Track and Field Has Strong Showing on Day Three of WAC Championships

Marcus Flannigan

Photo by: Darryl Webb

Track and Field Has Strong Showing on Day Three of WAC Championships

5/15/2015 7:23:00 PM | Track and Field, Women's Track and Field

Men sit in second, women third after three days of competition in Orem

Brianne Kee (Women's) and Marcus Flannigan (Men's) leaped to individual titles in their respective long jump competitions to lead the Grand Canyon University men's and women's track and field teams on day three of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Championships in Orem, Utah.

Click here to view a photo album from the championships.

After three days of action, the GCU men sit in second place, trailing host Utah Valley by 10.5 points, while the Antelope women are in third with their 41 points.

In the lone running final of the day, Tyler Vandyke (10:22.65) and Chris Baker (10:32.97) finished in fifth and sixth, respectively, in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, while Lacey Peterson (11:58.14) took seventh in the same event on the women's side.

Kee's top finish in the long jump led the GCU women in the field events, as the senior jumped a distance of 5.93 meters. Kevina Godfrey (5.78 meters) finished second, while Aaliyah Cook and Andrea Olstead came in fourth and fifth, respectively.

Nyomi Mosley took seventh in the shot put, posting a throw of 12.20 meters. Rylie Matthews recorded a toss of 37.06 meters in the javelin throw to finish eighth.

Flannigan came away with the WAC title in the long jump, as the sophomore recorded a season-best leap of 7.46 meters. Timmy Johnson finished fifth in the same event with a mark of 6.70 meters.

The GCU men tallied 27 points in the pole vault, taking the 2-6 spots. Austin Tilley led the charge for the Lopes, clearing the bar at a height of 4.71 meters en route to finishing second. Cody Smith was third, followed by Johnson, Timothy Ryan and Keith Williams .

Josh Ralston's new school record of 2.06 meters in the high jump gave him a third-place finish in the competition. Ryan (1.96 meters) and Akintunde Adeyemi (1.86 meters) placed fifth and seventh, respectively, in the same competition.

Jesus Valasquez turned in a season-best performance in the discus, finishing eighth with his mark of 40.04 meters.

On the track, Briana Myers raced to the quickest qualifying time in the 100-meter hurdles, crossing the line in 14.17 seconds. Ally Cuddeford, Emily Shieh and Sydney Madrid also qualify for tomorrow's final.

LeSean Marks, Jahliell Wiltshire, Anthony Phelps and Milan Howard all move on to Saturday's final of the 110-meter hurdles after posting qualifying times Friday. In the 400-meter hurdles, it was Marks, Phelps and Austin Lutterloh qualifying for the final, while Amanda Sims advanced to the final on the women's side in the same race.

Brandon Kocmoud and Brandon Gonzalez will run in tomorrow's final of the 800-meter run after running to qualifying times Friday.

GCU had a trio of both women (Tope Williams , Godfrey and Kee) and men (Aaron Thurber , Flannigan and Niels Theijs) advance to Saturday's final of the 100-meter dash. Williams and Kevina Godfrey earned a spot in the final of the 200-meter dash. The quartet of Flannigan, Thurber, Ralston and Theijs will compete in tomorrow's final of the 200-meter dash after producing qualifying times.

Ralston had the top qualifying time in the 400-meter dash, clocking a time of 47.83 seconds. Isaac Allanarem and Mykeal Ham also advance to tomorrow's final of the quarter mile. Gilbert also ran to a spot in Saturday's final of the 400-meter dash on the women's side.

The Lopes will close out their 2015 season Saturday with the final day of competition at the WAC Championships. Field events are slated to get underway at 8 a.m. (Arizona Time), with the track events scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Fans can find more information, including a live results link at www.gculopes.com.

Day Three Results