Whitworth Makes Early Bid For Titles After First Day
FOREST GROVE, Ore. - Whitworth made an early charge to pick up titles on both the men’s and women’s sides Friday, taking first day leads at the 2009 Northwest Conference Track and Field Championships at Pacific University’s Lincoln Park Stadium.
The Pirates’ men, led a third straight title in the high jump by Cody Stelzer, compiled 79 points through the first seven events, 13 points better than challenger Linfield. Whitworth’s women, led by a championship by Kelly Bradley in the discus, compiled 62 points to take a narrow seven-point lead over Willamette.
Stelzer captured his third straight NWC title in the men’s high jump with a leap of 6 feet, 7 inches. He also finished third in the long jump. The Pirates’ Ron Whitley aided the cause with his win the discus, establishing a new stadium record of 152 feet, 7 inches. Nicholas Gallagher added 10 points with his win in the 10,000 meters in 30:45.93.
Linfield stands second in the men’s race with 66, followed by Willamette at 59, George Fox with 33, Puget Sound with 13, Pacific Lutheran with 12 and Lewis & Clark with 11.
While Whitworth took the early women’s lead, it was an awesome one-two finish in the steeplechase by Willamette that highlighted the day.
Kimber Mattox blew away both the meet and stadium records in the women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase, winning with a NCAA Championships automatic qualifying time of 10:38.05. Teammate Jena Winger, who was the previous meet record holder, finished second in an automatic qualifying time of 10:42.08.
Willamette’s 55 points was good enough for second place after the first day, followed by Linfield with 43, George Fox with 39, Puget Sound with 22, Lewis & Clark with 19, Pacific with 17 and Pacific Lutheran with 16.
Pacific’s Angie Miller became a two-time champion in the women’s long jump, setting a new school record of 18 feet, 0.5 inches. Catherine Street led a one-two Linfield finish in the women’s pole vault, setting a stadium record with her winning vault of 12 feet, 3.5 inches, and Lewis & Clark’s Tamma Carleton won the 10,000 meters in a time of 37:48.42.
Whitworth’s Bradley won the discus with a throw of 114 feet, 6 inches, while George Fox’s Beth Stam won the javelin with a stadium record of 142 feet.
Top qualifiers in the women’s preliminaries included George Fox’s Irene Johnson in the 100 meters (12.56) and Mollie Honan in the 400 meters (59.64), Pacific Lutheran’s Amy LeBrun in the 200 meters (25.92), Whitworth’s Dana Misterek in the 800 meters (2:19.29) and Elizabeth Matilla in the 400-meter hurdles (1:04.40), and Puget Sound’s Caitlin McGrane in the 100-meter hurdles (15.08).
Josh Lovell led Linfield to stay close on Whitworth’s heels in the team race, capturing the long jump with a stadium record of 22 feet, 5.25 inches and finishing second in the high jump at 6 feet, 5 inches. Lovell also qualified for the finals in the 100 meters (11.22) and the 110-meter high hurdles (15.36). Willamette’s Grant Piros captured top honors in the javelin with a stadium record and nationals provisional qualifying mark of 203 feet.
Other top men’s qualifiers included Linfield’s John Torsey in the 100 meters (11.17) and 200 meters (22.24) , George Fox’s Garrett Blizzard in the 400 meters (49.77) and John Zaganiacz (56.26) in the 400-meter hurdles, and Willamette’s Reid Gilbertson in the 800 meters (1:55.27) and Chris Platano with a stadium record in the steeplechase (9:32.33).
In all, a total of eight stadium records were set on Friday. That included the 10,000 meters, which had never before been contested at Lincoln Park Stadium.
The Saturday session of the NWC Championships begins Saturday at 10:30 a.m., with finals in the women’s hammer, men’s triple jump, men’s pole vault, women’s high jump and men’s shot put. Running events will begin at noon with the 400-meter relay.