Spokane, Wash.– The Bruin men and the Whitworth women took home championship titles for their respective track & field programs. For the George Fox men it was their ninth consecutive year claiming the title, while it was the first time in 10 years the Whitworth women claimed the title.
The Bruin men finished with a total of 214.5 points at the end of day two, followed by Whitworth (182), and Willamette (151). In third was Lewis & Clark with 90 points, followed by Puget Sound (66), Pacific (45), Linfield (29), Pacific Lutheran (23.5), and Whitman (18).
On the women’s side, the Whitworth Pirates surpassed the Bruins on day two to claim victory, finishing on top with 218 points. The George Fox women finished in second with 191.5 points, while Willamette finished in third (92). In fourth was Pacific with 76.5 points, followed by Linfield (67), Pacific Lutheran (66), Puget Sound (54), Lewis & Clark (52), and Whitman (1).
Field
Five field finals took place on day two of competition, kicking things off at 10:00 AM this Sunday, April 26th. In the women’s javelin, Devyn Chelin of Whitworth claimed victory and posted a new ‘26 DIII #13 throw of 42.58m. Fellow Whitworth Pirates secured the other medalists positions; Natalie Ellis taking home second, and Emily Brown taking third. In the women’s high jump, Logan Roberts of Linfield defeated Erica Snyder (Willamette) in a jump-off; both were unsuccessful at 1.68, 1.66, 1.64 and 1.62 before Roberts cleared 1.60.
The men’s pole vault wrapped up next, with Luke Nelson defending his championship title with a winning effort of 4.68m. In the men’s discus, Eddie Vu (Whitworth) also defended his No. 1 seed, executing a winning effort of 52.25m. Lewis & Clark’s Keegan Zaso took home gold in the men’s triple jump, claiming victory with a 13.96m jump. Amblessed Okemgbo of Whitworth continued her winning streak, while also posting a new NWC championship meet record and a new ‘26 DIII #3 effort in the women’s discus (49.25m). The women’s triple jump was dominated by Pacific Lutheran, with juniors Madison Downey claiming gold (11.44m) and Kyleigh Archer claiming bronze (11.26m). Rounding out the field competition was the men’s javelin, where senior Cody Wheeler of Whitworth executed a new ‘26 DIII #5 throw and claimed gold with an effort of 66.56m.
Track
The second and final day on the track began with a pair of exciting 4x100-meter relays. The women’s 4x100m relay title was secured by the Whitworth Pirates, consisting of Macayla Mills, Emily Brown, Bella Tolen, and Akeelis Muhammed (47.91). George Fox’s 4x100m men’s squad of Ezra Clark, Carson Tapia, Owen Gurney, and Caleb Smith claimed first place, inching out the competition with a time of 41.70. Both winning teams posted season-best efforts.
Malia Heien of Lewis & Clark dominated the mid-distance events, claiming gold in both the women’s 1500m (4:39.45) and the 800m (2:17.77). Similarly for the men, Henry Tierney of Pacific secured both the 1500m (3:52.60) and 800m (1:52.54) championship titles, helping move Pacific up in the men’s overall team standings.
In the 100m hurdles, Allyson Hammond broke her own meet record from the day prior, breaking 14-seconds and setting a new meet record of 13.91 to win gold. Blake Smith of George Fox also defended his championship title, earning first place in the 110m hurdles with a time of 14.81. Puget Sound dominated both the men’s and women’s 400m– Elizabeth Beiswanger posting a new ‘26 DIII #18 time (55.88), while Avery Keith set a NWC championship meet record and set a new ‘26 DIII #9 time (47.11).
Allyson Hammond of Pacific also took home gold in the 100m dash (12.10) and the 200m dash (24.42) on the women’s side, while George Fox’s Carson Tapia also claimed both the 100m (10.71) and the 200m (21.16).
In the 400m hurdles, Whitworth’s Emily Brown took home her second gold medal of the day with a time of 1:02.47. Myles Crandall of Willamette took home the gold in the men’s 400m hurdles, posting a time of 53.74.
In the second longest event of the meet, the top three finishers for the women’s 5k race mirrored the 10k– with George Fox’s Chloe Cook claiming first place (17:35.10), followed by Whitworth’s Kezlie Thygesen (17:44.12), and Pacific’s Ria Gill (17:58.78). For the men, Evan Markelz of Lewis & Clark took home gold with a thrilling finish (14.52), followed by London Haley of Whitworth (14:53.19), and Kellen Ruiz of George Fox (14:54.27).
Wrapping up the championship meet was the 4x400 meter relay, won by the Puget Sound women’s quartet of Whitney Nelson, Alana Lim, Kyrstin Wilson, and Elizabeth Beiswanger (SB, 3:52.49). The Puget Sound men also claimed victory, the squad of Jack Joyce, Mercer Stauch, Tdohasan Sunray, and Avery Keith finishing in a season best time of 3:17.09.
While this marks the end of NWC Track & Field regular copmetition, several NWC Track & Field Athletes look to qualify and compete at the NCAA DIII Track & Field Championships, coming up on May 21-23, hosted at the Veteran's Memorial Field Sports Complex in La Crosse, Wisconsin.