NORTHRIDGE, Calif. – Highlighted by a first-place finish in
the long jump by junior Demietrius Preston, the Alaska Anchorage Seawolves
continued to be successful in California, posting six NCAA provisional marks at
the Northridge Invitational on Saturday.
UAA concluded an outstanding weekend in the Los Angeles
area, registering a total of 15 NCAA provisional marks. Seven different UAA
women recorded a provisional mark and five men.
Leaping to a personal-best and provisional mark was Preston
in the long jump. The Anchorage native posted a winning-jump of 24 feet and
6.09 inches, just shy of the automatic mark of 24-7.25. Preston also tied for
seventh in the men's 200m dash with a time of 22.17 seconds.
Breaking his own GNAC record and improving upon his
provisional time was freshman Ethan Hewitt in the 400 meters. Hewitt won the
event with a time of 47.62, besting his record of 47.97, set last weekend at
the UNLV Track & Field Classic.
Also improving upon their provisional marks from Las Vegas was
sophomore Alfred Kangogo and junior Marko Cheseto in the 1500 meters. Kangogo
claimed first place with a time of 3:49.46, while Cheseto was runner-up with a
time of 3:51.88. The duo needs to break 3:46.00 for the automatic bid. Both are
provisionally qualified in the 5000 meters as well.
On the women's side, junior Hallidie Wilt provisionally
qualified in the 1500 meters with a time of 4:30.65, good enough for second
place. Wilt had previously provisioned in the 5000 meters, yesterday at the
Occidental Distance Carnival.
In just her second season with the Seawolves, senior Elisha Harris broke her own UAA record in the javelin throw with a new toss of 141
feet, 3 2/3 inches – easily earning her the provisional mark. Harris needs a
throw of 147-7 for a guaranteed trip to the NCAAs.
“Overall it was a tremendous week of competition for us,”
said head coach Michael Friess, “we got a lot done and it was very effective.”
The Seawolves will have the next weekend off before heading
to San Francisco for the Stanford Invitational and the San Francisco State
Distance Carnival on March 26-27.
See complete results here.
