Track & Field | 2/17/2010 9:09:50 PM

[Meet program] [GNAC performance list]

What's happening:
The indoor championship season approaches for the Western Oregon University men's and women's track & field teams. The Wolves will travel to Nampa, Idaho Saturday, Feb. 20, to compete in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Indoor Championships. The meet will get underway at 10:00 a.m., and conclude around 4:00 p.m.

Men favored in GNAC poll:
The two-time defending conference championship Western Oregon men's track & field team will once again be the meet favorites, according to the GNAC preview. The WOU men have 16 student-athletes ranked in the top 3 in the 13 different meet events. The Wolves also have four individuals leading their events - Matt Kaino in the 400m, Andy Loscutoff in the 60m hurdles, Matson Hardie in the triple jump and Jason Slowey in the shot put.

Western Oregon will be the favorite in the 4x400m as well. The team of Kaino, Ashtin Mott, Josh Moore and Anthony Yakovich set the GNAC and Western Oregon records in the event with a time of 3:17.41, at the UW Invite.

WOU also has four student-athletes with the second-best seed in the conference, and six with the No. 3 mark. Entering the meet with the No. 2 mark in the conference will be Gabe Aguilar in the 60m, Mike Schmidt in the 800m Chris Reed in the 5000m and Matson Hardie in the long jump. Those coming into the meet ranked third in an event include Ashtin Mott in the 200m, Jeff Long in the mile, Hardie in the high jump, Jayce Giddens in the pole vault, Jason Slowey in the weight throw and Jordan Werner in the 60m hurdles.

"We are a very young team and the 4x400m relay team exemplifies that," explained head coach Mike Johnson. "We have some very good student-athletes but they are still figuring things out. We will be a better team in 6-8 weeks, but the indoor championship is this week and we have to be ready."

Coach Johnson would continue about the competition the Wolves will see at the championship. "It is unusual that other teams have the depth we do but Western Washington does. We have to maximize scoring opportunities to win this championship."

Women seek first indoor title:
The Western Oregon women's team is in search of its first-ever GNAC Indoor Championship. It will enter the meet with three NCAA provisional qualifying marks but just two women leading the conference; Sarah Kathrein in the 200m and Annan Applebee in the 800m. The Wolves also have two other women ranked third in the conference, Janna Vander Meulen in the 60m hurdles and Ashley Potter in the triple jump.

"We also have a young women's team," Johnson said. "It is no secret we have much better lead performers than ever.

"The GNAC has the defending national champions in some of the events we are good in," continued Johnson. "We have to get past that next layer of competitors below the national champions (to be successful at the meet)."

The women's team has already placed 10 student-athletes in the Western record book with Kathrein (200m), Applebee (800m) and Potter (triple jump) all setting school records.

The Field:
The field at the GNAC Indoor Championships will feature seven teams on both the men's and women's side. The only GNAC schools not represented at the meet are Alaska Fairbanks and Alaska Anchorage.

The Facility:
The meet will be held in the Idaho Sports Complex and on the Jacksons Indoor Track. The complex is a 100,000 square foot multi-purpose building that houses the only Mondo 200-meter track west of Nebraska. The Idaho Sports Center has played host to numerous top ranked collegiate meets and housed the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Indoor Championships as well as the Western Athletic Conference and the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Indoor Championships. It is a banked track with run ways in the center for jumping events. The throwing events are located on the north side of the track.

Head Coach Mike Johnson:
On the GNAC: "What a great conference we have; and with Simon Fraser coming in next year it is only going to get better. It is a fantastic situation for our student-athletes to compete in high quality situations."

On the training/preparation: "Many of the student-athletes did a better job over Christmas. I felt the hardest part was not having a facility to hone the skills, but it is outdoors and it is Oregon, so we will get it done."

On performing to expectations: "People that have been there are the leaders and the ones that set the tone for the others. The best ones have high expectations related to their performances, and I'm saying this is not fair because everyone in the meet shares the responsibility for success, but we tend to look at those which have succeeded before."

Applebee has NCAA auto mark:
Annan Applebee is sixth in NCAA Division II in the 800m, with a time of 2:11.43. That mark also earned her the first NCAA automatic qualifying standard in the event this season. That time also solidified her atop the WOU record books and gave her the fourth-best mark in Great Northwest Athletic Conference history. The 2:11.43 topped her previous season-best mark of 2:12.08.

Women in the rankings:
In addition to Applebee, Janelle Everetts and Ashley Potter are also nationally ranked, as both earned provisional qualifying standards at the UW Invite. Potter is 22nd in DII in the triple jump. She leaped a distance of 37-11.5 (11.57m) to earn a school record and the second-best mark in the GNAC this season. Everetts is 27th in the country with a time of 2:15.90 in the 800m. Everetts and Applebee now own the top two marks in the 800m in Wolves' history.

Long, Reed and relay team ranked:
The men's side, the 4x400m relay team owns the highest national ranking at No. 13. The team of Matt Kaino, Ashtin Mott, Josh Moore and Anthony Yakovich, set the GNAC and school record with an NCAA provisional time of 3:17.41. Jeff Long earned his provisional standard with a time of 4:11.49 in the mile, and ranks 23rd nationally, and Chris Reed ran a 14:32.66 in the 5000m to come in 16th nationally.