NWC CHAMPIONSHIPS: Bruin Women Finish 3rd, Men 4th in NWC Finals

NWC Results (M) / NWC Results (W)

FOREST GROVE, Ore. – With eight top-three finishes and two event winners on the women’s side and three top-three finishes and one winner on the men’s side on Saturday, the George Fox University Bruins placed third in the women’s division and fourth in the men’s division as the Northwest Conference Track and Field Championships came to a conclusion here at Pacific University’s Lincoln Park Stadium.

Willamette University won its eighth straight women’s title with 196.50 points, followed by Whitworth University with 150 and George Fox with 124.  Pacific Lutheran University was fourth with 112 points, then came Linfield College with 104.50, Lewis & Clark College and the University of Puget Sound with 50 each, and Pacific University with 21.

Willamette unseated 2008 champion Whitworth to win the men’s title, 217-198.  Linfield was third with 178, followed by George Fox with 84, Pacific Lutheran with 62, Puget Sound with 43, Lewis & Clark with 24, and Pacific with 8.

Bruin champions on Saturday included Irene Johnson in women’s 100 meter hurdles with an NCAA Division III provisional qualifying time of 14.80, Emily Hodgin in the women’s triple jump with a mark of 36-5.75 (11.12m), and Dakari Kongela in the men’s 100 meter dash with a time of 10.88, a tenth of a second off a provisional mark.

Second-place finishes for the George Fox women came from Johnson in the 100 meter dash (12.63), Mollie Honan in the 400 meter dash (59.34), and the 4x100 meter relay team of Cindy Walsh, Johnson, Melissa Leighty, and Rachel Meis (48.92).  Thirds were earned by Beth Stam in the high jump (5-1.25 / 1.56m) and the triple jump (35-1.25 / 10.70m), Marlee Zakrevsky in the hammer (133-8 / 40.74m), and the 4x400 meter relay team of Meis, Johnson, Lisa Mensonides, and Honan (4:03.58).

In the men’s events, the only Bruin to earn a second or third on Saturday was Nate Dillow in the 110 meter hurdles (15.43).   Two other Bruins who had expected to do well were sidelined by injuries.  Garrett Blizzard had the best time in the 400 meter dash preliminaries but pulled up lame in the finals.  John Zaganiacz had qualified for the 100 meter dash but did not finish the finals, and his injury caused him to miss the 400 meter hurdles, in which he had posted the best time in the preliminaries.

Top three finishes on Friday for the Bruins included a conference championship by Stam in the women’s javeling (142-0 / 43.38m), seconds by Walsh in the women’s long jump (18-0.25 / 5.49m), Kongela in the men’s long jump (22-5 / 6.84m), and Joel Krebs in the men’s javelin (201-4 /61.36m), and a third by Sam McKenzie in the men’s high jump (6-1.25 / 1.86m).

All athletes who finished third or higher in an event earned All-Northwest Conference honors.

Other athletes who earned points for the Bruin women on Saturday were Leighty in the 200 meter dash (6th, 26.30), Mensonides in the 800 meter run (5th, 2:23.00), Leighty (5th, 15.24) and Lizzy Alaimo (7th, 16.02) in the 100 meter hurdles, Jessica Morrison in the triple jump (8th, 32-9.5 / 9.99m), and Hana Fisher in the hammer (7th, 119-3 / 36.35m).  

Others who scored points for the George Fox men on Saturday were David Dillow in the 400 meter dash (6th, 51.21), Ryan Forbes in the 110 meter hurdles (7th, 16.40), Adam Haldorson in the 400 meter hurdles (6th, 59.55), Nate Dillow (4th, 13-7.25 / 4.15m) and Forbes (5th, 13-7.25 / 4.15m) in the pole vault, Sam McKenzie in the triple jump (5th, 42-4.0 / 12.90m), Ben Burgess in the hammer (153-6 / 46.80m), the 4x100 meter relay team of Casey Taylor, Nate Dillow, Jack Hartman and Blizzard (4th, 43.64), and the 4x400 meter relay team of Forbes, Haldorson, and the Dillow twins (5th, 3:24.60).

The Bruins’ next competition will be Saturday, May 2, in the Pacific Twilight meet in Forest Grove, Ore.  The first events there get under way at 2:00 p.m.

George Fox 2009 All-Northwest Conference Track & Field

Men

Joel Krebs - Javelin 2nd

Dakari Kongela - 100 1st, Long Jump 2nd

Nate Dillow - 110 Hurdles 2nd

Sam McKenzie - High Jump 3rd

Ryan Forbes - Decathlon 3rd

Women

Irene Johnson - 100 Hurdles 1st, 100 2nd, 4x100 2nd, 4x400 3rd

Emily Hodgin - Triple Jump 1st

Beth Stam - Javelin 1st, High Jump 3rd, Triple Jump 3rd, Heptathlon 3rd

Cindy Walsh - Long Jump 2nd, 4x100 2nd

Mollie Honan - 400 2nd, 4x400 3rd

Melissa Leighty - 4x100 2nd

Rachel Meis - 4x100 2nd, 4x400 3rd

Marlee Zakrevsky - Hammer 3rd

Lisa Mensonides - 4x400 3rd

George Fox 2009 NCAA Division III Qualifiers

Men

Joel Krebs - Javelin (6th, 203-7 / 62.6m)

Ryan Forbes - Decathlon (6th, 6,365 pts)

David Dillow - Decathlon (12th, 6,237 pts)

Nate Dillow - Decathlon (16th, 6,161 pts)

Women

Beth Stam - Heptathlon (18th, 4,139 pts), Javelin (6th, 142-0 / 43.28m)

Irene Johnson - 100 Hurdles (17th, 14.80)

Cindy Walsh - Long Jump (25th, 18-0.25 / 5.49m)