SPOKANE, Wash. – Taking advantage of one of the final opportunities to compete before the upcoming Northwest Conference championships, Whitworth posted some top marks on Friday at the Jeff Rahn Classic, held at Boppell Track.
Let by a season-best effort from Cody Wheeler, the Whitworth men posted two strong marks in NCAA Division III.
Wheeler, the 2024 NCAA Division III champion in the javelin, won that event on Friday with a season-best throw of 217'-0", which is the fifth-best throw in DIII this season.
The Pirate men had other strong throwers in the meet as well. Eddie Vu finished third in the discus with a mark of 165'-3" and fourth in the shot put by reaching 50'-1.75". Adam Sessions took third in the hammer throw with a distance of 183'-3".
Kaden Hooper was runner-up in the long jump (22'-4.5") and fourth in the triple jump (42'-1.25").
Over on the track, Jack Ireton had a highlight for the second week in a row. Only one week after posting one of Division III's best marks in the 3,000 steeplechase, he did it again in the 1,500-meter run with a personal record time of 3:53.57, which is 25th in the nation.
Brayden Oltezke got under 15 seconds in the men's 110-meter hurdles with a PR of 14.87. He also had a PR in the 200 while finishing sixth (22.56). Camden Schmidt was fourth in the 200 with a time of 22.11.
Connor Hylton posted a new PR in the men's 400-meter hurdles (56.96). Brayden Martin and Carter Sherry just missed their PRs in the men's 800-meters with times of 1:56.42 and 1:56.62 to take 7th and 8th, respectively.
Whitworth's women got three runner-up finishes. The Pirates' 4x100 relay posted a season-best time of 48.15 to take second place. Emily Brown ran on that relay and also took second place in the women's 400-meter dash with a personal record of 56.49 that is the 15th-best time in DIII this season.
Macayla Mills hit her PR in the women's 200 meters with a time of 26.50. Kezlie Thyegesen went 4:46.89 and Ashlyn Dary posted a time of 4:47.78 in the women's 1,500.
Madison Carr finished second in the women's hammer throw with a distance of 164'-8", while Izzy Carpenter took third in the discus (132'-1") and Devyn Chelyn was third in the javelin (130'-11").
Amblessed Okembgo took fourth in the women's shot put (45'-2.5") while Carr was fifth (43'-6.5") among a deep field of NCAA Div. I athletes.
Four Pirates will compete in the 2026 NWC Multi-event Championships next Monday and Tuesday at George Fox before the Whitworth Twilight and Alumni Meet next Thursday at Boppell Track.
