SALEM, Ore. – At the end of the first day of the NWC Championships, the George Fox track and field team found themselves on top in both the men's and women's meets, with several strong performances and top finishes. 

Top Performances
A trio of men's 10,000 meter runners packed up for points in the first race of the day, with Adam Peterson taking fourth, Alex Mills coming in fifth, and Andrew Ross in sixth.

For the women's 10,000 meter, Kayla Aalpoel continued her season of dominant performances, taking first place with a time of 36:39. Sarah Pullen snagged fourth place for the Bruins, gliding in with a time of 38:20.

In the only other final for running on the day, the 3000 meter steeplechase, Gavin Grass and Austin Gappa went 1-2, with times of 9:12 and 9:16 respectively. For the women's 3000 steeple, Jessica Neal grabbed another first place finish for Fox, winning with a time of 11:06.

Tayler Phillips took the top spot in his preliminary race for the 110 meter hurdles with a time of 15.38, sending him through to the finals tomorrow. Brecken VandenHoek qualified for the finals of the 100 meter hurdles with a time of 15.24 seconds. 

Fox had a staggering six women qualify for the women's 800 final tomorrow, led by Ellie Rising in first place and Annalise Gonzales in second. Hannah Tranby, Elizabeth Warren, Karina Rodriguez and Isabelle Jones were the other qualifiers.

Ben Meade threw 181-09 feet and finished in first place in the men's hammer throw, a throw that placed him second all time and 22nd in the nation. Tahnisha Manibusan took second place in the women's hammer throw with a toss of 160-02 feet. 

Mauhia Kimata vaulted into third place in the men's pole vault with a leap of 13-10 feet, while the women's pole vault team continued their fantastic season by taking first and second place – Grace Tully finished in first and Alison Young took second. 

Vitoria Azar finished in second place in the women's long jump with a jump of 17-05.50 feet. On the men's side, the Bruins swept the podium and then some, taking first through fourth. Cameron Seymour took first, Ethan Kassebaum finished in second, Andrew Quach in third and Dieumerci Migani ended in fourth. 

Coach's Thoughts
"We had some outstanding performances on day one and set ourselves up nicely for some big points tomorrow," Bruin head coach John Smith said, "It should be a fun day of competition."

What Comes Next
The Bruins wrap up their title contention tomorrow, with many final races taking place after a day of mostly prelims. The first running event is at noon, and field event flights start at 10:30.