TACOMA, Wash. – Abby Jo Carlson and Renee Tiumalu got Whitworth off to a winning start on the opening day of the Northwest Conference Track & Field Championships on Friday at the University of Puget Sound.
Carlson won the women's hammer throw and Tiumalu won the women's shot put, while the Pirate men had scorers in all six finals on the first day. The meet concludes on Saturday.
Carlson hurled the hammer 157'-0" on her fourth attempt to jump into the lead and that throw held up for the victory by two feet over Tahnisha Manibusan of George Fox.
Tiumalu tossed the shot 40'-0.75" on her fifth attempt to overcome Georjina Soliai of PLU by two inches late in the competition. Logan Spencer (36'-4.75") took seventh in the shot put.
In other women's events, Devyn Cope (16'-8") and Breanne Rawls (16'-5") finished seventh and eighth, respectively, in the long jump. George Fox's Brecken VandenHoek won with a mark of 17'-7".
Ellie Shoop (11:54.06) and Mary Neder (11:54.13) finished fifth and sixth, respectively, in the women's 3,000 meter steeplechase. Each improved her entry time by around 30 seconds. Pacific's Madelyn Hubbs won in 11:37.98.
Whitworth's women did not have a scorer in either the pole vault or the 10,000-meters.
The women's team scores through day one are: George Fox 106.5, Pacific Lutheran 56, Whitworth 38, Pacific (Ore.) 27, Lewis & Clark 21, Linfield 9, Willamette 6, Whitman 5, Puget Sound 4.5.
Reed Hurst was runner-up in the men's shot put, the highest individual finish for a Pirate man on Friday. His mark was 49'-0.75" to finish behind only PLU's Masum Real (49'-8.25").
Malachi Areta (150'-1") and Ignacio Garcia (150'-0") were separated by a single inch and finished third and fourth, respectively, in the men's hammer throw. George Fox's Ben Meade won with a distance of 158'-9".
Whitworth had three scorers in the men's long jump. Jalen Martin (21'-3.25") finished fifth, Samson Irish-Lodge (21'-2") finished sixth and Logan Wright (21'-0.75") was eighth. Cameron Seymour of George Fox won with a distance of 23'-0.75".
Martin also finished 8th in the high jump (5'-8.75"). GFU's Joel Carroll and Tyler Phillips both cleared 6'-4.75", but Carroll won based on fewer misses.
On the track, Matthew Christianson took fourth in the men's 10,000-meter run with a time of 32:13.04. Puget Sound's Colin Monaghan won on his home track with a time of 30:10.14.
James Dugenet finished sixth in the men's steeplechase with a time of 9:49.01 after entering with the ninth-best seed time. PLU's Hezekiah Goodwin was the winner in 9:24.55.
The men's team scores after the first day are: George Fox 109, Whitworth 54.5, PLU 54, Pacific 15, Puget Sound and Willamette 12, Linfield 11.5, Lewis & Clark 5.
There were several preliminary heats on Friday as well. Highlights for Whitworth included Amelia Hewson qualifying for the finals in three events (100 dash, 200 dash and 100 hurdles). Her time in the 100-meter hurdles (14.22) is a lifetime-best mark. The Pirate women have three qualifiers in the 100-meter dash. Nikohl Jordan has the second-fastest qualifying time in the women's 800-meter run.
Solo Hines (10.99) had the second-fastest time in the men's 100-meter dash. Xavier Betancourt qualified second in the 400-meter hurdles. Kainoa Figueira and Cameron Lantagne qualified third and fourth in the 400-meter dash.
