MONMOUTH, Ore. – Isaiah Girard won the high jump finals and Sam Zook took command of the 100 and 200 meter preliminary sprints as the Montana State University Billings track and field teams wrapped up day one of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference outdoor championships Friday evening on the campus of Western Oregon University.
 
Girard edged out Tyler Cronk (Saint Martin's) for the top spot on the podium with a jump of 2.05 meters and set yet another NCAA Provisional qualifying mark. He came up just short of a new career best mark of 2.08 meters, but had enough to take the GNAC title over Cronk and Chris Brake (Alaska Anchorage) who finished third.
 
"It meant everything," head Coach Jon Woehl said of Girard's performance. "He had a disappointing finish at the indoor conference meet so to come back and execute the way he did today was amazing. He just outlasted everybody and cleared all his heights on the first try."

MEN'S HIGH JUMP FINALS

Finish	Athlete (school)	Mark	Points	Note
1st	Isaiah Girard (MSU Billings)	2.05m	+10	NCAA Provisional, GNAC Outdoor Title
2nd	Tyler Cronk (Saint Martin's)	J2.05m	+8	NCAA Provisional
3rd	Chris Brake (Alaska Anchorage)	J2.05m	+6	NCAA Provisional
4th	Tupre Wickliff (Western Washington)	2.00m	+5
5th	Ethan Sterkel (Western Washington)	J2.00m	+4

 
On the track, the Yellowjackets sprinters posted good times highlighted by Zook. The senior won the 100 meter prelims after crossing the finish line in 10.60 seconds, two hundredths quicker than his time in last year's event finals. Later, Zook doubled up with a first place finish in the 200 meter prelims with a time of 21.65 seconds. Adam Brown (Concordia) was second at 21.80 seconds and Logan Blake (Northwest Nazarene) came across the line third (21.82 seconds).
 
In the 100 meter prelims, Kaelen Shay also qualified for Saturday's finals after running a seventh place time of 10.97 seconds. Shay ran just two hundredths shy of his career best time.
 
"I felt Sam did really well," Woehl said. "He showed up and did what he was supposed to do. Kaelen made finals in the 100 as well so I was happy for him."

MSUB MEN'S 100 METERS PRELIMS

Finish	Athlete	Time	Note
1st	Sam Zook	10.60	Fastest since MSU Open, Qual. for finals
7th	Kaelen Shay	10.97	.02 seconds off career best, Qual. for finals
10th	Mason Schram	10.72	New career best

 
After scoring in several event finals, the Yellowjacket men sit tied for eighth among 10 teams with 7 team points. The MSUB women are currently tied for eighth among nine teams with 7 points. Seattle Pacific has 66 points in women's track for the meet lead. Western Washington holds the top men's team position with 65 points overall.
 
Hannah Nessan had a strong day in discus and scored four points with a fifth place mark of 39.93 meters. Nessan was under three meters from her career best mark 42.70 meters. Katrina Linenko (Concordia) won the event with a top throw of 44.51 meters. Abbie Lohof threw 34.16 meters for ninth place.
 
Nikki Aiken finished seventh in the women's 3000 meter steeplechase and scored two team points after a career best time of 11:19.43. Kailee Stoppel ranked 13^th in the same event after running a time of 12:38.53, 12 seconds off her personal best time set at the Dickinson State Last Chance Open last weekend.
 
 
Zook won the men's 200 meter prelims but the 'Jackets had four runners inside the top 20 entering Friday's race. Rahkei Eyer missed qualifying for the finals by one position after he took ninth in 22.25 seconds. Kaelen Shay was 12^th and set a new career best time at 22.49 seconds. Mason Schram crossed 15^th and nearly beat his season best after posting a time of 22.86 seconds.

MEN'S 200 METER PRELIMS

Finish	Athlete (School)	Time	Note
1st	Sam Zook (MSU Billings)	21.65	21.04 personal best, Qual. for finals
2nd	Adam Brown (Concordia)	21.80	Qual. for finals
3rd	Logan Blake (Northwest Nazarene)	21.82	Qual. for finals
9th	Rahkei Eyer (MSU Billings)	22.25	21.88 career best
12th	Kaelen Shay (MSU Billings)	22.49	New career best
15th	Mason Schram (MSU Billings)	22.86	22.17 career best

 
The women's shot put finals were led by Nessan, who threw 11.06 meters for eighth place. Katrina Linenko (Concordia) won the GNAC title in the event after her NCAA provisional mark equaled 13.85 meters. Hailey Steinbeisser ended 11^th after throwing 10.83 meters and Taylor Stringari was 12^th with a mark of 9.96 meters.
 
Brady Ostermiller held an NCAA provisional mark in men's shot put entering Friday's competition but came up empty in his attempts to best it. Ostermiller likely finished his career with a 13^th place finish in the conference and top mark of 14.32 meters. Jake Knight (Northwest Nazarene, 18.01 meters) and Josh Koch (Concordia, 17.16 meters) took first and second place respectively and collected NCAA provisional marks in Monmouth.
 
Top MSUB women's sprinter Anne Lory Chevalier ran a strong 100 meter dash for 13th place and a new career best but did not garner qualification for tomorrow's final. Macie Allen (Concordia) won the prelims with an NCAA provisional time at 11.89 seconds. Seattle Pacific placed five runners in the top eight. Chevalier also placed 19^th (26.32 seconds) in the women's 200 meters. Grace Bley (Seattle Pacific) was first in 24.54 seconds.
 
Sidney Trinidad (Central Washington) and Erykah Weems (Central Washington) took the top two spots in the women's 400 meter hurdles with NCAA provisional marks. Trinidad won the event by going under a minute at 58:22 seconds. For the 'Jackets, Sierra Durbin came across 15^th in 1:07.93, just shy of her career high 1:07.73 mark set at the Montana State Open in April. Josey Smiedala was 16^th overall after posting a time of 1:05.65.
 
HarLee Ortega (Central Washington) dominated women's long jump with a winning mark of 5.77 meters. MSUB's Brenna Beckett finished 20^th at 4.92 meters.
 
Ivan Colmenero took 11^th in the men's 10,000 meter run with a time of 33:20.54. Teammate Ronald Venema was 20^th in 35:28.28. Edwin Kangogo (Alaska Anchorage) won the race with a time of 31:56.62 but was more than two minutes off the pace of GNAC record holder Micah Chelimo (Alaska Anchorage) who set a time of 28:37.75 in 2014.
 
"Ivan ran a solid 10K today, probably his best of the year," Woehl said. "Anne had a personal best in the hundred and Kailee and Ase (Ackerman) set personal records in the steeple as well. We had exceptionally hot weather but I was really pleased with the results. I'm looking forward to seeing how we compete on Saturday."
 
The GNAC outdoor championships resume Saturday afternoon at 2:25 p.m. with the men's triple jump finals. Running events are set for 4:45 p.m.