Complete results, with team scores (PDF)
        
        ACTION VIDEOS:
        800 meters
        4x400 relay

MONMOUTH, Ore. – Nate Seely usually has a strategy in mind when he takes off from the starting line.
 
But on Saturday, the Seattle Pacific senior threw strategy to the wind – and wound up blowing away the field to win the 800-meter title at the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Track & Field Championships.
 
Seely (Lynden, Wash./Lynden HS) moved into the lead through the first few strides and gradually stretched it out, coming across the finish line in 1 minute, 50.61 seconds at McArthur Field on the Western Oregon University campus.
 
That smashed his previous personal best of 1:51.95, set on April 7 at the War V meet in Spokane. More than that, it moved him up from No. 29 on the NCAA Division II qualifying list to No. 6 – way above the cutoff line for getting into nationals. That line typically falls at No. 16 or 17.
 




“My chances are looking pretty darn good,” Seely said of earning a trip to Pueblo, Colo., for the NCAAs on May 24-26. “The way I usually run these races is really strategic. People try to go out slow in the beginning and run a strategic time.
 
“But I didn't do that this time. I wanted to get a fast time because this was going to be my last chance. I just ran wire to wire as fast as I could.”
 
Seely was nearly two seconds in front at the finish. Ryan Hansen, his friendly rival from Western Oregon, was next across the line in 1:52.50.
 
“I went the first 200 at the pace I usually go at and no one was with me – and I wasn't going to slow down,” Seely said. “I was going fast, and at this level, people should have been with me, but they weren't.
 
Seely has been a dominant force indoor 800-meter force in the GNAC, winning three straight championships. But this was his first outdoor crown. His previous two outdoor 800s at McArthur resulted in fourth-place and fifth-place finishes the past two years. He came into this weekend's meet as the top seed, but had just the seventh-fastest time coming into Saturday's finals.
 
“The last two seasons outdoors haven't gone so well at the end for me, due to injuries and mental exhaustion at the end of the season,” Seely said. “This season has been strong, and I've been training well.”
 
Seely's performance was easily the highlight of the weekend for the Falcons, who finished seventh in the team standings with 34 points. Western Washington, as expected, won handily with 205, well ahead of second-place Western Oregon with 126½.
 
Junior Seth Pierson (Cashmere, Wash./Cashmere HS) wound up sixth in the 1,500 meters in 3:55.41, and junior AJ Baker, coming off of a fourth-place finish in the 3,000-meter steeplechase on Friday, was seventh in the 5,000 in 15:14.35,  just barely shy of his 15:14.00 PR.
 
Senior Ray Zoellick (Bothell, Wash./Cedar Park Christian HS) came up short in his bid for a second straight pole vault championship, finishing eighth at 13 feet, 8½ inches.
 
Junior Ryan Endresen (Portland, Ore.) placed seventh in the 400-meter hurdles in 55.98, and the Falcons moved up from eighth to sixth in the 4x400 relay. John Corazza, Endresen, David Ferguson and Seely logged a 3:25.59, nearly a full second better than their previous best of 3:26.21 set on March 31 in Bellingham.


NCAA MEN'S TRACK & FIELD
GNAC Championships
Friday, May 11, 2012
McArthur Field / Monmouth, Ore.
 
Team scores – 1, Western Washington 205; 2, Western Oregon 126 ½; 3, Alaska Anchorage 123; 4, Central Washington 120; 5, Northwest Nazarene 100; 6, Saint Martin's 63 ½; 7, Seattle Pacific 34; 8, Simon Fraser 27; 9, Montana State Billings 7.
 
SATURDAY FINALS
100 – 1, Rimar Christie (NNU) 10.79. No SPU placers.
200 – 1, Shane Gruger (WWU) 22.21. No SPU placers.
400 – 1, Ethan Hewitt (UAA) 47.55 (meet record, breaks old record of 47.79 set by Hewitt in 2010 GNAC preliminaries).
800 – 1, Nathan Seely (SPU) 1:50.61#. No other SPU placers.
1500 – 1, Micah Chelimo (UAA) 3:50.09. SPU placer – 6, Seth Pierson 3:55.41.
5000 – 1, Chelimo (UAA) 14:43.44. SPU placer – 7, AJ Baker 15:14.35.
4x100 relay – 1, Western Washington 41.79. SPU no team.
4x400 relay – 1, Alaska Anchorage 3:15.03 (meet record, breaks old record of 3:15.91 set by Central Washington in 2006). SPU placer – 6, Seattle Pacific (John Corazza, Ryan Endresen, David Ferguson, Seely) 3:25.59.
110 hurdles – 1, Kody Rhodes (WOU) 14.95. No SPU placers.
400 hurdles – 1, Shaun Ward (UAA) 53.35. SPU placer – 7, Endresen 55.98.
Pole vault – 1, Tim Lundy (WOU) 14-8 ¼ / 4.48m. SPU placer – 8, Ray Zoellick 13-8 ½ / 4.18m. Other SPU competitor – 9, Nate Johnson 13-2 ½ / 4.03m.
Triple jump – 1, Bryan Mack (CWU) 49-0 ¾ / 14.95m. No SPU competitors.
Hammer – 1, Michael Hoffman (WWU) 202-1 / 61.61m (meet record, breaks old record of 196-8 / 59.95 set by Pro Escobedo of Western Oregon in 2003). No SPU competitors.
Javelin – 1, Cody Parker (UAA) 215-0 ½ / 65.54m. No SPU competitors.
 
FRIDAY FINALS
3000 steeplechase – 1, Ryan Brockerville (SFU) 8:56.13 (meet record, breaks old record of 9:02.798 set by Micah Chelimo of UAA in 2010). SPU placer – 4, AJ Baker 9:25.27.
10,000 – 1, Barak Watson (NNU) 30:43.83. SPU competitor – 14, Will Harrison 35:50.52.
High jump – 1, Brennan Boyes (CWU) 6-9 / 2.06m. No SPU competitors.
Long jump – 1, Matson Hardie (WOU) 24-1 / 7.34m. No SPU competitors.
Shot put – 1, Sam Washington (StM) 55-2 ¼ / 16.82m. No SPU competitors.
Discus – 1, Michael Hoffman (WWU) 160-9 / 48.99m. No SPU competitors.