Mattox and Colignon are Selected for NCAA Championships

By Robert McKinney, Athletics Communications Director, (503) 370-6110

INDIANAPOLIS, IND. -- Willamette University athletes Kimber Mattox (So., Bend, OR/Bend HS/Cornell Univ.) and Evin Colignon (Jr., Poulsbo, WA/Charles Wright Academy) have been selected as entries in the 2010 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

Mattox will compete in the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase and Colignon will compete in the decathlon during the championships, set for May 27-29 at Baldwin-Wallace College in Berea, Ohio.

A total of 688 student-athletes from throughout Division III were chosen for the NCAA Championships. All of the selections met automatic or provisional qualifying standards.

The women's steeplechase will feature 18 athletes. Mattox recorded a provisional qualifying time of 10:41.78 for the ninth fastest time in the field. She registered her top time in Eugene, Ore., during the Oregon Relays at Hayward Field on April 30.

She is Willamette's record holder in the event with a career-best time of 10:38.05. She set the record while winning the steeplechase at the 2009 Northwest Conference Championships.

Mattox placed sixth in the steeplechase at the NCAA Championships a year ago to earn All-America honors. She repeated as the conference champion in the steeplechase by winning the event at the 2010 NWC Championships earlier this spring.

Colignon will compete in a field of 15 athletes in the decathlon. His provisional qualifying score was 6,472 points.

The qualifying score for Colignon is a personal record. It was achieved while earning second place in the decathlon at the NWC Multi-Event Championships on April 12-13.

Colignon's top event score at the NWC Championships was 740 points in the 110-meter hurdles (15.94 seconds). He also scored 733 points in the shot put (46' 2.5") and 723 points in the 100-meter dash (11.64 seconds).

Katie Peterson (Jr., Independence, OR/Central HS) of Willamette has a provisional qualifying mark in the javelin that would place her in the event at the NCAA Championships, but she is unable to compete due to injury. Peterson earned a distance of 134' 1" at the Willamette Opener on March 6.