OREGON TWILIGHT: Three Bruins Hit NCAA Marks on Historic Night at Hayward

Oregon Twilight Results (M&W)

EUGENE, Ore. – On a history-making night when the University of Oregon’s men’s four-mile relay team set a new national collegiate record in the NCAA Division I before a crowd of 5,726, three George Fox University Bruins turned in some impressive performances of their own during the Oregon Twilight track and field meet here Saturday evening at Hayward Field.

The Bruins’ Dakari Kongela captured the men’s 100 meter dash with a time of 10.60, posting the second-best time in George Fox history.  The record was set 30 years ago by Gregg Griffin on May 18, 1979, with a time of 10.25.  Kongela’s mark, which surpassed the NCAA Division III provisional qualifying time of 10.78, could move him up to 8th place nationally when all weekend marks have been posted. 

Irene Johnson and Melissa Leighty also hit the D-III provisional time of 14.95 in the women’s 100 meter hurdles.  Johnson finished 2nd in the race with a time of 14.49, just 2/100ths of a second off the George Fox record she set last Saturday in the Pacific Twilight meet.  Leighty came in 4th with a time of 14.73, which is third on the Bruins’ all-time chart.  Johnson stands 9th and Leighty 18th nationally in the event.

Among other top Bruin showings, Garrett Blizzard placed 5th in the men’s 400 meter dash with a time of 49.99.  In women’s events, Mollie Honan was 6th in the 400 meter hurdles with a 1:07.22, Cindy Walsh took 6th in the long jump with a mark of 17-10.25 / 5.44m, and Marlee Zakrevsky was 10th in the hammer with a throw of 127-11 / 39.00m.

The last regular season meet of the season for the Bruins comes Thursday in the Willamette University Last Chance meet, which starts at 3:30 p.m.  The NCAA Division III National Championships are the following week, May 21-23 at Marietta College in Marietta, Ohio.

George Fox 2009 NCAA Division III Provisional Qualifiers

Men

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

Dakari Kongela - 100 (8th, 10.60)

Ryan Forbes - Decathlon (13th, 6,365 pts)

David Dillow - Decathlon (20th, 6,237 pts)

Nate Dillow - Decathlon (26th, 6,161 pts)

Women

Beth Stam - Javelin (7th, 142-0 / 43.28m), Heptathlon (25th, 4,139 pts)

Irene Johnson - 100 Hurdles (9th, 14.47 - new school record)

Melissa Leighty - Heptathlon (16th, 4,364 pts), 100 Hurdles (18th, 14.73)

Cindy Walsh - Long Jump (33rd, 18-0.25 /5.49m)