MONMOUTH, Ore. – A year ago, the long jump proved costly to David Njeri at the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Track & Field Championships.
 
On Friday, the Seattle Pacific junior got some payback.
 
And all it took was one jump.
 
Njeri hit a leap of 23 feet, 7½ inches on his second attempt of the preliminaries, and it stood up the rest of the way to give him the crown in that event on the first night of the conference meet at Western Oregon University's McArthur Field.
 
It was Njeri's first-ever 23-footer. On the metric scale, it was his first mark in the 7-meter range, going into the books at 7.20. His previous best was 22-10¾ / 6.98 meters at the 2022 GNACs in Ellensburg.
 
"It felt really good. I had a first foul, then moved back a little bit, and kind of got on the board and launched a good one," Njeri said. "I felt like I fouled some good 23s over the season. So today was kind of putting it together and getting a legal mark.
 
"It was nothing too crazy. I think I was expecting something big."
 
The final day of the meet is Saturday, with field events starting at 11:30 a.m., and track races beginning at 1:40 p.m.

Njeri won by four inches ahead of Central Washington's Isaiah Webster, who went 23-3½. He came into the meet seeded No. 8 off his season-best of 22-7 ¾ at the Point Loma Collegiate Invitational on March 25. Webster came as the No. 10 seed at 22-5¼. Ryan Greenwalt of Western Washington, who was a slight favorite with an entry mark of 23-4¾, finished third at 23-3¼.
 
On Saturday, Njeri and Webster are the top two seeds in the triple jump: Njeri at 49-7¼, Webster at 46-3¼.
 
"He's going to bring the energy again. He brought it today, and I was super excited for that," Njeri said of his closest challenger. "I'm excited to go head-to-head with him and see what happens."
 
 

Last May 13, Njeri took fourth in the long jump with the aforementioned 22-10 ¾. It came on his first of three attempts in the finals. He went 22-7 ¾ on his next try. Then, going for a big one on the last attempt, he tweaked his hamstring.
 
The following morning, he was hoping to claim a second straight triple jump title. But he ultimately had to scratch out before the competition began.
 
"After that, I was just kind of thinking, 'Maybe God made me wait for this year and win,'" Njeri said. "It feels like it's a reward for last year. I'll take it."
 
This time, he wasn't taking any chances. He passed on all three of his attempts in the finals. The nine finalists go in the reverse order of the standings, and as the leader, Njeri was last up in all three rounds. Had someone passed him, he could have taken his attempt. But he never needed to do that.
 
"Coach Karl (Lerum) just wanted me to be fresh for Saturday because he wants a big mark in the triple jump," Njeri said.
 
Njeri wants that big mark, too. The GNAC record is 50 feet, 10 ¼ inches / 15.50 meters by Wesley Gray of Western Oregon at the 2017 conference meet. Njeri's personal best is 49-10.
 
"I have my eye on the GNAC record – that's kind of my goal," Njeri said. "But if it's anything over 50, I'm going to be happy."
 
PODIUM FINISH FOR LEE
Earlier in the week, Kainoa Lee was holding his new pole and talking about some of the advancements that have been made in the primary tool of that particular trade.
 
That pole will have to wait a little longer for its first competition. On Friday, Lee's older models served him just fine.
 
 

Lee cleared 14 feet, 10 inches to take third place in the men's pole vault. That was a season best and just a quarter inch / one centimeter off his career-best which he cleared at last year's GNACs.
 
It also earned him All-GNAC honors for the top-3 finish.
 
"I didn't get on the new pole, but I had some really good jumps on the one right before it," Lee said.
 
Lee made 14-2 in the season-opening meet, but then didn't get over 14 again for another five meets. At last week's regular-season finale Linfield Open, he went a season-best 14-5 ¼, then topped that on Friday.
 
"It's all in the run. If the first two steps are good, then the rest is good. So I was really locking in on the first couple of steps in the run.
 
Right behind Lee in fourth place was senior Brad Bowman, who got over at 14-4.

 

BIG STEPS IN THE STEEPLE
Maya Ewing is getting this steeplechase thing down pat. So is Brennan LeBlanc.
 
Falcons freshman Ewing, who came into the women's race as the No. 8 seed, got through her 3,000 meters and over her 35 barriers in 11 minutes, 19.21 seconds to move up to sixth place. That was a drop of 18-plus seconds from her previous best of 11:37.77, and represented an improvement of 34 seconds from the 11:53.31 she posted in her very first steeple on March 24 in San Marcos, California.
 
LeBlanc had the No. 13 seed in the men's 3K race and dropped more than seven seconds off his best time to finish 11th in 9:47.72. It was just two weeks ago in Bellingham when he broke 10 minutes for the first time, clocking 9:55.12. He thus showed an improvement of almost 28 seconds from his initial outing of 10:15.46 on March 4 in Tacoma.
 
AND THAT'S NOT ALL
--For the fifth straight time, Colin Boutin scored in the men's 10,000 meters. The SPU grad student, who gained an extra season of eligibility because of the pandemic shutdown in 2020, placed seventh in the 10K, getting through his 25 laps in 32:43.69. He will return to the track on Saturday for the 5000, his final race as a Falcon.
 

-- Freshman Matise Mulch was fifth in the women's 10K, going 38:28.65.  She came in as the No. 6 seed. Like Boutin, she'll be back for the 5K on Saturday.
-- Out of Friday's preliminaries, junior Aniya Green advanced to a pair of finals. She will be the No. 4 seed in the 400-meter dash after her time of 58.39, and is the No. 7 seed in the 200 at 25.52.
-- Joining her in the 400 is freshman Marissa Crane, who finished her prelim in 57.95. In what figures to be one of the most wide-open races of the meet, the top seed will be Simon Fraser's Claire Bosman at 57.80.
-- The men's 400 could be just as wide open. Isaiah Archer of the Falcons had the third-fastest preliminary time of 48.54. Western Oregon's Amari Hendrix went 48.07, and Western Washington's Lucas Brenek went 48.52. Evan Carpenter of SPU made it as the No. 8 seed with a season-best 50.12.
-- Freshman Hannah Chang will be the No. 5 seed in the women's 100-meter hurdles finals after going 14.63. Central Washington's Lauryn Chandler is the favorite at 13.90.
 
 



NCAA MEN'S TRACK & FIELD
GNAC Championships
Friday, May 12, 2023
McArthur Field / Monmouth, Ore.
 
Team scores (through 7 of 21 events) – 1, Western Washington 79.5; 2, Western Oregon 46; 3, Central Washington 42; 4, Northwest Nazarene 38; 5, Montana State Billings 30; 6, Seattle Pacific 23; 7, Saint Martin's 9.5; 8, Simon Fraser 6; 9, Alaska Anchorage 5.
 
FRIDAY FINALS
10,000 – 1, Andrew Oslin (WWU) 30:3634#.  SPU – 7, Colin Boutin 32:43.69; 11, Nathaniel Gale 34:36.31; 12, Isaac Vanable 35:00.88; 14, Gabe Endresen 35:11.71.
3000 steeplechase – 1, Jeret Gillingham (WWU) 9:04.20#.  SPU – 11, Brennan LeBlanc 9:47.72.
Pole vault – 1, Steven Schmidt (NNU) 15-1 ¾ / 4.62m.  SPU – 3, Kainoa Lee 114-10 / 4.52m; 4, Brad Bowman 14-4 / 4.37m.
Long jump – 1, David Njeri (SPU) 23-7 ½ / 7.20m.  No other SPU.
Shot put – 1, Dayne Gordien (WOU) 54-3¼ / 16.54m#.  No SPU.
Hammer – 1, Dylan Hendry (NNU) 181-3 / 55.26m.  No SPU.
 
FRIDAY PRELIMINARIES
100 – 1, Enrique Campbell (UAA) 10.46.  SPU – 10, Jeff Gordon 11.00.
200 – 1, Jesaiah Penson-Mccoy (Simon) 21.55.  SPU – 14, Jeff Gordon 22.50.
400 – 1, Amari Hendrix (WOU) 48.07.  SPU finals qualifiers – 4, Isaiah Archer 48.54 (No. 3 by time); 8, Evan Carpenter 50.12.  Other SPU – 13, Julius Shepherd 50.83.
800 – 1, Charlie Dannatt (Simon) 1:50.51#.  No SPU.
110 hurdles – 1, Joshua Wagner (UAA) 14.67.  No SPU.
400 hurdles – 1, Maurice Woodring (WWU) 53.91.  No SPU.
 
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S TRACK & FIELD
GNAC Championships
Friday, May 12, 2023
McArthur Field / Monmouth, Ore.
 
Team scores (through 7 of 21 events) – 1, Western Oregon 80; 2, Western Washington 76; 3, Northwest Nazarene 39; 4, Simon Fraser 21; 5, Alaska Anchorage 18; 6, Seattle Pacific 12; 7, Saint Martin's 11; T8, Central Washington and Montana State Billings 8.
 
FRIDAY FINALS
10,000 – 1, Meaera Shannon (WWU) 36:31.65.  SPU – 5, Matise Mulch 38:28.65.
3000 steeplechase – 1, Ila Davis (WWU) 10:41.34#.  SPU – 6, Maya Ewing 11:19.21; 15, Katelyn Flolo 11:34.18.
High jump – 1, Sydney Kania (Simon) 5-5¼ / 1.66m.  No SPU.
Long jump – 1, Ujunwa Nwokoma (WOU) 18-7¾ / 5.68m.  SPU – 21, Maliyah Hicks 15-3½ / 4.66m.
Shot put – 1, Destiny Herbert (NNU) 46-9 ½ / 14.26m#.  No SPU.
Hammer – 1, Raine Westfall (WWU) 172-1 / 52.45m#.  No SPU.
 
FRIDAY PRELIMINARIES
100 – 1, Marie-Eloise Leclair (Simon) 11.44# (GNAC record, breaks old record of 11.45 set by Leclair on March 31, 2023; GNAC meet record, breaks old record of 11.66 set by Leclair in 2022).  No SPU.
200 – 1, Marie-Eloise Leclair (Simon) 23.95#.  SPU finals qualifier – 7, Aniya Green 25.52.  No other SPU.
400 – 1, Claire Bosman (Simon) 57.80.  SPU finals qualifiers – 3, Marissa Crane 57.95 (No. 2 by time); 4, Aniya Green 58.39.  Other SPU – 9, Johanna Brown 59.36; 16, McKenzie Fletcher 1:01.86.
800 – 1, Marian Ledesma (WWU) 2:12.86.  No SPU.
100 hurdles – 1, Lauryn Chandler (CWU) 13.90.  SPU finals qualifier – 5, Hannah Chang 14.63.  No other SPU.
400 hurdles – 1, Erika Binder (Simon) 1:03.29.  No SPU.