May 26, 2007

Results

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Launching a throw of 145-8 on her third attempt, Western Washington University's Monika Gruszecki (pronounced GREW-shet-ski) won the women's javelin at the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field Championships which ended Saturday at the Irwin Belk Complex on the campus of Johnson C. Smith University.

Gruzsecki's All-America performance was one of two for Western as just 90 minutes later Anthony Tomsich placed fourth in the men's 1,500 meters.

"When you have a solid throw in the javelin, everything just comes together," said Gruszecki, who is a freshman from Edmonds and a 2006 graduate of Meadowdale High School. "You don't have any pain in your arms and the release is solid and smooth, and that's exactly what this was."

The 5-foot-4 Gruszecki is the Vikings' first NCAA track champion since the school changed national affiliation in 1999 and the eighth overall. She is the third Western national champion in the javelin. Joan Williamson won the NAIA women's title in 1984 and Dave VanderGriend took the NAIA men's title in 1968.

Gruszecki's winning throw was the third-best of her collegiate career. It was 10 inches better than the second-place mark of Lindsay McCormick of Fort Hays State KS, which came on her final attempt. Kandra Lakey of Angelo State TX was third at 141-10.

"She handled it well," said Western coach Pee Wee Halsell. "It was hot and warming up she knew that she didn't have to do a whole lot. She threw two warm-up throws and said, `Hey, I've got good arm speed, I'm ready to go.'

"She was excited, but it was well under control. The opportunity was there and Monika knew that she had a chance and she went and did it. Basically, what we wanted her to do was throw about what she threw to get here. She was one of the few who did."

Gruszecki entered the competition ranked fifth nationally. She met the national provisional qualifying standard with a personal best throw of 146-10 on March 10, but did not reach the 140-foot mark again until placing second at the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships on May 5 with a toss of 146-2.

"I pr'd the first meet and then nothing, nothing, nothing until conference," Gruszecki said. "It was a lot of changing technique and focusing on different things ... I'm grateful that things came back together and I peaked again."

Tomsich, a sophomore from Fairbanks, Alaska, and a 2005 graduate of West Valley High School, had a personal-best time of 3:48.72, and the third best time in school history, in his fourth-place effort in the 1,500.

The top eight finishers in each event earn All-America recognition.

"He stayed back for the first couple of laps, then moved into fifth place with a lap and a half to go and finished strong to place fourth," said Halsell.

"The races that I've done well in this year, I just went out there and tried to win and did whatever was necessary to do that," said Tomsich. "Today, I approached it similarly ... Tactically, I felt that I covered all my bases and ran well."

In Thursday's qualifying heat, Tomsich was an automatic qualifier, placing fourth with a 3:50.83 clocking. Entering the meet, Tomsich was rated seventh nationally.

"The other day I just wanted to make the finals, so doing that was a big relief, Tomsich said. "And then going into today, I felt that I was in pretty good shape and ready to peak."

Five weeks ago, Tomsich ran a school record 14:31.86 in the 5,000. That was the event he figured to compete in at nationals until the coaches convinced him to give the 1,500 a try. He placed first at the GNAC championships with a meet-record and provisional qualifying time of 3:50.25, which got him to nationals.

It is the second All-America performance this season for Tomsich. In early March, he went to the national indoor meet as a member of Western's distance medley relay that placed second in a school-record time of 9:55.00.

It was the first trip to outdoor nationals for both Gruszecki and Tomsich.

"It's been an awesome day," said Halsell.

WESTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY - NATIONAL TRACK CHAMPIONS

Don Tretheway, Men's 3000 meter steeplechase, 1960
Dave VanderGriend, Men's Javelin, 1968
Wendy Taylor, Women's 100 meter hurdles, 1973
Women's 4x800 relay, 1981 (Janis Swanson, Dawn Graham, Carla Randall, Bethany Ryals)
Kristy Dees, Women's High Jump, 1984
Joan Williamson, Women's Javelin, 1984
Amy Cameron, Women's 100 meter hurdles, 1997
Monika Gruszecki, Women's javelin, 2007

Tomsich claims fourth

By Bob Eley. Fairbanks Daily-News Miner, Sports Editor

Former West Valley High School standout Tony Tomsich ran the best race of his life on Saturday, taking fourth in the 1,500-meter run at the NCAA Division II Track and Field Championships in Charlotte, N.C.

A sophomore at Western Washington University, Tomsich earned All-American honors by posting a time of 3 minutes, 48.72 seconds, which is among the top five 1,500-meter times ever run by an Alaskan, according to former West Valley coach Woody Wenstrom.

"I'm definitely happy with that," Tomsich said in a telephone interview Saturday evening shortly after he finished the race. "I just went out there to compete and hoped that I did my best."

He did better than that as he broke the Great Northwest Athletic Conference record of 3:50.18 set by Nathan Carlson of Saint Martin's University in 2005.

Tomsich's 1,500-meter time converts to about a 4:06 mile.

Tomsich said he stayed with a tightly packed lead group for the first two laps and even though he was in last place at the time he wasn't worried about how things were going.

"I was relaxed and ready to make my move," he said. "When the leaders started to make a gap, I stayed right with them.

"It came down to the last 300 meters and everyone was trying to improve their place, but I had more (energy) than most of the others at that point," he added. "I finished about 1.5 seconds behind the leader so it was a close race all the way around."

Tomsich said he wouldn't change anything about the tactics that led to a personal best performance.

"There's always little things, but that's part of racing and you just have to deal with them," he said. "I'm just really happy with the way things went."

Meanwhile, University of Alaska Anchorage senior Mary Pearce finished her collegiate career by placing fourth in the women's 400-meter dash.

Davita Pendergast of Lincoln (Mo.) won the event in a blistering 51.31 seconds.

Pearce's time of 53.56 seconds was a conference and school record and earned her All-American status for the second straight year. She finished fifth at last year's national championships.