Western Oregon, which had won the four previous crowns.

Western should dominate the men's 3,000 steeplechase where it has the top three entries, all with national provisional qualifying times. They are Sam Brancheau (Sr., Edmonds/Edmonds-Woodway) (9:12.29), Keever Henry (Jr., Kelso) (9:17.10) and Logan Senrud (Sr., Bigfork, MT) (9:23.94).

The Vikings also are expected to do well in the 800, led by provisional qualifier Erik Bies (Sr., Sioux Falls, SD/Roosevelt/Luther College), who has the second-best time of 1:52.26. Teammates Keith Lemay (Jr., Blaine/Lynden Christian) (1:54.15) and Brancheau (1:54.49) are ranked third and fourth.

Bies and Brancheau also will be running with Dean on the 4x400 relay.

Western's Anthony Tomsich (So., Fairbanks, AK/West Valley) is ranked second in both the 1,500 (3:53.25) and 5,000 (14:31.86) with provisional qualifying times. Lemay has the third-best time in the 1,500 (3:53.89).

Tyler Thornbrue (Sr., Shelton) (15-7) and Bryan Lucke (Jr., Snohomish/Monroe) (15-1) are 2-3 in the pole vault, and Peter Geist (Sr., Portland, OR/Grant) (6-6) is third in the high jump.

In the women's division, the Vikings have just one GNAC leader - Kim Bascom (Sr., Camano Island/Stanwood) (37-10 3/4) in the triple jump. She took top honors last year with a meet-record mark of 38-0.

Another Western defending champion is high jumper Clara Cook (So., Wenatchee), who has cleared a provisional qualifying 5-6 and ranks third coming into the meet.

Heidi Dimmitt (So., Wenatchee) (1:04.14) and Lindsay Lunderman (Fr., Tacoma/Franklin Pierce) (1:04.20) are rated 1-2 in the 400 hurdles, and Lunderman also is second in the 100 hurdles (15.07).

Dimmitt and Lunderman also will be on the 4x100 relay that has the league's third best time (49.49).

Monika Gruszecki (Fr., Edmonds/Meadowdale) is second in the javelin with a provisional qualifying mark of 146-10 and Christy Miller (So., Boise, ID/Bishop Kelly) (11-5 3/4) is third in the pole vault.

Western last was the GNAC host for the inaugural meet in 2002.

Track and Field: GNAC Conference Championships Begin Friday

The sixth annual Great Northwest Athletic Conference track-and-field championship meet begins Friday at Civic Stadium in Bellingham.

The two-day meet begins at 4 p.m. with finals in the men's long jump, women's shot put and men's hammer and with the semifinals of the men's 110 hurdles.

Central Washington and Seattle Pacific are the defending men's and women's champions, respectively.

Individually, 19 champions from the 2006 meet are back including two - CWU's Robert Edwards and Cameron Neel - who will be seeking their third consecutive titles in the men's 110 hurdles and shot put, respectively.

Neel is also the defending champion in the discus and is one of four Central athletes who will attempt to repeat.

Ian Wells is the defending champion in the javelin where the top four seeds are all CWU athletes. Wells is seeded second in back of teammate Michael Ingman. In the hammer, Evan Ruud is the defending champion and is among three CWU throwers ranked in the top five.

Led by Neel, CWU has the top three seeds in the discus and top two in the shot. In all, the Wildcats who edged arch-rival Western Washington by 5 1/2 points this winter for the indoor title, have six No. 1 seeds, six No. 2 seeds and six No. 3 seeds.

Western Washington, which won the conference title in 2005 before being dethroned by the Wildcats last year, should challenge CWU for the team title. The Vikings have three top seeds, five No. 2 seeds and five No. 3s. Both schools qualifed 31 men for the meet.

While the Viking men don't have any defending champions, freshman Michael Dean, who was voted the Outstanding Male Performer in the indoor meet, has the best qualifying time in the 200 and 400.

Sam Brancheau, who won the 800 three years ago, is the favorite in the steeplechase, where the top three ranked athletes are all from Western. The Vikings' Anthony Tomsich will double in the 1500 and 5000 and is ranked No. 2 in both events.

In addition to the CWU throwers and Edwards in the hurdles, 2006 champs include Seattle Pacific's Eddie Strickler in the 800; David Kiplagat and Eric Draper of Alaska Anchorage in the 1500 and high jump, respectively; John Riak of Saint Martin's in the 10,000; Lee Clarkson of Western Oregon in the 400 hurdles and Greg Hamm of Northwest Nazarene in the triple jump.

Strickler, Riak and Hamm are the top seeds in their events. Kiplagat will skip the 1500 this season and run the 5,000 where he is the No. 1 seed. Draper is the No. 2 seed in the high jump in back of CWU's Cameron Bailey.

Clarkson will skip the 400 hurdles this year - his teammate Lloyd Massey is the top seed there with a GNAC record-time of 52.90 - and compete in the 110 highs.

Seattle Pacific has just one returning champion - Karin Rohde in the steeplechase - but the Falcons are still positioned to win their third team title in six years.

Freshmen NyEma Sims and Jessica Pixler should pick up some big points for the Falcons. Sims is the top seed in the 100 and 200 and Pixler is the favorite in the 800, 1500 and 3000. SPU also has the best times this spring in the 4x100 and 4x400 relays.

In the field events, Teona Perkins enters with the best mark in the high jump, Monica Anderson is the leader in the pole vault and Molly Barnes is the top-ranked athlete in the javelin.

While SPU has the most top three individual seeds (16), five other schools - Western Oregon (10), Alaska Anchorage (9), Western Washington (7), Central Washington (7) and Northwest Nazarene (7) - all have seven or more.

Western Oregon and Alaska Anchorage also have three defending champions. The Wolves' Chevonna Lynch and Sarajane Rosenberg will attempt to repeat in the shot put and long jump, respectively, though neither is seeded among the Top 3. Sarah Howell is the defending champion and the No. 2 seed behind Pixler in the 800.

UAA's Mary Pearce is the defending champion in the 200 and 400. Also back in both events is 2004 champion Terran Legard of Central Washington. Pearce has the season's second best time in the 200 behind Sims and is the conference leader in the 400. Legard ranks just sixth in the 200 this spring, but has the second best time in the 400.

Other returning champs include NNU's Ashley Puga in the 1500 where she is seeded in back of Pixler, who has the nation's best time (4:19.81); UAA's Davya Flaharty in the 10,000 though she is seeded just sixth, and Western Washington's Clara Cook in the high jump and Kim Bascom in the triple jump.

Cook is ranked third in the high jump in back of Perkins and WOU's Taryn Plypick. Bascom is the conference leader in the triple jump and also ranks fourth in the long jump where heptathlete champion Jacque Postlewait of WOU is the leader.