PORTLAND, Ore. – Whitworth University won seven events, five by the women's team and two by the men, on the way to a pair of runner-up finishes at the Northwest Conference Track & Field Championships, held on Saturday and Sunday at Lewis & Clark College.

Amblessed Okemgbo won two events for Whitworth's women, who finished as runners-up to eight-time defending champion George Fox.  The final women's team scores were:  George Fox 219, Whitworth 167.5, Willamette 78.5, Lewis & Clark 71, Pacific (Ore.) 70, Linfield and Pacific Lutheran 68.5, Puget Sound 66, Whitman 7.

As expected, Okemgbo led the Pirate women to dominant results in the throwing events.  She set a school record while defending her title in the shot put with a mark of 46'-7.25".  It is the fifth longest toss in NCAA Division III this season and the second-longest winning mark ever at the NWC championships, behind only the meet record of 47'-10.5" set by Willamette's Carrie Pietig in 1989.  Madison Carr, who previously had the school record for all of two weeks, finished runner up with her mark of 44'-6.25" and Izzy Boyd was third with a distance of 42'-1.5".  Kylie Loveless was eighth with a personal record (39'-7.75"), giving the Pirates 25 points in the event.

Okemgbo also defended her championship in the discus with a winning throw of 144'-9".  Carr was again second (133'-3"), while Izzy Carpenter was third (132'-10").  Loveless was also eighth (118'-8"), giving the Bucs another 25 points. 

Carr got her own individual title on Saturday night in the women's hammer throw, held at Pacific University.  She won with a personal record of 164'-9" while Devin Chelin was runner-up with her own PR of 149'-8".  Izzy Boyd took eighth place (136'-6"). 

Also on Saturday night at Pacific, Chelin was runner-up in the javelin with a season-best throw of 135'-3".  Emily Brown took eighth (117'-3").  George Fox's Ellena Corwin won with a throw of 140'-4".

Briana Tira won the women's high jump on Sunday by clearing 5'-5.25", just off her PR of 5-6.  Cadence Lorenz was sixth with a height of 5'-1.25". 

Tira was also fourth in the long jump (17'-6") and triple jump (36'-0.25"). 

On Saturday, Evie Bradbury and Claire Nardella both scored in the women's pole vault.  Bradbury took seventh with a height of 10'-7", while Nardella was eighth (10'-1.25"). 

Brown was Whitworth's fifth event winner in the women's meet.  She crushed her previous personal record while winning the 400-meter hurdles in 1:03.51.  Hannah Marcoe was seventh in 1:07.25.

Jordyn Lungo scored twice individually in her final NWC championship meet.  She was fourth in the 100-meter dash in 12.59, while Macayla Mills was sixth in 13.06.  Pacific's Allyson Hammond won in 12.08.

Lungo was also fifth in the 200-meter dash in 26.27.  Puget Sound's Krystin Wilson went 24.84 to win.

Kezlie Thygesen and Lulu Brady and scored in two individual events apiece.  Thygesen was third in the women's 10,000-meter run on Saturday with a PR of 38:45.50.  Ashlyn Dary was sixth in the 10K in 39:17.95.  Lewis & Clark's Riley Buese won in 37:24.16.

Thygesen was also sixth on Sunday in the 5,000-meter run with a time of 18:24.46.  Brady took eighth in 18:33.16.  Buese won again for L&C in 16:53.90.

Brady also took seventh in the 800-meters with a time of 2:20.95.  GFU's Ellie Rising won in 2:10.99.

Tira, Lungo, Margaret Byle and Brown finished third in the women's 4x100 meter relay with a time of 48.95.  Byle, Lungo, Ella Frerichs and Brown were fourth in the 4x400 relay with a season-best time of 3:58.40.

Led by 2025 NWC Men's Rookie of the Year Cam Schmidt, Whitworth's men also took second place to the Bruins.

Schmidt won the 200 dash with a time of 21.78 on Friday after posting a 21.69 in Saturday's prelims.  Schmidt finished third in the 100 dash in 11.03 to Pacific's Zion Booker, who won in 10.89.  Schmidt flew to a PR of 10.78 during Saturday's prelims, the best time in the NWC so far this season.

Cooper Rolfs (49.79) and Carter Rossman (49.84) finished third and fourth, respectively, in the men's 400 dash.  Puget Sound's Avery Keith won in 48.27.

Isaac Akiyama had an impressive double on Sunday.  He took third in the 1,500-meter run with a personal record time of 3:53.95.  GFU's Aidan Arthur won the 1,500 in 3:51.69.  Akiyama was later seventh in the 800-meters in 1:56.11.  On Saturday Akiyama posted a PR of 1:53.25 in the qualifying heat.

London Haley also scored in two running events for the Bucs.  He was fourth in Saturday's 10,000 run with a PR of 30:50.57, while Alex Peters was eighth with his own PR (31:18.56).  PLU's Ryan Stracke won in 30:11.56.  Haley was seventh on Sunday in the 5,000-meters with a time of 14:54.89.  Stracke also won the 5K in 14:36.36.

On Saturday James Dugenet was third and Jack Ireton sixth in the men's 3,000-meter steeplechase.  Dugenet had a personal record time of 9:16.22, while Ireton hit a PR of 9:23.49.  George Fox's Gavin Grass crossed the line first in 9:10.94.

Dylan Pratt, Rolfs, Schmidt and Christian Howell finished as runners-up to Pacific in the 4x100 relay with a time of 42.10.  The Boxers won in 41.84.

Cameron Lantagne, Akiyama, Rossman and Rolfs finished fourth in the 4x400 relay with a time of 3:21.53.

Eddie Vu won the men's discus on Sunday with a personal record of 174'-5", which currently ranks third in NCAA Division III.  Luke Davis was fourth (151'-1"), Adam Sessions was sixth (142'-8") and Alex Smith was seven (138'-11").

On Saturday Cody Wheeler was runner-up in the hammer throw with a distance of 164'-10", while Christian Martinez was sixth (147'-7"), Luke Davis seventh (146'-5") and Kenai Herrick eighth (144'-8").  Willamette's Roan Bashioum won with a toss of 165'-2".

Also on Saturday, Wheeler was fourth in the javelin.  His best throw was 193'-2".  Brandon Geck was sixth with a PR of 186'-11", while Tristan Hiller was seventh (185'-1").  GFU's Darrin Campbell was first with 213'-8".

The Pirates also had four scorers in the shot put.  Luke Davis was third with a toss of 48'-5.5", while Eddie Vu was fourth with 48'-0".  Austin Reed was seventh (44'-5.25") and Smith was eighth (44'-0.75").  Linfield's Nick Olson won with a distance of 49'-8.5".

Whitworth also got a pair of runner-up finishes in jumps.  Jalen Martin was second in the triple jump with a season-best distance of 44'-11.5" with Manuel Valencia sixth (42'-5.25"), Jayce Palm seventh (42'-1.5") and Richard Alsept eighth (41'-11.25").  Willamette's Kaleb McArthur won with 45'-9".

Alsept had his own second place finish in the high jump, clearing 6'-4.75".  George Fox's James King won with a height of 6'-6.75".

On Saturday Andrew Strawn took third and Jared McCrory fourth in the pole vault.  Both Pirates cleared 14'-4", but Strawn got third place based on fewer misses.  George Fox's Luke Nelson won with a height of 15'-3.75".

The final men's team scores were: George Fox 215, Whitworth 167, Willamette 111, Pacific Lutheran 106.5, Puget Sound 69.5, Pacific (Ore.) 56, Lewis & Clark 49, Linfield 41, Whitman 2.

The track & field team will now turn its attention toward qualifications for the NCAA Division III Championships, which will take place on May 22-24 in Geneva, Ohio.  That chase begins with the Linfield Open next Saturday.