Track & Field | 2/21/2009 7:54:26 PM

[Results]

NAMPA, Idaho - The Western Oregon University men's track and field team captured its second consecutive Great Northwest Athletic Conference indoor championship, Saturday, Feb. 21, at the Idaho Center Sports Complex.

The men scored 169 points over 15 events to top second place, Western Washington by 34 points (169-135).

Zeke Van Patten won the 800-meter and mile and was named the co-Outstanding Performer of the men's meet. Van Patten earned an NCAA provisional qualifying standard and moved to second in school history in the 800m with a time of 1:53.43. He then posted a time of 4:17.02 in the mile to win the event by over two seconds and capture 10 meet points for the Wolves.

Zeb Udell set the GNAC indoor championships long jump record with a leap of 23-0.75 (7.03m) eclipsing his own meet record of 23-0 which he set at the 2008 championships. That mark also moved him into third place in Western Oregon history. Udell also earned Western Oregon eight points in the pole vault, as he finished second after clearing 15-3 (4.65m) and another point in the 60m dash as he finished eighth with a time of 7.29.

The Wolves dominated in the men's 800m and mile as they scored 60 of its 169 team points.

In the 800m, Western Oregon finished in the top five spots and in six of eight scoring spots overall for 34 team points. In addition to Van Patten finishing first, Carson O'Brien came in second and moved into seventh in school history with a time of 1:56.24, Kyle Larson finished third (1:59.21), Mike Schmidt earned a fourth place finish after begin entered as a wild card (1:59.88), Zach Massari came in fifth (2:00.60) and Abe Webb eighth (2:02.82).

Van Patten's 4:17.02 in the mile paced the way but Long finished third with a time of 4:19.09 for six team points as Matt McCrary registered a time of 4:25.22 for fourth, Braxton Jackson came in sixth with a time of 4:27.42 and Dan Sprinkle, competing in his first GNAC championship, finished seventh with a time of 4:30.77.

Blake Estep led a strong performance for the Wolves in the 400m dash as he posted a 50.08 to finish third and collect six team points. Ashtin Mott was right behind him with a 50.12 to finish fourth and move into sixth place on the Wolves' all-time top 10 indoor list. Nick Clark earned four team points as he finished in fifth with a time of 50.26.

Tyler Reisnaur picked up eight points for the Wolves in the triple jump with a season-best mark of 46-2.75 (14.09m). This leap moved him to fifth in school-history.

In the high jump, Robert Wegner cleared 6-5 (1.96m) to finish second and capture eight points for the men. Matt Lariza got fourth in the event as he jumped 6-3.25 (1.91m).

Western Oregon collected 11 total team points in the 60m hurdles as Andy Loscutoff finished fourth (8.75), Jordan Werner fifth (8.80) and Robert Manwell seventh (8.91).

"Any time we had difficulties someone else would step in," said head coach Mike Johnson. "We got points in places we didn't expect. When we would have a bad performance in one area someone else would show up in another."

The women finished fourth in the seven-team field with 71.5 points as Seattle Pacific won the women's title with 181 team points.

Jacque Helbling tied Krissy Tandle of Central Washington with 66 career points at the GNAC Championships. She collected 17 points at the 2009 championships as she finished third in the high jump (5-1.25/1.56m) and 60m hurdles (9.20) and fourth in the long jump (17-0/5.18m). Her time of 9.20 in the hurdles moved her to third place in school history.

Also in the women's 60m hurdles, Janna Vander Meulen improved upon her fifth place mark in Western Oregon history as she posted a time of 9.40 to finish fourth. Mandy Keifer notched a time of 9.54 to place fifth in the event and move into sixth in school history.

Lauren Duckett and Lacey Meusec moved into second and third place in school history in the 60m dash with times of 8.01 and 8.02, respectively as the runners finished third and fourth in the race and collected 11 team points for the Wolves. Stefani Dittmar placed eighth in the race (8.18) to tack on another team point.

Dittmar also placed eighth in the women's 200m with a time of 26.68 as she moved into ninth place on the all-time top 10 list.

Keifer notched 15 points at the championships as she placed fourth in the triple jump (35-5.75/10.81m) and sixth in both the long jump (16-7.25/5.06m) and high jump (4-11.50/1.51m) in addition to her fifth place finish in the 60m hurdles.

"The GNAC has both quality and depth in its track and field programs," continued coach Johnson. "Some of the best running in the country takes place in the GNAC. These times that student-athletes in the GNAC are putting up would advance them to the national championship meet regardless of NCAA division. This is not just a small conference meet, it is a quality meet."

The Western Oregon track and field teams will now begin to prepare for its outdoor season which begins Saturday, Feb. 28, with the Five-Way Interdivisional in Salem, Ore.