College Track & Field: Eliyah Dominique leads the NWAC; Ava Earl, UAA set program records; Plus other notable performances

Fairbanks’ Eliyah Dominique has been on fire this season.

The Lane Community College freshman capped the weekend with three wins and currently leads the NWAC in the 200 and 400, with times of 21.90 and 48.80 seconds respectively, in addition to the 4×100. He also joined his teammates in the second-ranked 4×400.

After finishing his prep career at West Valley, Dominique has blossomed in his first season with the Titans, recording seven wins and podium finishes in all but one race thus far.

Not to mention, most weekends the true freshman typically competes in two or three events, often lining up against competition from multiple divisions.

Dominique joined teammates in achieving the NWAC-leading 4×100, after clocking 41.50 seconds, while the 4×400 currently sits second in 3:28.18.

His top times in the individual events came at the Pacific Open, which currently stack up against some of the top athletes in Alaskan history.

Dominique’s time of 48.80 seconds in the 400 joins the likes of Eagle River’s Ethan Hewitt (47.51), Anchorage’s Johnny McGrew (48.14), Daquon Brunson (48.22), Soldotna’s Brenner Furlong (48.64) and Seward’s Travis Price (48.95) in clocking sub-49 second marks, to name a few. His wind-legal time of 21.90 seconds in the 200 joins at least eight Alaskans in finishing under 22 seconds at the collegiate level.

Ava Earl

Girdwood’s Ava Earl is 2-for-2 in program records this outdoor season.

The Northwestern junior blasted to the win the 1500 at the Gary Wieneke Memorial Invitational, running 4:24.05 to shave over 10 seconds off her previous best and dip under the program record by 0.41 seconds.

Earl won the race by a 12-second margin of victory.

The performance comes two weeks after Earl set the program record of 15:46.51 in the 5,000 — a sizzling pace of 5:04 per mile — to slice a whopping 33 seconds from her previous best, bettering the program record by 4.27 seconds.

Earl’s time currently sits at No. 24 among Division I athletes this season.

Both marks also rank among the top all-time for known Alaska performers, joining Soldotna’s Allie Ostrander (15:16.38) as just the second woman to dip under 16 minutes in the 5,000, while the Earl’s time in the 1,500 moves up to fourth.

Since joining UAA in January, Joshua Caleb has obliterated the program records across four events.

At the Pacific Coast Invitational and Beach Invitational, the phenom freshman toppled the 100-meter mark in his event debut, running 10.34 seconds to shave 0.12 seconds off the previous record set by Enrique Campbell last spring. His time is the third-fastest in GNAC history.

While the mark was wind-aided, Caleb was under the NCAA wind limit and currently sits at No. 14 among Division II competition this season.

Caleb, who also owns program records in the 60 and 200 indoors, joined forces with teammates Marc Mercier, Kevin Angarita and Riday Jana to take down the 4×100 relay record in 41.42 seconds, which had stood since 2008. The time is the 10th-fastest in GNAC history.

UAA Men’s 4×100: Riday Jana, Joshua Caleb, Kevin Angarita, and Marc Mercier. Photo by UAA Athletics

UAA’s program records highlighted more than 20 personal-best performances by Alaska college track and field athletes over a busy weekend and in recent weeks.

At the Bryan Clay Invitational in California:

• Anchorage’s Brady Burrough set a program record and PB of 1:52.77 in the 800. The Fort Lewis junior sliced 0.75 seconds off his previous standard and currently sits sixth in the RMAC this season.
• Anchorage’s Sebastian Szweda Mittelstadt set a program record and PB of 3:58.20 in the 1,500. The Westminster (Utah) senior clipped over three seconds off his previous best.
• Anchorage’s Kaleb Beloy secured a PB of 8:59.50 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. The CSU-Pueblo junior lopped over 15 seconds off his previous best and currently ranks No. 17 among Division II competition this season.
• Eagle River’s Brooklynn Gould won the Group D section of the heptathlon accumulating 5,157 points. The Embry-Riddle junior tied her PB of 14.82 in the 100 hurdles and currently ranks No. 14 among Division II competition in the heptathlon this season.
• Palmer’s Sophie Wright collected a PB of 2:12.40 in the 800. The Western Washington junior sliced 0.21 seconds off her previous best, while her time ranks third in program history.
• Eagle River’s Claire Nelson of Nevada produced a pair of PBs in the steeplechase (11:03.27) and 1,500 (4:39.39), lopping a combined 6+ seconds off her previous bests.
• Soldotna’s Jordan Strausbaugh achieved a PB of 4:46.72 in the 1,500. The UAA sophomore knocked 0.11 seconds off her previous best, after recently debuting in the 5,000 (18:16.84).

At the Pacific Coast Invitational, Beach Invitational and Leopard Distance Carnival:

• Chugiak’s Anders Larsen hurdled to a PB of 16.06 in the high hurdles. The UAA freshman knocked 0.35 seconds off his previous time, after recently making his decathlon debut of 5,791 points which ranks No. 4 in program history.
• Anchorage’s Brian Morris of UAA nabbed a PB of 11.18 in the 100, taking a smidgeon off his previous best.
• Sitka’s Silas Demmert ran a PB of 10:17.34 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. The Seattle Pacific freshman sliced over seven seconds from his previous best.
• Haines’ Avery Williamson snagged a PB of 11:25.56 in the steeplechase. The UAA sophomore knocked more than 13 seconds off her previous time, after recently running a 34-second PB in the 5,000 (18:04.57).
• Palmer’s Sofija Spaić notched a PB of 11:51.89 in the steeplechase. The UAA senior clipped nearly 10 seconds off her previous time, after recently slashing 28 seconds off her PB in the 5,000 (18:54.46).
• Anchorage’s Ty Elliott snatched a PB of 3:58.71 in the 1,500. The UAA sophomore trimmed more than two seconds off his previous time, after recently running PBs in the 5,000 (15:05.52) and 800 (1:59.20).

Elsewhere:

• Delta Junction’s Hailey Williams blitzed a PB of 24.04 in the 200, slashing 0.26 seconds off her previous best at the Duke Invitational. The time is one of the quickest all-time in Alaska history, moving past Olympic long jumper Janay DeLoach (24.05). The Duke senior also clocked 11.81 in the 100 and ran a leg on the 4×400.
• North Pole’s Breeauna O’Rear achieved a PB of 4,381 points in the heptathlon at the NWC Multi Championships. The George Fox senior topped her previous best by 526 points, setting PBs in the shot put (36-8.5), 200 (26.73) and 800 (2:24.01) en route to a runner-up finish. O’Rear’s mark ranks No. 9 in program history and No. 13 among Division III competition this season.
• Fairbanks’ Daniel Abramowicz secured his first collegiate victory on the track, clocking 9:33.67 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the Chuck Buettner Twilight. The San Francisco sophomore also nabbed a tiny PB in the event.
• Eagle River’s Logan Mathieu clocked a PB of 21.76 in the 200, at the UTSA Invitational, which ranks among some of the top sprinters in Alaska history. The North Dakota State junior lopped 0.32 seconds off his previous best.
• Homer’s Seamus McDonough achieved a PB of 15:05.77 in the 5,000 at the Smith Carla Coffey Invitational. The Bowdoin freshman crushed his previous best by more than 30 seconds.
• Fairbanks’ Shane Fisher notched a PB of 1:56.24 in the 800 at the Little Rock Invitational. The Little Rock freshman sliced nearly one second off his previous best.
• Nikiski’s Kaitlyn Johnson collected a pair of wins at the Westmont Collegiate Classic. The George Fox senior achieved a PB in the discus (125-1) and also won the hammer throw (141-0). Johnson’s personal bests rank top-10 in program history.
• Soldotna’s Adarra Hagelund secured her third-consecutive win in the high jump this outdoor season, earning her highest clearance of 5-7.25 at the Dr. Tom Johnson Open. The Dickinson State sophomore currently ranks No. 4 among NAIA competition this season.
• Soldotna’s Galen Brantley III claimed his third-consecutive win in the shot put this outdoor season, throwing 53-2.25 at the DSU Blue Hawk Games. The Dickinson State junior currently sits No. 13 among NAIA competition this season.
• Chugiak’s Max Hartke sped to a win and PB of 3:46.19 in the 1,500 at the UW-Platteville Invitational. The Wisconsin junior knocked more than 5 seconds off his previous best.
• Two Rivers’ Riley Knott secured a PB of 6,782 points in the decathlon at the Brutus Hamilton Multi. The Cal-Berkeley junior improved by 654 points, earning PBs in the 100 (11.53), long jump (22-10), 400 (53.62) and 1,500 (5:17.13). The performance comes after Knott set a high jump PB of 6-10.75 at the Hornet Invite.