Lee Wins Steeple, Smith Shows Potential In Heptathlon
SALEM, Ore. – Samantha Lee (Sr., Fort Wayne, Ind.) was an easy winner in the steeplechase while Nicole Smith (Sr., Wailuku, Hawaii) showed some unrealized potential in the heptathlon to lead Pacific in the West Coast Invitational track and field meet, which concluded Saturday at the Charles Bowles Track.
Lee was a runaway winner in the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase, which was held during the meet's concluding session on Saturday night. Lee cruised to the win of 11:25.08, which was 16 seconds ahead of second place Theresa Hailey of the University of Portland, but nine seconds short of her season best and school record set two weeks ago at the Northwest Conference Championships.
Smith, meanwhile, showed some untapped ability in her first heptathlon, which was held on Wednesday and Thursday. She finished third in the competition with a total of 3,337 points, despite having done little work in most of the field events. The mark ranks as the second best by a Pacific athlete this season behind Kasey Fisher's (So., Denair, Calif.) 3,717 points at the Northwest Conference Multi-Event Championships.
Smith finished second in the four-woman competition in three individual events. She placed second in the high jump at 4 feet, 4 inches, in the 200 meters in 27.07 seconds and in the javelin with a throw of 102 feet, 2 inches. Smith's mark in the javelin is the fourth best for the Boxers this season. Willamette's Brandi Miller won the heptathlon with a score of 4,406 points while Pacific assistant coach Bridget Johnson was second with 4,366 points.
Pacific had two other competitors in the Saturday night session. Avery Neal (Jr., Los Alamos, N.M.) finished fifth in the men's 800 meters, running a two-second season best in 1:55.93. Jenna Matsumoto (Jr., Kailua, Hawaii) finished third in the women's 400-meter hurdles in a time of 1:07.69.
The West Coast Invitational was jointly host by Willamette and the University of Portland and consisted mainly of Division I competition from the Pilots' West Coast Conference foes, including Gonzaga, San Francisco, Santa Clara and Loyola Marymount.
For those Pacific athletes still looking for potential NCAA Championships qualifying marks will have one more chance on Tuesday as George Fox hosts their Last Chance Meet at Colcord Field.
