NWC Championships
Day 1 (M&W)
McMINNVILLE, Ore. – Led
by Beth Stam's javelin win and Angie
Miller's long jump victory, the George Fox University women
maintained their hold on first place while the Bruin men are
solidly in third after the first day of competition in the
Northwest Conference Track and Field Championships Friday here at
Linfield College's Maxwell Field.
Women
George Fox, which entered this weekend's events in first
place with 27 preliminary points from the NWC heptathlon two weeks
ago, had 84 points after Friday, with Whitworth University the
runner-up with 61 points. Nine-time defending NWC champion
Willamette University is third with 46 points, followed by host
Linfield with 30, Pacific Lutheran University with 22, Lewis &
Clark College with 12, and the University of Puget Sound and
Pacific University with nine each.
Stam successfully defended her NWC javelin title with an NCAA
automatic qualifying throw of 150-8 / 45.93m, as did Miller in the
long jump with a leap of 17-6.25 / 5.34m.
Other Bruins to finish second or third and earn All-Conference
honors were Alexis Arnold, second in the long jump (17-4.75 /
5.30m); Emily Davison, third in the long jump (16-11.5/ 5.17m);
Marlee Zakrevsky in the discus (116-11 / 35.65m); and Frances Pavao
in the high jump (5-1.25 / 1.56m).
Earning points for George Fox by finishing in the top eight, all
in the long jump, were Stam (fourth at 16-10 / 5.13m), Melissa
Leighty (fifth at 16-9.25 / 5.11m), and Rachael Adkins (seventh at
16-3.75 / 4.97m).
Several Bruins qualified in the preliminaries for finals on
Saturday. In the 100 meter dash, Irene Johnson was first
(12.46) and Arnold was second (12.74); Rachel Meis was fourth in
the 400 meter dash (1:00.78); Johnson was second (15.01), Arnold
third (15.11), Alyssa Turner fourth (15.33), and Niki Stilwill
eighth (17.15) in the 100 hurdles; and Olivia Fleming was third
(1:09.47) and Turner sixth (1:09.71) in the 400 hurdles.
Men
Whitworth built a commanding lead in the men's division
with 108 points, followed by Willamette with 73.50 and George Fox
with 45. Linfield was fourth with 19, followed by Pacific
Lutheran with 15, Pacific with 8.50, and Puget Sound with
four. Lewis & Clark did not score on the first day.
Bruin victories came from Nate Dillow in the pole vault (14-8 /
4.47m) and David Dillow in the long jump (21-9.5 / 6.64m).
David Dillow also got All-Conference honors in the pole vault
(third at 14-2 / 4.32m). Jon Udlock earned five points for
the Bruins by placing fourth in the javelin throw (191-9 /
58.44m).
Among the Bruins who qualified in preliminaries for
Saturday's finals were Dakarai Kongela (third at 10.99) and
Casey Taylor (seventh at 11.10) in the 100 meter dash; Ezekiel
Smith in the 400 meter dash (51.31); Matt Romey in the 800 meter
run (1:58.60); and Nate Dillow in the 110 meter hurdles (first at
15.03) and the 400 meter hurdles (third at
58.38).
Field events, including the men's hammer and high jump,
and the women's triple jump, pole vault and shot put finals,
will begin at 10:30 a.m. Saturday. Track events will start at
12:00 noon with the women's 400 meter relay. Awards
ceremonies will take place around 3:30 p.m.
