Whitworth’s Nick McGill dazzles at Division III track and field; Gonzaga’s James Mwaura among locals to D-I finals

Nick McGill from Whitworth earned two NCAA Division III All-America awards on Friday, and five area athletes advanced to the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships June 9-12 in Eugene, Oregon, at the West Regionals during the weekend.

McGill, a senior two-time decathlon All-American, was 11th in the event after the first day in Greensboro, North Carolina, but came through with lifetime bests in the discus (127 feet, 7 inches) and javelin (208-11) and near-bests in the 110 hurdles (15.85 seconds) and pole vault (13-9¼) to score a season-high 6,896 points.

That produced a third-place finish and his third All-America award in the event. He had placed sixth in 2019 and fifth in 2018.

Marcus Weaver of Wisconsin-Eau Claire won with 7,510 points, the best in Division III this season. His teammate, Mitch Stegeman, was second with 6,952.

After the grueling two-day decathlon competition, an exhausted McGill went on to place fourth in the javelin, hitting 190-5 on his next-to-last throw, for his second All-America award of the week.

• Earlier last week, McGill was named the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Division III West Region Men’s Field Athlete of the Year.

He ranked fourth nationally in the decathlon and ninth in the javelin. Besides winning those events at the Northwest Conference championships, he was second in the high jump and third in both the long and triple jumps.

Division I

John Dressel will be making his second trip to the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Oregon, June 9-12, but his bid for a repeat distance double didn’t materialize.

James Mwaura’s did. The Gonzaga sophomore qualified for both the 10,000 and 5,000 at the West Preliminaries in College Station, Texas. In Saturday’s 5,000 qualifying, he placed fifth in his heat and 13th overall in 14:00.07. In the 10,000 on Wednesday, he finished 10th in 29:13.93 to become just the second GU man to qualify for the national finals.

Washington State is sending eight to Eugene, three women and five men. Seven qualified during Saturday’s final day to join men’s high jumper Mitch Jacobson, who battled through lightning and heavy rain Friday to clear 7-feet, 1-inch, place 12th and move on.

Saturday’s WSU qualifiers:

Women: Stephanie Cho, 400 hurdles (7th quarterfinals, PR 57.75); Charisma Taylor, triple jump (3rd, PR 44-8¾); and Suzy Pace, high jump (12th, PR 5-9¾).

Men: Paul Ryan, 1,500 (2nd quarterfinals, 23:38.87); Zach Stallings, 1,500 (5th quarterfinals, 3:39.32); Sam Brixey, 110 hurdles (12th quarterfinals, 13.70); Colton Johnsen, 3,000 steeplechase (7th semifinals, PR 8:39.99).

Idaho senior Zack Short advanced in the shot put for the first time, placing fifth in the preliminaries with an outdoor personal-best 64 feet, 8 inches. That’s third in the Vandals’ outdoor record book. Short was a second-team Indoor All-American in the shot in 2019.

Eastern Washington is sending senior pole vaulter Morgan Fossen, the first female since 2014 to represent the Eagles in the outdoor championships.

The Big Sky Conference runner-up capped a season of improvement by clearing 13-8¼, just off her season-best 13-8½, to finish sixth in her flight and 12th overall to claim the final advancing spot. She had started season with an outdoor-best at Eastern of 11-10¾.

Dressel, a former Mt. Spokane standout and Colorado senior, had qualified for the finals in the men’s 10,000 during the West Preliminaries on Wednesday, but wound up 30th in Saturday’s 5,000 semifinals and didn’t move on. He ran a 10,000-5,000 double in 2019.

In the 10,000, Dressel ran with the chase pack through the first 8,000 meters before jumping up to fourth with a final move and finished comfortably in seventh at 29:12.07, three seconds ahead of the final qualifying position.

• After his event fell victim to a weather postponement on Friday, Eastern Washington senior Parker Bowden didn’t fare well in the 110 hurdles on Saturday and failed to advance to Eugene. He was sixth in his heat with a time of 13.94 and 19th of 21 finishers. Three had false-started.

Division II

Seattle Pacific senior Scout Cai of Colfax, a seven-time Great Northwest Athletic Conference outdoor champion, ended her college career with a 13th-place finish in the pole vault at the Division II championships in Allendale, Michigan. Cai cleared the opening height of 12-5½ but went out on the next height, 12-11½, well under her GNAC record 13-3.

Miscellany

Tyler Shea of Spokane at Northwest Nazarene and Cai were named 2021 USTFCCCA NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field All-West Region with performances that rank among the top five in the region.

Shea, a junior from Northwest Christian HS, is ranked in the 10,000, where his time of 30:31.78 is fifth in the West. Cai is ranked in the pole vault, where her 13-3 GNAC record had her seeded 16th in the D-II national meet.

• Six athletes with area ties, four of them at Carroll College, were named to All-Frontier Conference teams in track and field following top-three finishes in the conference championship meet.

Carroll: Women: Kate Picanco, freshman, Lewis and Clark HS, sprints/relays. Men: Shamrock Campbell, sophomore, Ferris, jumps; Elias Hill, fr., Lake City HS, decathlon; Spencer Swaim, so., Lewis and Clark, distance.

Montana Tech: Men: Ian Barville, fr., University HS, distance. Barville was also named the school’s Champions of Character recipient in track and field. Providence: Justin Krabbenhoft, fr., Selkirk HS, hurdles/relays.