A Good Day to Be A Gee! Alannah & Daniel Win NWAC Multi Event Championships on Tuesday

EUGENE, Ore. - Southwestern Oregon's Alannah Gee won the NWAC women's heptathlon championship and Umpqua's Daniel Gee won the men's decathlon championship on Tuesday afternoon at the 2024 NWAC Multi-Event Championships at Lane Community College. Interestingly enough, the pair of Gees, who are distantly related, did not discover their relation until Day 1 of the multi-event championships on Monday.

According to Allanah Gee, she started speaking with Daniel's mother who was at the event, which sparked the conversation on their last names. After connecting with her family, they learned that their lineage connects far up the Gee family tree. After both Gees won the gold on Tuesday, it can only be assumed that being a multis athlete runs in the family. Neither Gee is from the area with Alannah, a freshman, heralding from Big Horn, Wyoming while Daniel, a sophomore, came to UCC over from Sandy, Utah. They both ended up within two hours of each other in Southern Oregon, competing in the NWAC. 

Also in similar fashion, neither Gee entered the championship meet with the top entry score, and both won by less than 100 points on Tuesday, with each competition coming down to the final event. Alannah, who came into the meet with the fourth best score in the NWAC this season at 3,094 points, easily surpassed that with 3,654 points. After a rough first two events for her liking, she had personal bests in the final five events. With Spokane's Afton Wood just 95 points back entering the final event, the 800-meters and a strong event for Wood, Gee knew she needed to stay within about eight seconds to take the tile. She did just that, finishing within six seconds in 2:31.55 to win by just 29 points.

In the decathlon, Daniel Gee was the second-ranked competitor heading into the meet behind teammate James Kelly. Kelly led the meet for the first nine events as he had an outstanding day one with wins in the first three events. Gee used a strong showing on day two, specifically in the throwing events with discus and javelin where he hit big PRs in both, to narrow the gap to under 200 points entering the tough 1,500 meter run. Gee finished in 4:49.59 to finish with a final score of 6,084 points, just ahead of Kelly's 6,000 even.

Individual winners in each event for the heptathlon were Wood in the 100-meter hurdles (16.77 seconds), the 200-meters (27.61) and the 800-meters (2:26.30); Umpqua's Rachel Noyce in the high jump (1.51 meters); Gee in the shot put (10.34 meters) and long jump (4.91 meters); and Spokane's Saira Schoener in the javelin throw (40.57 meters).

The top-eight competitors received medals on the podium with Spokane's Elisheva Davis taking eighth, Spokane's Peyton Fox finishing seventh (2,902), Schoener placing sixth (3,223), Noyce in fith (3,260) and Lane's Pyper Wise-Cruz in fourth (3,339). The top-three receive All-American honors with SWOCC's Nevaeh Dewitt taking third (3,398) with Wood placing second and Gee first.

In the decathlon, Kelly won the 100 meters (11.29), long jump (6.76 meters) and shot put (11.54 meters). Gee won the discus throw (34.78 meters) and tied with Kelly for first in the pole vault (4.30 meters). Lane's Darrell Goddard won the high jump (1.89 meters); Spokane's Jacob Goude won the 400-meters (52.42); Lane's Blaine Jeffrey won the 110-meter hurdles (16.07); Spokane's David Stingle won the javelin throw (50.91 meters); and Spokane's Stephen Pittman took first in the 1,500 meters (4:42.64).

The top-eight finishers earning medals were Jeffrey in eighth (4,976), Pittman in seventh (5,193) and Goddard in sixth (5,399). Spokane's Stingle and Goude had a very rare tie for fourth with 5,490 points. Olympic's Courtney Williams earned All-American with a third place finish with 5,550 points. Williams was very consistent across the board, finishing in the top-five in nine of the 10 events. Kelly and Gee each earned All-American status for their finishes.

To view the full results from the NWAC Multi-Event Championships, CLICK HERE.

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