Kennedy Leads NWC Decathlon at End of First Day

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

McMINNVILLE, ORE. -- Willamette University track and field athlete Carson Kennedy (Fr., Forest Grove, OR/Forest Grove HS) is in first place after the first five events of the decathlon on Monday, April 9 at the Northwest Conference Multi-Event Championships at Maxwell Field on the Linfield College campus. Brandi Miller (Sr., Grants Pass, OR/North Valley HS) of Willamette held fourth place through four events in the heptathlon.

Kennedy accumulated 3,205 points on the first day of competition, as he built a 48-point lead over Luke Mathews of Whitworth University, who achieved 3,157 points. Joe Cerne from University of Puget Sound was third at 3,076 points. Also competing for Willamette was Spencer Clemmer (Sr., Sacramento, CA/Elk Grove HS), who ended the day with 2,940 point for sixth place overall.

In the five events held on the Monday, Kennedy registered a tie for first place in the high jump, was second in the long jump, placed third in the 100-meter dash and took fifth place in the shot put and the 400-meter dash.

Kennedy and Mathews were the only two athletes in the decathlon who placed among the top five finishers out of the 10 competitors in all five events on the first day. They tied each other for first place in the high jump at 5' 11.25", in front of Cerne and Stephen Cooper of Whitworth who tied for third place at 5' 10".

Cooper took first place in the long jump at 20' 9.75", edging out Kennedy by just 3/4 of an inch. Kennedy, whose top leap covered 20' 9", took second and Clemmer was third at 20' 7.75". Mathews claimed fourth place at 19' 10.25".

Aaron Koford of Pacific University won the 100-meter dash, with a time of 11.55 seconds. The top seven finishers in the 100 were separated by just 0.21 seconds. Barrett Bollen from Pacific Lutheran University was second at 11.62 seconds, Kennedy was third at 11.66 and Mathews was fourth at 11.71. Clemmer placed sixth with a time of 11.74.

Koford also took first place in the shot put, as he registered a top throw of 39' 0.25". Mathews was second at 34' 2.75". Kennedy took fifth place with a distance of 33' 8.50".

Bollen prevailed in the 400-meter dash with a time of 51.61 seconds. He won by 0.19 over Cerne, who finished second in 51.80 seconds. Michael Madden from Linfield was third at 52.28 and Mathews earned fourth place at 52.51. Kennedy was fifth at 52.77.

The top event score on Monday in the decathlon was 742 points by Koford in the 100-meter dash, which was matched by Bollen in the 400-meter dash. Kennedy's top score for the Bearcats was 719 in the 100-meter dash. Clemmer also recorded his top score of 703 points in the 100-meter dash.

In the heptathlon, the overall leader was Alexis Arnold from George Fox University with 2,964 points. The Bruins of GFU held the top three places, with Alyssa Turner in second place with 2,581 points and Charity Arn in third place at 2,477.

Miller of Willamette followed in fourth place at 2,475. Katie Dyk of GFU was fifth at 2,352, while Rebekah Daniel (So., Silverdale, WA/Central Kitsap HS) of Willamette was sixth at 2,254 and Elisa Ahern (Fr., Lake Forest Park, WA/Shorecrest HS) of Willamette was seventh at 2,247. A total of 12 athletes competed in the heptathlon on Monday.

Arnold gained her commanding lead by winning three of the first four events. She took first place in the 100-meter hurdles in 14.98 seconds, tied for first place in the high jump at 5' 1.75" and won the shot put with a throw of 38. 0.25". Turner won the 200-meter dash for the Bruins, as she crossed the finish line in 25.76 seconds. Arn tied Arnold for first place in the high jump.

Miller placed in the top four in three events. She was second in the shot put at 32' 9.75", took third place in the 200-meter dash in 26.62 seconds and was fourth in the 100-meter hurdles in 15.86 seconds. Her top score of the day was 744 in the 200, while she earned a solid 732 points in the 100-meter hurdles.

Daniels from Willamette was third in the shot put at 30' 2.25". Ahern placed fifth for the Bearcats in the 100-meter hurdles at 15.93 seconds.

Arnold led all competitors with the day's top score of 844 points for her winning time in the 100-meter hurdles. Turner also gained more than 800 points in the hurdles, as she finished in 15.14 seconds for 823 points. Turner tacked on 818 points in the 200-meter dash.

The final day of the NWC Multi-Event Championships will be held at Maxwell Field on Tuesday (April 10). Action gets underway at 10 a.m. (PDT).