Hunker's Hurdles Heroics Leads Boxers In NWC Track Finals
Meet Results
PARKLAND, Wash. – Michael Hunker (Jr., Cornelius, Ore.) earned a pair of top-three finishes in the men's hurdles races Saturday, leading a day full of all-conference performers and records for the Pacific track and field teams on the final day of the Northwest Conference Championships, held at the Pacific Lutheran University.
In one of the races of the day, Hunker dueled with PLU's Barrett Bollen the entire race. It came down to a sprint over the last 50 meters, with Bollen just out-leaning Hunker for the victory. Hunker ran 55.86 seconds to Bollen's 55.80. The time is a season best for Hunker by a second and moves the junior into No. 4 on Pacific's all-time list.
Earlier in the day, Hunker captured third place in the men's 110-meter hurdles with a season best time of 15.51 seconds. Hunker earned All-Northwest Conference distinction in both events based on his top-three finishes.
The races led a day that saw 10 Pacific athletes earn top-eight finishes and a pair of records fall in the women's relays. The Pacific men finished sixth in the meet with a total of 50.5 points. The Pacific women finished in eighth place with 43 points.
Kelli Aken-Pagdilao (So., Makakilo, Hawaii) and Kelson Kawai (So., North Kohala, Hawaii) joined Hunker as all-conference performers on the meet's second day. Aken-Pagdilao finished third in the women's 100-meter final in 12.76 seconds, a day after she reset her own Pacific record in the event. Kawai placed third in the men's triple jump with a personal best leap of 44 feet, 3.25 inches. The performance moved Kawai up to No. 8 on Pacific's all-time list in the event.
Both Pacific women's relay teams posted record efforts. In the 400-meter relay, the team of Aken-Pagdilao, Kori Bellwood (So., Yamhill, Ore.), Jenna Mastumoto (Sr., Kailua, Hawaii) and Nicole Smith (Sr., Wailuku, Hawaii) finished fourth with a time of 49.36 seconds. The performance was nearly a second better by the record set by the same four women of 50.33 seconds at last year's NWC Championships.
The 1,600-meter squad of Smith, Hayley Palmer (Fr., Sisters, Ore.) , Bellwood and Aken-Pagdilao closed the day by shattering the Pacific record in the event. Their time of 4:12.58 bettered the previous record of 4:13.79 set in 2005 by Erin Wilson, Erin Silverlake, Sarah Smith and Brooke Barker, by over a second.
Hunker was not alone in his work in the hurdles races, where Pacific six individuals to the finals. Daniel Wagner (Fr., Kailua, Hawaii) finished seventh in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 16.24 seconds while Ted Wogan (Fr., Klamath Falls, Ore.) finished seventh in the 400-meter hurdles in a time of 58.73 seconds.
Matsumoto, meanwhile, placed in both women's hurdles races in her final conference meet. She finished fourth in the 400-meter hurdles in a time of 1:07.63 and finished eighth in the 100-meter hurdles in a time of 16.36 seconds. Matsumoto led three Pacific finishers in the 400-meter event with Bellwood placing sixth in 1:09.23 and Jessica Head (So., North Bend, Ore.) placing seventh in 1:09.44.
Chloe Hallyburton (Jr., Dayton, Ore.) placed fourth in the women's high jump. Her lifetime best leap of 5 feet, 1 inch ranks No. 3 on Pacific's all-time list. Sean Valente (Fr., Eva Beach, Hawaii) placed sixth in the men's 400 meters with a season best time of 50.80 seconds.
The two team favorites were runaway conference champions. Whitworth took the men's title with 270 points, well out-distancing Willamette's second place 132 points. The George Fox women used their dominance in the heptathlon, hurdles and horizontal jumps to take the title with 207 points.
Pacific will continue their 2012 track and field season next weekend with one of the highlights of the 2012 schedule. The Boxers will host the fifth annual Pacific Twilight on Friday and Saturday at Lincoln Park Stadium.
