Track & Field | 2/20/2015 8:24:00 PM

DAY #1 RESULTS

NAMPA, Idaho – The Wolves opened up the 2015 Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) Indoor Track and Field Championships with some solid performances. Youth dominance seemed to be a theme in today's meet.

Junior Sam Moore opened up the day early in the morning with the start of her pentathlon. Moore placed top ten in WOU history and PR-ed by over 300 pts for 2,761 pts overall.

Events on the track kicked off with junior Rochelle Pappel and freshman Kaleb Dobson qualifying for the 60 meter hurdles finals. In qualifying, Pappel broke the school record she shared with '12 alum Janna Vander Muelen of 9.06 with the time of 8.97. She is seeded fourth in the finals heat where she hopes to improve her mark and place.

All-Conference wide receiver and freshman Paul Revis along with fellow freshman Cody Warner qualified in the 60m dash. Warner, who also qualified for the 200m finals, is looking to improve upon his national provisional mark in the 60m dash of 6.89.

Freshman A.J. Holmberg qualified for finals in the 400m with his third consecutive lifetime best with a time of 50.22.

In the men's shot put and women's weight throw five of the seven from WOU were first-year competitors and they each had significant personal bests. Junior Emily Wetherell came in seeded 13th and ended up throwing a personal best of 46-1.25, which is six feet better than her previous mark, and ended up placing seventh overall in the meet to score 2 points for WOU.

In one of the most exciting and prestigious 800 meter prelims ever, the Wolves qualified three athletes for the finals. Junior Sam Naffziger, won his heat to qualify, while freshman Badane Sultessa and junior Josh Hanna placed second and third respectively, in a fast heat with the times of 1:51.91 and 1.51.96 to qualify for finals. Sultessa's time moves him to fourth overall on WOU's school record history. The prelims of the 800m was one of the fastest prelims in GNAC history, the top seven qualifiers ran 1:53.70 or faster, all Division II provisional marks, on a 200-meter track.

Freshman Debbie De Leon and Zachary Holloway represented the Wolves in the 5,000m finals.

The Distance Medley Relay finals were also tonight, as the women placed third and broke the existing WOU school record with teammates Rachel Crawford, Suzanne Van De Grift, Bailey Beeson and Stephanie Stuckey. The men, which consisted of Josh Dempsey, Bryce Leedham, Parker Marson, and David Ribich, placed sixth.

When asked about his team's performance, Head Coach Mike Johnson said, "This is the most competitive attitude that I've seen on the team in the last two or three years."

In the finals, the Wolves are looking to keep the competition alive and finish strong. The men post someone in every running event, which places three in the 800m, three in the 3000m, two in the 60m, and one each in the 200m, 400m, and 60H. There are four men in the weight throw and four women in the women's shot put.

Senior Rebecca Laible, the outdoor conference champion in the triple jump, looks to carry over the success to indoor. In his last season of eligibility, nationally-ranked Brady Beagley carries the flag for the Wolves in the mile and 3k.

With a young squad, the future looks bright for Western Oregon Track and Field.

Follow @WOregonXCTF on Twitter and WOU Cross Country/ Track and Field on Facebook for updates.