BELLINGHAM, Wash. – Sometimes just when the door seems closed to a certain possibility, it unexpectedly cracks open a bit.
 
On Tuesday afternoon, it opened for Hannah Chang – and she stepped right through it.
 
The Seattle Pacific sophomore came up with a season-best throw in the javelin, then ran to a solid second-place finish in the 800 meters, picking up enough points in both events to take third place overall in the women's heptathlon at the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Multi-Event Championships.
 
Chang tallied a career-best 4,365 points for the two-day competition at Civic Stadium. That put her onto the awards podium and earned her All-GNAC recognition, which is accorded to the top three finishers in all events.

"I just feel really happy with the effort I put in, very satisfied," Chang said. "I know what I need to work on going into next year, so I feel like I have that hope. I'm just very grateful for putting myself out there today."

  

  Heading into the 800, Chang was sixth in the standings. While she was within range of moving as high as fourth, a spot in the top three appeared to be out of reach at that point.
 
But Central Washington's Ellie DeGroot, the pre-meet favorite and the leader through five of the seven events, caught an unfortunate break when she sustained an injury during the long jump, the first event on Tuesday's schedule. She finished the long and also was able to throw the javelin, but then was not able to finish the 800.
 
Alaska Anchorage's Vivien Liessfeld, already in first place with just the 800 to go, was able to hang onto that spot and claim the title with 4,639 points. But with DeGroot out, the opportunity was now there for Chang, Western Oregon's Macy Clemens and Amity Deters, and Central Washington's Emy Ntekpere to secure a podium position – essentially four of them going for second and third place.
 
Clemens wound up second with 4,428, then came Chang with her 4,365. Ntekpere was fourth with 4,335, and Deters fifth with 4,294.

"I'm really proud of Hannah for fighting back on the second day and coming from sixth to third in the final event," head coach Karl Lerum said. "She definitely had some ups and downs, and I think she probably wishes she could have a few more cracks at the long jump. But other than that, I would say it was a pretty solid multi day for her."

 



Chang started Tuesday in fourth place with 2,718 points, just six out of third. The long jump did not go as well as she had hoped, as she went just 15 feet, 11¾ inches and dropped into fifth, 205 points away from the podium.
 
She bounced back with a season-best throw of 93-8 in the javelin – her first mark this year in the 90s after being in the 88 to 89 range all spring. That helped boost her point total to 3,691, leaving her in sixth behind Ntekpere (3,818), Clemens (3,760) and Deters (3.699).
 
Chang then beat all of them in the 800 in 2:31.60 – the second-fastest time of her career and worth 674 points. She was half a second ahead of Clemens, whose 2:32.04 gave her 668 points to secure second place behind Liessfeld's 4,639. Chang was 6½ seconds in front of Deters (a difference of 79 points) and 13½ ahead of Ntekpere.(a difference of 157). That was enough to overtake both of them and move up to third.
 
"I was in sixth place going into that, and I didn't feel great, so I really had to put the hammer down and run around 2:30 and feel really good at the end," Chang said. "I just really look back on my season and all the training I've put into this season. Knowing I've put in the work, I just need to go out there and just really perform, and that is what helped me get through that today."
 
Aside from the podium finish, the highlight for Chang was on Monday when she went 5-0½ in the high jump – her first-ever 5-foot clearance.
 
"That felt amazing," she said. "I heard from my coach that my approach is really ugly," she added with a laugh, "but I managed to still get it, so I'm very happy."

Since the heptathlon is part of the overall GNAC Championships, Chang's third-place finish gave the Falcons six team points that will count toward their overall total when the rest of the meet takes place next Friday and Saturday, May 10-11, at the Central Washington Recreation Sports Complex in Ellensburg.
 
UP NEXT
The Falcons conclude the regular season on Saturday at the Linfield Open in McMinnville, Oregon. Field events start at 10:00 a.m., and track events at 10:40.
 

NCAA WOMEN'S TRACK & FIELD
GNAC Multi-Event Championships
Civic Stadium / Bellingham, Wash.
Monday, April 29, 2024
 
Final standings (through 7 of 7 events) – 1, Vivien Liessfeld (UAA) 4,639; 2, Macy Clemens (WOU) 4,428; 3, Hannah Chang (SPU) 4,365; 4, Emy Ntekpere (CWU) 4,335; 5, Amity Deters (WOU) 4,294; 6, Carley Huber (CWU) 4,011; 7, Nicole Avery (WWU) 3,919; 8, Ellie DeGroot (CWU) 3,902; 9, Karma Walker (WWU) 3,779; 10, Sadie Wendring (WOU) 3,523; 11, Cassandra Schulberg (WWU) 3,139; 12, Tess King (WWU) 2,872.
 
 MONDAY EVENTS
100-meter hurdles – 1, Ellie DeGroot (CWU) 14.47 (913 points).  SPU – 2, Hannah Chang 14.64 (890).
High jump – 1, Emy Ntekpere (CWU) 5-7¾ / 1.72m (879 points).  SPU – 4, Chang 5-0½ / 1.54m (666).
Shot put – 1, Vivien Liessfeld (UAA) 35-1 / 10.69m (575 points).  SPU – 9, Chang .26-11¼ / 8.21m (413).
200 – 1, DeGroot (CWU) 25.37 (853 points).  SPU – 3, Chang 26.56 (749).
 
TUESDAY EVENTS
Long jump – T1, Vivien Liessfeld (UAA) and Emy Ntekpere (CWU) 18-3¾ / 5.58m (723 points).  SPU – 9, Hannah Chang 15-11 ¾ / 4.87m (524).
Javelin – 1, Liessfeld (UAA) 111-4 / 33.94m (551 points).  SPU – 7, Chang 93-8 / 28.55m (449).
800 – 1, Carley Huber (CWU) 2:27.80 (721 points).  SPU – 2, Chang 2:31.52 (674).
 
GNAC TEAM POINTS
(Applies toward overall conference meet, May 10-11)
1, Western Oregon 12; 2, Alaska Anchorage 10; 3, Central Washington 9; 4, Seattle Pacific 6; 5, Western Washington 2.