Northwest Conference Track & Field Athletes of the Week

April 24-30

Men’s Track Athletes of the Week: Leo Suzuki (Whitworth, So., Shizuoka, Japan) finished fourth in the 400m (48.85) at the Washington State Open as the only non-Division I runner in the event. He also anchored the Pirate 4x400 relay to an NCAA provisional qualifying mark of 4:17.36.
Honorable Mention: Shipley Ennis (PLU) won the 110HH (15.62) and the 400H (53.92) at the Northwest Twilight Open at WWU; John Nosler (Linfield) won the long jump (22’-5.75”) and finished 3rd in the 100m (11.14) and 4th in the 200m (22.74) at the Western Oregon Open.

Women’s Track Athlete of the Week: Amy Wells (UPS, Sr., Ashland, OR) hit 12’-1.5” in the pole vault at the Northwest Twilight Open at WWU. Her mark is the best in NCAA III.
Honorable Mention: Melody Sherman (Linfield) set a school record and automatically qualified for the NCAA championships in the 400m (56.74), a time which also ranks third in NCAA III; Lisa Starkey (Willamette) automatically qualified for NCAA championships with a time of 2:11.96 in the 800 at the Oregon Invitational; Ann Kaltwasser (Pacific) won the javelin with a provisional NCAA qualifying mark of 135’-11” at the WOU Open; Sarah Axley (PLU) finished 3rd in the 100m (12.36) and anchored season best times in the 400 (48.76) and 1,600 (3:55.42) relays at the Oregon Invitational; Lindsay Bull (Whitman) won the long (17’-8”) and triple jump (36’-5.5”) at the Whitworth Open. Both marks improved her own school records; Christina Donehower (L&C) won the triple jump (35’-0.25”) at the Western Oregon Open.

April 17-22

Men’s Track Athletes of the Week: Jimmy Watts (Willamette, Sr., Lakeview, Ore.) won the Northwest Conference decathlon title with a score of 7102. His mark in the high jump of 6-10.75 is just 1/2 inch off of the school record. He is the defending NCAA III champion in the event and has qualified to defend his title.
Honorable Mention: Kevin Gibony (PLU) ran the 100m in a conference-best 10.71, an automatic NCAA qualifying time; Ryan Dirks (PLU) automatically qualified for the hammer throw with a mark of 185’-6” and hit an NWC-best 166’-1” in the discus; Joel Robnett (Whitworth) won the 100m (11.09) and 200m (22.18) and anchored the winning 4x100 relay (41.66) at the EWU Pelluer Invite; Neil Weare (L&C) finished 4th in the 800 at Pioneer Open in a time of 1:55.70.

Women’s Track Athlete of the Week: Katie McArthur (Linfield, Sr., Hillsboro, Ore.) won the Northwest Conference Heptathlon championship with a score of 4092, which provisionally qualifies for nationals.
Honorable Mention: Sarah Axley (PLU) won both the 100m (12.17) and 200m (25.35) in NWC-best times and anchored the winning 4x100 relay (49.02) at the Spike Arlt Invite (CWU); Mari Ruiz (Whitman) finished fourth in the discus (136’-0”), an NWC-best mark and new Missionary school record; Jenelle Braun (L&C) broke her own school record in the hammer throw (125’-7”), finishing 8th at the Pioneer Open.

April 10-16

Men’s Track Athletes of the Week: Dave Davis (UPS, Sr., Portland, OR) won the 10K at the PLU Open in a time of 30:27.20, which set a school record and is an automatic NCAA qualifying mark.
Honorable Mention: Neil Weare (L&C) won his heat and finished 5th of 55 runners at the Pomona-Pitzer Invite, defeating several D-1 athletes, in an NCAA provisional qualifying mark of 3:56.14; Whit Spencer (Whitworth) threw the javelin a conference-best 197’-8” at the USATF Series meet; Forrest Griek (PLU) won the 5K (15:12.59) and finished second in the 1,500m at the PLU Open; Brandon Shaver (Willamette) won the javelin (192’-3”) at Linfield Open; John Nosler (Linfield) won the long jump (21’-6”), was fourth in the triple jump and fifth in the 100m at the Linfield Open.

Women’s Track Athlete of the Week: Sarah Axley (PLU) won the 100m (12.26 - NWC-best time) and the 200m (25.73) and was part of the winning 1600 relay at the PLU Open.
Honorable Mention: Amber Larsen (Linfield, Jr., Bellingham, WA) finished 2nd in the 400H at the Linfield Open with an NCAA automatic qualifing and NWC-best time of 1:02.82; Beth Fitzgerald (Willamette) won the 800 at the Linfield Open with an NCAA Provisional time of 2:15.59 (NWC-best); Amy Wells (UPS) won the Pole Vault (11’-5.75”) at the PLU Open; Alisha Simchuk (Whitworth) won the 100m and 200m to lead the Pirates to a win over CC of Spokane, Lane CC, and N. Idaho Coll. at the USATF Series meet.

April 3-9

Men’s Track Athletes of the Week: David Plotts (George Fox, Sr., Mill City, OR) won three events to lead the Bruins to a team victory in the 5-way meet. He won the 100m (11.34), the 200 (22.63) and was on the winning 4x400 relay (3:26.21).
Honorable Mention: Jimmy Watts (Willamette) won the long jump (21-11.75), javelin (191-4), and high jump (6-9.5) at the 5-way, he was also 2nd in the discus and pole vault; Joel Robnett (Whitworth) won the 200m (22.30) and ran a leg on the winning 4x400 relay (3:21.60) to lead Whitworth to a win in the 4-way meet, he was also 2nd in the 100m; Dan Reichenbach (Lewis & Clark) won the hammer (155-01) and was 6th in the shot put and 7th in the discus; Fritz Messenbrink (Linfield) won the 110H (15.64) and was 2nd in the high jump and 3rd in the javelin.

Women’s Track Athlete of the Week: Melody Sherman (Linfield) won the 100m (12.49) and 200m (25.71) and anchored the winning 400 relay (48.78) at the NWC 4-way meet.
Honorable Mention: Lisa Starkey (Willamette) won the 800m (2:15.88) and 1,500m (4:49.15) at the NWC 5-way meet; Annie Scott (Whitworth) won the 3,000m (11:03.98) and 5,000m (18:37.97) to lead Whitworth to the win at the NWC 4-way meet; Lindsay Bull (Whitman) won the long jump (17-5.25) and triple jump (35-8) at the NWC 4-way meet; Lori Miller (George Fox) won the javelin (131-3) for a provisional NCAA qualifying mark at the NWC 5-way; Amy Wells (UPS) won the pole vault (12-0) with a mark that ties for the best in the NCAA; Maile Barrett (L&C) won the 100H (15.00) at the 5-way meet.

March 26-April 2

Co-Men’s Track Athletes of the Week: Aaron Thornton (Linfield, Fr., Brownsville, OR) and Dave Davis (UPS, Sr., Portland, OR) both provisionally qualified for nationals on Saturday. Davis ran a conference-best 3:52.5 to place 3rd in the 1,500 at the Western Washington Invite. Thornton won the javelin with a throw of 195’-4”, an NWC-best mark.
Honorable Mention: Leo Suzuki (Whitworth) finished second in the 400 in a conference-best 49.15 and anchored the winning 4x400 relay in a conference best 3:19.87; Jimmy Watts (Willamette) finished third in the high jump (6-8.75), fourth in the javelin (181-11) and fifth in the 110H (15.58); Dan Reichenbach (L&C) won the hammer (155-10), finished second in discus (118-11) and fourth in the shot (41-4.5).

Co-Women’s Track Athlete of the Week: Heather Hunt (George Fox, Jr., Turner, OR) won the Pole Vault at the Willamette Open in an-NCAA Div. III best mark of 12’-0”. Maile Barrett (L&C, Sr., Aiea, HI) earned an automatic NCAA qualifying time in the 100HH (14.66) and also placed 2nd in the 100 (12.51).
Honorable Mention: Melody Sherman (Linfield) won the 100 (12.37) and 200 (25.72) and ran on the winning 4x100 (49.58) and 4x400 (4:04.22) relays at L&C Invite; Monica Scott (Willamette) finished fifth in the javelin (130’-8”) at Willamette Open.

March 20-26

Men’s Track Athlete of the Week: Jimmy Watts (Willamette) scored an NCAA Div. III-best 7160 points in the decathlon at the Florida Relays in Gainesville, FL. . . He finished in 6th place out of 20 athletes as the only non-Divison I competitor. He is the defending D-III national champion in the event.
Honorable Mention: David Plotts (George Fox) won the 200 m (22.06) and finished 3rd in the 100 m (11.15) to lead the Bruins to a second-place finish in California.

Women’s Track Athlete of the Week: Jocelyn Kennedy (George Fox, Sr., Gresham, OR) won the triple jump (37’-0.25”) and finished third in the long jump (16’-5”) in California.

March 5-12

Men’s Track Athlete of the Week: Navin Fernandes (Whitworth, So., Mumbai, India) won the 110 Hurdles (15.29), finished 2nd in the 400 Hurdles and ran on a winning relay to lead the Pirates to a win at the NWC six-way meet at L&C.
Honorable Mention: Garrett Miller (PLU) won the High Jump (6-6.75) at the Salzman Relays in bad weather; Brandon Workman (George Fox) won the 800 (1:58.63) and the 1,500 (4:06.6) at the NWC six-way meet; Anthony Young (L&C) won the 5,000 (15:42.66) at the NWC six-way meet.

Women’s Track Athlete of the Week: Beth Fitzgerald (Willamette, Grad.) finished fifth at the Oregon Preview meet in the 1,500 with an NCAA automatic qualifying time of 4:34.84, the best in the nation at NCAA Division III this year.
Honorable Mention: Melody Sherman (Linfield) won the 100 and 200 dashes and ran on both winning relays at the NWC six-way meet; Jocelyn Kennedy (George Fox) won the Long Jump (16-4.75) and the Triple Jump (34-4) at the six-way meet; Sarah Axley (PLU) finished 2nd and 5th in the 100 and 200 dashes, respectively, at the Salzman Invite, losing only to UW runners; Maile Barrett (L&C) won the 100 Hurdles (14.97) and was second in the 100 and 200 dashes at NWC six-way meet; Annie Scott (Whitworth) won the 5,000 (18:07.80) and finished second in the 3,000 at the NWC six-way; Kim Ball (Pacific) broke the school record in the 5,000 (18:32.22) while finishing second in the 5,000 at the six-way meet.