CWU athletes shine at Division II national championships

The Central Washington University track and field teams made a strong showing at last weekend’s NCAA Division II Track and Field Championships in Indianapolis, claiming one individual title, a third place, and two fourth-place finishes.

The highlight of the weekend came when Emy Ntekpere won the women’s triple jump with a personal-best effort of 42 feet, 8 inches, breaking her own GNAC record. The sophomore from Vancouver outdistanced the runner-up by more than eight inches and later placed sixth in the high jump with a mark of 5 feet, 10 inches.

Another banner performance was turned in by Ellensburg High graduate E'Lexis Hollis, who cemented her status as the fastest woman in CWU track and field history by earning a third-place finish in the 60 meters with a time of 7.36 seconds. Hollis eclipsed last year's result by one place and earned first team All-American status for the second straight season.

Hollis placed third in her heat in the 200 meters preliminary round with a time of 23.99, just missing out on a spot in the final and taking second-team All-American honors in that event. The Wildcat women finished tied for ninth as a team with 19 points.

For the CWU men, Johan Correa and Isaiah Webster also picked up first team All-American honors by claiming fourth place finishes in their respective events. Correa ran a 1:49.56 in the 800 meters after barely qualifying for the eight-man final, and Webster set a personal best of 50 feet, 3.25 inches in the triple jump. The men’s team finished in 18^th place.

Additional highlights from the Division II national championships included Lauryn McGough placing 16th in the women’s pole vault with an effort of 12 feet, 3.7 inches; and Bautista Diamante placing 14th in the men's 200 meters with a time of 21.30 seconds.