Nampa ID – The Crusader Track & Field Team competed in their fourth and final regular season Indoor meet this weekend as they wait for final qualifying marks to be posted throughout the Great Northwest Athletic Conference leading in to hosting the Conference Championship next Saturday Feb. 20th.
Two Crusaders left their mark on the National list with Provisional qualifying performances. Jaclyn Puga (Jr. Meridian, ID) raced to a win in the women's 800m with a qualifying time of 2:14.99, well under the provisional mark of 2:16.20. Puga's mark currently puts her 15th on the National list and puts her in position to race into the top 10 this next weekend at the GNAC Conference championships. Puga out kicked Eastern Oregon's Alma Garcilazo (2:15.02) for an exciting win at the Bronco Team Invitational.
Also posting a National provisional mark this weekend was Barak Watson (Fr. Nampa, ID) who raced at the University of Washington Indoor Friday night. Watson ran the 5,000m in 14:43.0 which shattered the previous school record of 15:21.85 by NNU graduate Kevin Lambert in 2008. Watson's 14:43 eclipsed the provisional qualifier of 14:47.80 which puts him 16th on the National list after this weekend.
Other performances from this weekend included Joy Warrington throwing 14.89m (48' 10”) in the women's weight throw which is .02 cm off the NNU school record held by Courtney Little (48' 11”). MJ Usabel (Sr. Marsing, ID )cleared 3.31m (10'10.25”) in the pole vault for the second week in a row and was jumping at what would be a new school record, setting up a duel between herself and teammate Karina Elzinga (Sr. Salmon, ID) for a shot at the Indoor School record and bragging rights at next weekend's conference meet.
Several other Crusaders made the best of their final regular season chance to qualify for the GNAC Conference meet including, Christabel Leonce (Fr. Castries St. Lucia, West Indies) 60m, Ashley Egger (Jr. Portland, OR) Pole Vault, Carly Dranginis (Fr. Nampa, ID) weight throw, Jill Bennett (So. Grants Pass, Or.) 60 Hurdles, Derek Sepe, (So. Everett, WA) 200m, Dan Hill (Jr. Castleford, ID) 400m, Shanna Rippy (Fr. Boise, ID) 400m, Christine Harwood (Fr. Pendleton, OR) 800m, Jesse Baggenstos (Fr. Renton, Wa) 3,000m, and Shayna Shute (Jr. Vancouver, WA) Shot Put.
The Crusaders will host the GNAC Conference Championships at Jackson's Track in Nampa next Saturday Feb 20th, with event beginning at 9:00 am.
