SPOKANE, Wash. – Now there are two …
 
… who have won three.
 
 

Peace Igbonagwam joined a very lofty club on Monday night  when she became just the second woman to win a third title in the long jump at the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships.
 
The Seattle Pacific senior got there with a leap of 18 feet, 1 inch on the first of her three attempts in the finals.
 
That was enough to push her ahead of Western Oregon's Jenelle Hurley, who had taken over the lead from Igbonagwam by going 17-11¾ on the last of her three attempts in the preliminaries, but wasn't able to meet or beat that in the finals. (Igbonagwam had a top mark of 17-9 in the prelims.)
 
Not only was it Igbonagwam's third long jump crown, it was her third straight. She won as a freshman 2019 and as a sophomore in 2020. The 2021 season was canceled by the coronavirus pandemic.
 
The only other woman to win three long jump championships was former SPU star Ali Worthen. She finished on top as a freshman in 2009, as a sophomore in 2010, and as a senior in 2012.
 
ONE FOR THE BOOKS
Igbonagwam wasn't the only Falcon grabbing a first-place medal or a share of the spotlight on the first day of the two-day meet inside The Podium, the brand-new facility that is hosting GNACs for the first time.
 
 

Annika Esvelt, as expected, won the women's 5000 meters. She pulled away from Western Oregon's Caitlin Heldt and finished in 17 minutes, 31.71 seconds. Heldt was nearly 15 seconds behind in 17:46.69.
 
While Esvelt was smartly pacing herself through her 25 laps around the 200-meter banked oval, Falcons sophomore Jeff Gordon had just one lap to deal with – and his only pace was flat-out fast.
 
Gordon won his 200 dash preliminary heat in 22.34 seconds, breaking the Seattle Pacific school record that had stood for 17 years. Ryan Jewell set it with a 22.46 all the way back in 2005.
 
 

In fact, Gordon nearly took that record down on Dec. 11 at the Spokane Invitational, which was The Podium's inaugural event. He just missed it that day with a 22.48. He took another shot at it on the University of Washington's flat 307-meter oval in the UW Invitational on Jan. 29, but clocked 22.73.
 
Ironically, his time wasn't the first thing Gordon noticed on Monday.
 
"When I finished, I was more cheering that I had won my heat," said Gordon, who will be the No. 6 seed for Tuesday's finals. "Then I realized that the time was as good as it was."
 
"I was ecstatic at the finish line and all the way back to the warm-up area."
 
He added that the difference between December's race and Monday's was mostly a mental approach.
 
"I talked to my coaches about it a little bit before the race. The thing they told me was to go out and run the race I knew I could run, and trust my fitness, and run the best race I could," Gordon said.
 
The favorite on Tuesday will be Simon Fraser's Callum Robinson, who set a meet record of 21.50 in his prelim heat, breaking the old mark of 21.56. His was the only sub-22 on Monday. The other seven finalists range from 22.00 to 22.47.
 
"I'm looking forward to the competition," Gordon said. "It will be close, and that will push all of us."
 
This was Gordon's third school record inside The Podium. In December, he went 7.12 in the 60, breaking Jewell's mark of 7.15 (also from 2005). At the Whitworth Invite on Feb. 11, he went 7.11 in his prelim heat, which stood for about an hour until David Njeri went 7.00 in the finals.
 
AND THAT'S NOT ALL
--The long jump was just one part of Peace Igbonagwam's busy day. She started off in the 60-meter dash preliminaries. Running right next to Central Washington's E'lexis Hollis, Igbonagwam hit the wire in 7.66 seconds, just .01 shy of her career-best that she set on this same straightaway on Feb. 11. Hollis had a 7.62 that will make her the top seed for the finals.
-- Igbonagwam is one of three Falcons who will be in the 200 dash finals. She and freshman Aniya Green tied for the seventh and eighth of the eight spots at 25.71. Matter of fact, they were tied even when carrying it out to the thousandths of a second (25.706). Jenna Bouyer raced to the No. 3 seed with a 25.34. Green came into the meet seeded No. 9, but now has moved into a point-scoring position.
 

-- David Njeri tied his own school record and his own personal-best of 7.00 seconds to win his heat of the men's 60 dash. That has him as the No. 4 seed for the finals. The day's best time was 6.97 by Tyrone Woodard of Western Washington. The top eight are separated by a scant eight-hundredths of a second (6.97 to 7.05).
-- Njeri then went on to take third place in the long jump. His best mark of the day came on his very first attempt, 22 feet, 5¼ inches. Western Washington's Ethan Sterkel won at 23-1¼.
 

-- Sophomore Kainoa Lee came up with a PR performance in the men's pole vault, clearing 14 feet, 7¼ inches, good for fourth place. It was the second time in 10 days that he has PR'd in The Podium, having gone 14-3½ at the Whitworth Invitational on Feb. 11. Brad Bowman was seventh at 12-7½.
-- Ellie Rising will be the No. 4 seed in the women's 800-meter finals off her preliminary time of 2:16.02.
-- Through the first day, with six of the 17 events complete, Western Washington's women are atop the team standings with 70 points. Simon Fraser is next with 61, and SPU is fourth with 20. WWU also leads the men's standings through five of the 17 events with 49 points. Western Oregon has 35. Seattle Pacific is sixth with 13.
 
UP NEXT
Tuesday's final day of competition begins at 9:30 a.m. in the field and at 11:00 a.m. on the track. A pay-per-view Webcast is available on this link. Free live stats are available on this link.
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S INDOOR TRACK & FIELD
GNAC Championships
Monday, Feb. 21, 2022
The Podium / Spokane, Wash.
 
Team scores – 1, Western Washington 70; 2, Simon Fraser 61; 3, Central Washington 29; 4, Seattle Pacific 20; 5, Simon Fraser 17; 6, Saint Martin's 11; 7, Alaska Anchorage 9; 8, Northwest Nazarene 8; 9, Montana State Billings 6.
 
FINALS
5000 – 1, Annika Esvelt (SPU) 17:31.61. No other SPU.
4000 distance medley relay – 1, Simon Fraser 12:13.12. No SPU.
High jump – 1, Aliyah Dawkins (WWU) 5-5 ¾ / 1.67m. No SPU.
Long jump – 1, Peace Igbonagwam (SPU) 18-1 / 5.51m. No other SPU.
Weight throw – 1, Meagan Smallbeck (CWU) 56-2 / 17.12m. No SPU.
 
 
PRELIMINARIES
60-meter dash – 1, E'lexis Hollis (CWU) 7.62.  SPU finals qualifier – 3, Peace Igbonagwam 7.66#.  Other SPU – 10, Jenna Bouyer 7.84.
200 – 1, Marie-Eloise Leclair (Simon) 24.70#.  SPU finals qualifiers – 4, Jenna Bouyer 25.24; 7, (tie) Aniya Green and Peace Igbonagwam 25.71.  No other SPU.
400 – 1, Emily Lindsay (Simon) 56.77#. No SPU finals qualifiers.  SPU – 11, Aniya Green 1:00.64; 12, Johanna Brown 1:01.14; 14, McKenzie Fletcher 1:01.28.
800 – 1, Cassidy Walchak-Sloan (STM) 2:15.85. SPU finals qualifier – 4, Ellie Rising 2:16.02.  No other SPU.
60 hurdles – 1, Diana Voloshin (Simon) 8.80#.  No SPU.
 
 
PENTATHLON
Final standings – 1, Jenelle Hurley (WOU) 3,457; 2, Aliya Dawkins (WWU) 3,340; 3, Matty Lagerwey (WWU) 3,138; 4, Eden Mortensen (STM) 3,128; 5, Sarah Sewell (CWU) 3,097; 6, Amity Deters (WOU) 3,055; 7, Macy Clemens (WOU) 2,905; 8, Leanne Kibbee (WWU) 2,778; 9, Carlotte Duenninger (UAA) 2,394.  No SPU.
 
Pentathlon 60 hurdles – 1, Aliyah Dawkins (WWU) 9.15 (879 points).  Pentathlon high jump – 1, Aliyah Dawkins (WWU) 5-5¾ / 1.67m (818 points).  Pentathlon shot put – 1, Aliyah Dawkins (WWU) 29-9¼ / 9.07m (469 points).  Pentathlon long jump – 1, Aliyah Dawkins (WWU) 17-9¼ / 5.42m (677 points).  Pentathlon 800 – 1, Jenelle Hurley (WOU) 2:33.05 (655 points).
 
 
 
NCAA MEN'S INDOOR TRACK & FIELD
GNAC Championships
Monday, Feb. 21, 2022
The Podium / Spokane, Wash.
 
Team scores – 1, Western Washington 49; 2, Western Oregon 35; 3, Northwest Nazarene 30.5; 4, Simon Fraser 23; 5, Alaska Anchorage 22; 6, Seattle Pacific 13; 7, Central Washington 11.5; 8, Montana State Billings 7; 9, Saint Martin's 3.
 
FINALS
5000 – 1, Kevin McDermott (WWU) 14:52.36.  No SPU.
4000 distance medley relay – 1, Simon Fraser 10:09.88.  No SPU.
Pole vault – 1, Kacey Provo (WWU) 15-3 / 4.65m.  SPU – 4, Kainoa Lee 14-7¼ / 4.45m; 7, Brad Bowman 12-7½ / 3.85m.
Long jump – 1, Ethan Sterkel (WWU) 23-10 / 7.26m#.  SPU – 3, David Njeri 22-5¼ / 6.84m.
Weight throw – 1, Colton Burr (NNU) 57-6¼ / 17.53m. No SPU.
 
 
PRELIMINARIES
60-meter dash – 1, Tyrone Woodard (WWU) 6.97.  SPU finals qualifier – 3, David Njeri 7.00.  Other SPU – T11, Jeff Gordon 7.11.
200 – 1, Callum Robinson (Simon) 21.50 (meet record, breaks old record of 21.56).  SPU finals qualifier – 6, Jeff Gordon 22.34.  Other SPU – 14, Evan Carpenter 22.98
400 – 1, Callum Robinson (Simon) 48.98. No SPU finals qualifiers.  SPU – 14, Evan Carpenter 51.30; 20, Julius Shepherd 52.69.
800 – 1, Maculey Franks (WWU) 1:51.07k#.  No SPU finals qualifiers.  SPU – 11, Isaiah Archer 1:56.12; 13, Jon Owen 1:57.10.
60 hurdles – 1, Joshua Wagner (UAA) 8.28. No SPU.
 
 
HEPTATHLON
Heptathlon 60-meter dash – 1, Ryan Kenny (WWU) 7.28 (785 points).  Heptathlon long jump – 1, Deshaun Stevens (WOU) 21-9 / 6.63m (727 points).  Heptathlon shot put  – 1, Andrew Boyd (STM) 39-3¾ / 11.98m (605 points).  Heptathlon high jump – 1, Steven Schmidt (NNU) 6-8¾ / 2.05m (850 points).