SPOKANE, Wash. -- The George Fox track & field team completed day one of the NWC Championships by performing many personal and seasonal bests of the day, paving the way for a smooth day two as the Bruins seek their ninth straight NWC Championship.

Top Performers
Starting out with the track events, Chloe Cook started the Bruins out strong with a personal best in the Women's 10000m, with a time of 36:28.03 in first place.

Then, the freshman Makaylah Johnson placed second in the Women's 100m Prelims, logging a 14.75 time, qualifying. Meanwhile, in the Men's 100m, Blake Smith came in third place with a qualifying time of 15:14.

Also locking in third place was Karys Gates in the Women's 400m, claiming a season's best time of 58:45. 

Carson Tapia finished in first place with a strong time of 10:78 in Heat 3 of the Men's 100m. Later on, Hope Bridge performed well in the Women's 800m, getting first overall at 2:17.80. 

Two athletes from Fox placed in the top three in Men's 800m—Gavin Humphreys came in second place with a personal best of 1:53.92, while Caleb Doddington finished right behind in third with a season's best in 1:54.12.

In the Women's 200m, Janice Hellesto made her personal best of 25.08, placing second overall, while Carson Tapia finished first with also a personal best of 21.30 in the Men's 200m. Tapia's time was not only quick enough to finish first, it was enough to eke out the longstanding program record for the 200m; the freshman defeated Ryan Chaney's time of 21.31, set in 1997.

Next up, Kellen Ruiz placed third in the Men's 3000m Steeplechase, logging a season's best of 9:27.17.

For the field events, Kylie Morais made an amazing season's best mark of 11-07.00ft—second place overall in the Women's Pole Vault.

Sophomore Owen Gurney placed first in the Men's Long Jump, recording a 22-08.50ft. In the Women's Hammer Throw, Evan Roberts made a distance of 167-02ft, coming in second place.

Then, with a mark of 51-11.75ft, Joshua Taylor placed second in Men's Shot Put. Later, with back-to-back placements in the Women's Long Jump, Janice Hellesto placed first with a 18-0.2.25ft, while Makaylah Johnson placed in second right behind her at 18-01.75ft.

In the Men's High Jump, Caleb Smith logged second place with a height of 6-05.00ft, finishing up the field events for the day.

As it stands after day one, the Bruins sit in first place on both the men's and women's sides. The men have scored 75 points, just in front of Whitworth's 71, while the women lead second-place Whitworth, 101-70.

What Comes Next
The Bruins will continue the second day of the NWC Championships, staying in Spokane, Wash. on Sunday, April 26. The day is scheduled to begin at 10:00 am.