Track & Field Weekly Notebook
QUICK LINKS: Men's Roster | Women's Roster | Schedule & Results | NWC Top Performances List (TFRRS)
THIS WEEK IN PACIFIC TRACK & FIELD
PACIFIC TWILIGHT
Fri., Apr. 29, 2 p.m., & Sat., Apr. 30, 10 a.m.
Lincoln Park Stadium, Forest Grove
BOXERS TURN FROM CONFERENCE MEET TO FINAL HOME MEET
After posting a successful improvement over last year with their team finishes at the Northwest Conference Championships, the Pacific track & field teams prepare now for their final home meet of the 2011 season. The Boxers host their fourth annual Pacific Twilight meet this weekend. The meet is now a two-day affair, with the meet starting Friday afternoon at 2 p.m. and continues on Saturday at 10 a.m.
BOXER BYTES
• Pacific posted a 42-point improvement on both the men's and women's sides over last year's NWC Championships. The Pacific men improved to sixth place with a total of 57 points, while the Boxers' women finished eighth with a total of 42 points.
• The Pacific women's 100-meter record was broken twice in five minutes during the NWC Championships preliminaries on Friday. Nicole Smith ran 12.89 seconds in the first heat and Kelli Aken-Pagdilao ran 12.85 seconds in the second heat. Smith and Aken-Pagdilao went on to finish fifth and sixth in the 100 meters and fourth and fifth in the 200 meters.
• The Pacific men earned points in three of the four srpint events. Vince Mull ran a season best 11.02 seconds in the 100-meter preliminaries and went on to finish fourth. Alex Florence finished sixth in the 200 meters and Avery Neal placed fourth in the 800 meters. Florence, Aaron Koford, Michael Hunker and Mull paired up to finish third in the 400-meter relay.
• Pacific received major points from all four hurdles events. Nathan Gilpin finished third in the 400-meter hurdles. Michael Hunker finished fourth in both the 110-meter hurdles and 400-meter hurdles. Jenna Matsumoto finished seventh in the 100-meter hurdles and then led three placers in the 400-meter hurdles with a fifth place finish. Kori Bellwood placed seventh and Jessica Head finished eighth.
MEET RECAPS
NWC CHAMPIONSHIPS DAY ONE
Samantha Lee (Sr., Fort Wayne, Ind.) finished third in the women's 10,000 meters and the women's 100-meter school record fell not once, but twice Friday as the sprinters and distance runners led the Boxers on the first day of the Northwest Conference Track & Field Championships, held at Maxwell Field.
Lee was the top placer for the Boxers in the 12 finals contested on the first day of competition. She proved competitive throughout the 10,000 meters, finishing third with a time of 38:24.24. Her effort allowed the Boxer women to enter into a tie for seventh place with Puget Sound with nine points. The exciting point of the day, though, came in the double-record setting women's 100 meters. Nicole Smith (Sr., Wailuku, Hawaii) ducked under the record with her time of 12.89 seconds in the first of two preliminary heats. She held the mark for five minutes, though, as Kelli Aken-Pagdilao (Fr., Makakilo, Hawaii) shaved four-hundreds of a second off the mark as she clocked a time of 12.85 seconds in the second heat.
The Pacific men finished the first day in sixth place, scoring 8.5 points thanks to the field events. John Fredericks (Sr., Forest Grove, Ore.) captured fourth place in the pole vault, clearing 13 feet, 8.25 inches. Taylor Hickson (Fr., Red Bluff, Calif.) tied for sixth place in the long jump with a season best leap of 21 feet, 5.5 inches and Aaron Koford (Fr., Wilsonville, Ore.) placed eighth in the discus with a season best effort of 140 feet, 10 inches.
In all, Pacific advanced 10 athletes from Friday's preliminary heats in nine different events. The Boxers will have three entrants in the women's 400-meter hurdles. Jenna Matsumoto (Jr., Kailua, Hawaii) qualified fifth in the 400-meter hurdles in 1:09.66, Kori Bellwood (Fr., Yamhill, Ore.) qualified seventh in 1:09.94 and Jessica Head (Fr., North Bend, Ore.) was eighth in 1:10.85. Matsumoto also qualified in the 100-meter hurdles, clocking the seventh best time in 16.47 seconds.
Vince Mull (So., Beaverton, Ore.) led qualifiers on the men's side with a season best in the 100 meters of 11.02 seconds, the fourth fastest of 18 competitors. Michael Hunker (So., Cornelius, Ore.) qualified fifth in the 110-meter hurdles in 15.69 seconds and also earned a spot in the 400-meter hurdles final with the second fastest time of the preliminaries of 58.26 seconds. Nathan Gilpin (Sr., Oregon City, Ore.) will join Hunker in the 400-meter hurdles, qualifying sixth in 58.91 seconds. Alex Florence (Tigard, Ore.) qualified eighth in the 200 meters in 22.90 seconds. Avery Neal (Jr., Los Alamos, N.M.) also qualified eighth in the 800 meters with a time of 1:58.17.
NWC CHAMPIONSHIPS DAY TWO
It was hurdlers providing the majority of the points for Pacific Saturday as the Northwest Conference Track & Field Championships concluded Saturday at Linfield College's Maxwell Field. Nathan Gilpin and Michael Hunker came up with the Boxers' best individual finishers on the men's side. Gilpin finished third in the 400-meter hurdles with a personal best time of 56.20 seconds. Hunker followed right behind, finishing fifth in 57.45 seconds. Earlier in the afternoon, Hunker placed fourth in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 15.80 seconds.
Jenna Matsumoto scored top finishes on the women's side. She led three Boxers with a fifth place finish in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:08.33 and placed seventh in the 100-meter hurdles in 16.52 seconds. Kori Bellwood finished seventh in the 400-meter hurdles in 1:09.17 while Jessica Head was eighth in 1:10.60. Pacific's hurdlers led the way for a 47-point improvement for the Boxers over the 2009 championships. The Pacific men finished the team race in sixth place with 57 points. The women finished in eighth place, tallying 42 points.
Pacific's sprinters also accounted for plenty of scoring, particularly on the women's side where the tandem of Nicole Smith and Kelli Aken-Pagdilao scored over a third of the team's points. Smith finished fifth in the 100 meters in 13.12 seconds and then placed fourth in the 200 meters with a time of 27.05 seconds. Aken-Pagdilao finished right behind in both events, placing fifth in the 200 in 27.06 seconds and sixth in the 100 in 13.14 seconds.
Vince Mull placed fourth in the men's 100 meters, clocking 11.26 seconds, while Alex Florence finished sixth in the 200 meters in 23.30 seconds. The two men opened the day by combining with Aaron Koford and Hunker for a third place finish in the 400-meter relay, clocking a season best 43.13 seconds. Avery Neal finished fourth in the 800 meters with a season best time of 1:57.17. The Boxers also received points in the men's 1,600-meter relay with the team of Sean Valente (Fr., Ewa Beach, Hawaii), Florence, Hunker and Neal placed seventh in 3:24.38.
In the men's field events, Kelson Kawai placed fifth in the high jump with a mark of 5 feet, 11.25 inches, and fifth in the triple jump with a season best leap of 43 feet, 7 inches. Taylor Hickson followed up his sixth place in the long jump on Friday with a sixth place finish in the triple jump with a season best of 43 feet, 1.5 inches.
Sam Lee was Pacific women's only other placer on the track, finishing sixth in the 5,000 meters with a season best of 18:18.51. Annie Mutchler was the lone placer in Saturday's field event finals, finishing fifth in the triple jump with a mark of 33 feet, 10.75 inches.
PACIFIC NEWS & NOTES
A 100-METER RECORD TWICE OVER: The highlight of Friday's preliminary rounds at the NWC Championships was the two 100-meter performances of Nicole Smith and Kelli Aken-Pagdilao. Smith, who set the Pacific record in the event on Mar. 12, broke her mark in the first preliminary heat, clocking a time of 12.89 seconds. It marked the first time that a Pacific women's sprinter had broken the 13-second barrier. The record lasted all of five minutes. In the second heat, Aken-Pagdilao ran a new school record of 12.85 seconds. The pair went on to finish fifth and sixth in finals on Saturday with Smith running 13.12 seconds and Aken-Pagdilao running 13.14 seconds. The two also gave the Boxers nine team points in the 200 meters. Smith finished fourth in 27.05 seconds and Aken-Pagdilao was fifth in 27.06 seconds.
POINTS IN THE HURDLES: Pacific earned the most teams points on both the men's and women's sides in the hurdles as all five entrants in the barriers scored points. Nathan Gilpin led the way in his last NWC Championships, placing a strong third in the 400-meter hurdles in a time of 56.20 seconds. The effort was a one-second improvement over his season and personal best of 57.55 seconds. Michael Hunker finished one place behing Gilpin with a time of 57.45 seconds and also placed fourth in the 110-meter hurdles in 16.80 seconds.
Jenna Matsumoto led the way on the women's side of the ledger. She finished seventh in the 100-meter hurdles in a time of 16.52 seconds and then led three Pacific placers in the 400-meter hurdles, placing fifth in 1:08.33. Kori Bellwood finished seventh with a season best 1:09.17 and Jessica Head placed eighth with a season best of 1:10.60.
SHOWING UP IN THE SPRINTS: Pacific finished the NWC Championships with some solid performances in the men's sprint events. Vince Mull had another breakout performance in Friday's preliminaries, clocking a time of 11.02 seconds in the 100 meters. He went on the place fourth in the event with a finals time of 11.26 seconds. Alex Florence made the finals in 200 meters in his first and final NWC Championships, clocking a season best 22.90 seconds in the preliminaries and 23.30 seconds in the finals. The pair also contributed to Pacific's most competitive 400-meter relay in recent history. With Florence and Mull running the lead-off and anchor legs, with Aaron Koford and Michael Hunker running the middle legs, the Boxers finished third with a time of 43.13 seconds. The quartet finished just a hair behind Whitworth, which won in 43.03 seconds and homestanding Linfield, which clocked 43.10 seconds.
In addition to the short srpints, Avery Neal posted a great performance in the 800 meters. He added five points to the Boxers' men's total with his fourth place finish in the 800 meters. His time of 1:57.17 was a season best.
JUMP AROUND: Pacific also received help in scoring in the jumping events. The Boxers benefited from the addition of football on the men's side. Kelson Kawai scored a pair of fifth place finishes, going 5 feet, 11.25 inches in the high jump and a season best 43 feet, 7 inches in the triple jump. Taylor Hickson notched a pair of sixth place finishes. He jumped a season best 21 feet, 5.5 inches in the long jump on Friday and 43 feet, 1.5 inches in the triple jump on Saturday. On the women's side, Annie Mutchler finished fifth in the triple jump with a leap of 33 feet, 10.75 inches.
LEE FINISHES STRONG: Pacific's top distance runner finished up strong in her two events at her final NWC Championships. Sam Lee opened the meet with a third place finish in the women's 10,000 meters. Running the distance for the second time this season, Lee ran a time of 38:34.24. On Saturday, Lee added a sixth place finish in the 5,000 meters, clokcing a season best 18:18.51. Lee qualified for every event at the NWC Championships from 800 meters to 10,000 meters. She raced in the two longest events to maximize her chances of adding to the Boxers' point totals.
ADD NWC PLACERS: John Fredericks finished in fourth place in the pole vault in his last NWC Championships. Fredericks cleared 13 feet, 8.25 inches and was a near miss on three attempts at a personal best 14 feet, 2 inches. Aaron Koford posted a seven-foot personal best in the discus to placed eighth in his first NWC meet. Koford finished with a best of 140 feet. 10 inches.
PACIFIC TWILIGHT MEET UPCOMING: The next meet on the schedule is Pacific's hallmark track and field event of the season. The Pacific Twilight meet will take place on Friday and Saturday at Lincoln Park Stadium. The meet is a two-day event for the first time in the meet's four-year history. Friday's events include the javelin, hammer, triple jump, steeplechase, 1,500 meters and 10,000 meters. The remainder of the schedule will be contested on Saturday.
With it's reputation for past times and quality competition, the Pacific Twilight is once again attracting teams from every level of collegiate track and field. Division I programs scheduled to compete include Portland, Portland State and Oregon State. Western Oregon is the lone Division II team entered as of Monday while Pacific, Puget Sound, George Fox, Lewis & Clark and Linfield will represent the Division III classification. NAIA entrants include Oregon Tech, Eastern Oregon, Northwest Christian, Southern Oregon, Corban and Warner Pacific along with junior college teams from Mt. Hood CC, Lane CC, Treasure Valley CC, Clackamas CC and Clark College in addition to a number of running clubs and open competitors.
