Kennedy Finishes 4th in Decathlon, Miller is 5th in Heptathlon, at NWC Multi-Events

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

McMINNVILLE, ORE. -- Carson Kennedy (Fr., Forest Grove, OR/Forest Grove HS) of Willamette University finished in fourth place in the decathlon and Brandi Miller (Sr., Grants Pass, OR/North Valley HS) of Willamette took fifth place in the heptathlon, as the Northwest Conference Multi-Event Championships concluded on Tuesday, April 10 at Maxwell Field.

Joe Cerne from the University of Puget Sound won the decathlon with 6,239 points. He was followed by Luke Mathews of Whitworth University in second place with 5,944 points and by Stephen Cooper, also from Whitworth, in third place with 5,803 points.

Kennedy set a personal record with 5,732 points while finishing fourth. Barrett Bollen of Pacific Lutheran University was fifth at 5,692 points, while Michael Madden of Linfield College was sixth at 5,650 points. Willamette's Spencer Clemmer (Sr., Sacramento, CA/Elk Grove HS) earned seventh place and also set a personal record with 5,411 points.

Cerne attained the decathlon title with only one win in the 10 events, as he tied for first place in the pole vault at 14' 3.25". He garnered second place in the 400-meter dash in 51.80 seconds on Monday, while recording his highest event score of 734 points. On Tuesday, he was second in the 110-meter hurdles in 17.09 seconds and took second the javelin throw at 168' 2".

Clemmer tied with Cerne in the pole vault. By clearing 14' 3.25", Clemmer was able to establish a new personal record in the event, breaking his previous top vault of 14' 1.25", set at the Willamette Opener on March 6.

Other event winners in the decathlon on Tuesday were Kennedy in the 110-meter hurdles in 16.62 seconds, Cooper in the discus at 117' 7", Madden in the javelin throw at 170' 7" and Bollin in the 1,500-meter run in 4:21.59.

Kennedy finished with two event wins for the Bearcats. In addition to his victory in the 110 hurdles, he also tied for first place in the high jump on Monday at 5' 11.25". His best event score was earned in the 100-meter dash, as he scored 719 points and took third place in 11.66 seconds on Monday.

Alexis Arnold from George Fox University claimed first place in the heptathlon with 4,554 points. She helped the Bruins earn the top four places. Charity Arn took second place at 4,367 points, with Alyssa Turner in third place at 4,261 points and Katie Dyk in fourth place at 4,150 points.

Miller garnered 4,141 points for the Bearcats to achieve her fifth place finish, as she trailed Dyk by just nine points.

Willamette athletes also claimed sixth place and eighth place. Rebekah Daniel (So., Silverdale, WA/Central Kitsap HS) was sixth with a score of 3,683 and Elisa Ahern (Fr., Lake Forest Park, WA/Shorecrest HS) was eighth with 3,663 points.

Event winners during the second day of the heptathlon were Arnold in the long jump, Arn in the javelin throw and Dyk in the 800-meter run. Arnold recorded a top distance of 18' 5.25" in the long jump. Arn tossed the javelin 113' 4" and Dyk topped the field in the 800 with a time of 2:20.21.

In winning the overall title, Arnold registered four wins. She tallied her first three victories on Monday, as she beat the field in the 100-meter hurdles at 14.98 seconds, tied for first place in the high jump at 5' 1.75" and took first in the shot put at 38' 0.25". Arnold took second place in the 200-meter dash in 26.14 seconds.

Miller placed second in the 800-meter run for Willamette on Tuesday with a time of 2:23.60, as she registered her top score of the meet with 775 points. During the first four events on Monday, her top placings were second in the shot put at 32' 9.75" and third in the 200-meter dash in 26.62 seconds.

Daniel's top results for Willamette were in the shot put, where she placed third with a distance of 30' 2.25", and in the long jump, where she achieved fourth place with a leap of 16' 1". Ahern was fifth in the 100-meter hurdles in 15.93 seconds and tied for fifth in the long jump at 16' 0.25".

Results from the NWC Multi-Events will count toward team scoring at the NWC Championships, which will be hosted by Pacific Lutheran on Friday, April 20 and Saturday, April 21.

In the women's scoring, George Fox leads with 29 points, while Willamette is second with 8 points and Pacific University is third with 2 points.

The men's standings include Whitworth in first place at 14 points, Puget Sound in second at 10 points, Willamette in third with 7 points and PLU in fourth with 4 points. Also scoring were Linfield in fifth place with 3 points and Pacific in sixth with 1 point.