Central’s Tandle wins national title

HOUSTON — Krissy Tandle needed almost all of her attempts, but she finally unleashed a season-best matching throw in the shot put Saturday to become Central Washington’s first NCAA Division II national indoor champion.

The Wildcat senior’s winning throw in the event at the University of Houston was 48 feet, 91/2 inches, nearly a foot better than runner-up Kayla Muyskens from Central Missouri.

That throw came on Tandle’s fifth of six attempts and was her last legal effort because she fouled on her final attempt. She was trailing Muyskens, whose best throw was 47-10, when she uncorked her winning throw.

Tandle entered the event ranked No. 1 after throwing 48-91/2 to capture the GNAC title. She became Central’s first national champion since the Wildcats moved to Division II in 1998-99 and the Wenatchee High School graduate capped a stellar indoor career.

A few weeks earlier, she won both the shot put and weight throw at the GNAC championships, with her shot title making her making her the first GNAC athlete, male or female, to win the same event four times.

Earlier this week, Tandle was named the NCAA Division II West Region women’s indoor field athlete of the year, as voted on by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.

West Valley graduate Rachael Johnson finished seventh in the 800 running for Western Washington. She finished in 2 minutes, 11.82 seconds to beat her own school record.
Johnson had run 2:13.13 at the GNAC league championships in Boise earlier this season and topped that with a 2:13.08 in Friday’s semifinals.