WILLAMETTE INVITATIONAL: Bruins’ Stam Hits NCAA Mark in Women’s Javelin

Complete Results (M) / Complete Results (W)

SALEM, Ore. - Could George Fox University have a budding national champion in women’s javelin as well as men’s javelin?

Bruin freshman Beth Stam hit an NCAA Division III provisional qualifying mark with a throw of 139-11 (42.65),the fourth-best mark in the nation to date at the D-III level, while finishing third overall in the Willamette University Invitational track and field meet Friday-Saturday here at the Charles Bowles Track.  She thus joins senior Joel Krebs, who won the NCAA men’s javelin title in 2007 and has the second-best throw nationally this season, as Bruins who have provisionally qualified in the javelin for the NCAA National Championships this spring.

Stam’s throw also moved her into first place in the Northwest Conference in the javelin, one of several marks the Bruins recorded that either took over the top spot in the league or improved their current status.  Irene Johnson moved into first in the NWC women’s 100 meter dash while finishing third in the meet with a time of 12.62, then ran with Cindy Walsh, Melissa Leighty, and Rachel Meis in the women’s 4x100 meter relay to post an NWC-best time of 49.34; the team was third in the meet. 

The George Fox men’s 4x400 meter relay team of Ryan Forbes, twin brothers David and Nate Dillow, and Garrett Blizzard finished second in the meet while improving their NWC first-place standing with a time of 3:20.45. 

Walsh was the only Bruin to finish first in an event at the Willamette Invitational, which featured 1,274 competitors representing 51 college and club teams plus unattached athletes.  She won the women’s long jump with a distance of 17-7 (5.36), but already held first place in the NWC with a mark of 17-10.25 (5.44).  George Fox dominated the long jump as Leighty placed second with a 17-6.25 (5.34), the second-best jump in the NWC, and Stam was fourth in the event and is now fourth in the conference with a leap of 17-0 (5.18).  Emily Hodgin was seventh in the event and is 10th in the NWC with her mark of 16-5 (5.00).

In the women’s 200 meter dash, Leighty ran a 26.32, sixth in the meet and now second-best in the NWC.  She also placed fifth in the meet and moved into fourth in the conference in the women’s 100 meter hurdles with a 15.42.  Johnson, who stands second in the NWC in the 200 (15.28), ran a 15.32 to finish fourth.  In the women’s 400 meter hurdles, Mollie Honan moved into fifth in the NWC while finishing seventh in the meet with a 1:07.56.

The women’s 4x400 meter relay team of Meis, Stam, Honan and Johnson improved its second-place mark in the conference with a time of 4:07.39, finishing fourth in the meet.  Linfield’s league-leading team won the event with a 4:03.62.

In the men’s 100 meter dash, Dakari Kongela posted a time of 10.94, fifth in the meet and now second in the conference (John Torsey of Linfield had a 10.84 in the same event).  Nate Dillow moved into second in the NWC in the men’s 110 meter hurdles with a 15.36, fourth in the meet and right behind Drew Lackman of Willamette, who had a 15.35.   

The Bruin teams will be back in action next Saturday in the Pacific University Luau in Forest Grove, Ore., which gets under way at 10:00 a.m.