Dinsmore Wins Twice, Winger is Track Athlete of the Meet, at NWC Championships

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

PARKLAND, WASH. -- Jaela Dinsmore (Sr., Hines, OR/Burns HS) of Willamette University won the women's 100-meter and 200-meter dashes, and Paul Winger (Sr., Bonney Lake, WA/Bonney Lake HS) was chosen Men's Track Athlete of the Meet with his fourth consecutive title for the Bearcats in the 400-meter dash, as the 2012 Northwest Conference Track and Field Championships concluded on Saturday, April 21.

Willamette took second place in the women's team standings and also finished second in the men's team standings. George Fox University won its second consecutive women's title, while Whitworth University claimed its third straight men's championship.

George Fox scored 207 points to win the women's team title. Willamette was second with 173 points and Linfield was third with 117 points. Whitworth placed fourth with 99.5 points, while Lewis & Clark College was fifth at 68, the University of Puget Sound was sixth at 55.5, Pacific Lutheran University was seventh at 54 and Pacific University was eighth at 43.

Whitworth achieved a total of 270 points while winning the men's team title. Willamette tallied 132 points in second place. Pacific Lutheran took third with 124 points, Linfield was fourth with 99.5, George Fox was fifth with 58, Pacific was sixth at 50.5, Puget Sound was seventh at 48 and Lewis & Clark was eighth with 34.

Dinsmore Earns Double Victories

Dinsmore won the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.31 seconds in the finals. She won by 0.29 seconds over Melany Crocker from Linfield College, who took second at 12.59.

In the 200-meter dash, Dinsmore established a new personal record at 25.10 seconds, as she reduced her previous top time by an impressive 0.55. She also advanced from sixth up to third on Willamette's all-time list and moved into 10th on the NCAA Division III performance list.

Dinsmore's exceptional run allowed her to win by 0.87 seconds, with Andrea Leiken from University of Puget Sound finishing second in 25.97 seconds. Crocker was third at 26.06.

Winger Hauls in Fourth 400-Meter Title

Winger claimed his fourth NWC championship in the 400-meter dash as he beat the field by more than half a second. He earned a winning time of 48.93 seconds for his fastest time this season. Orion Bras from Pacific Lutheran crossed the finish line in second place at 49.52 seconds, while David Fisher from Pacific Lutheran was third in 50.44 seconds.

In addition to his win in the 400, Winger also took fourth place in the 200-meter dash with a time of 22.49 seconds. He finished just 0.05 out of second place. The winner of the 200 was Kevin Carpenter from Lewis & Clark College.

Winger also helped Willamette place third in the men's 4 x 400-meter relay in 3:21.34 and contributed to the Bearcats taking fourth place in the 4 x 100-meter relay in 43.52 seconds. He ran the anchor leg on both relays.

Additional Willamette NWC Champions

Overall, the Bearcats won six women's events and four men's events.

Theresa Edwards (Jr., Lake Tapps, WA/Bonney Lake HS) of Willamette won two events, as she took first place in the 800-meter run and the 1,500-meter run.

The winning time for Edwards in the 800 was 2:18.45, as she lowered her personal record for the second time in as many days. Edwards led a 1-3-5 finish for the Bearcats, as Kaitlin Greene (Sr., Pullman, WA/Pullman HS) took third in 2:19.98 and Erynn Rebol (Jr., Cottonwood, CA/Red Bluff Union HS) placed fifth in 2:21.23.

Edwards topped a 1-2-3 Willamette finish in the 1,500, as she won the race in 4:43.44. Michaela Freeby (Fr., Milwaukie, OR/Rex Putnam HS) was second in 4:43.50 and Greene was third in 4:43.56. The three Willamette runners were separated by only 0.12.

Willamette's Elisa Ahern (Fr., Lake Forest, WA/Shorecrest HS) was the champion in the women's triple jump with a top leap of 36' 1.50". She set a personal record, moving past her previous top mark of 35' 5.75". Ahern won the NWC title by more than one foot, as Rachael Adkins from George Fox took second place at 34' 10.5". Rebekah Daniel (So., Silverdale, WA/Central Kitsap HS) of Willamette was fifth at 34' 7".

Freeby registered the remaining win for the Bearcat women on Friday, when she earned first place in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 11:08.91.

Joining Winger with victories for the Willamette men's team, were Kit Kingstad (So., Beaverton, OR/Beaverton HS), Parker Bennett (So., Sisters, OR/Sisters HS) and Ben Donovan (Sr., Minneapolis, MN/South HS).

Kingstad completed the 1,500-meter run first in a very close finish. He recorded a time of 3:57.52 for a slim 0.08 margin of victory over Steven Acosta from Whitworth, who took second in 3:57.60. Daniel Swanson (Fr., Seattle, WA/Roosevelt HS) of Willamette was fifth in 4:01.57.

Bennett won by just over four seconds in the 5,000-meter run with a time of 15:24.45. Matt Klein from Puget Sound gained second place in 15:28.59. Kevin Aubol (Jr., Ellensburg, WA/Ellensburg HS) of WU took seventh in 15:39.86, giving him his second top eight effort of the meet after placing third in the 10,000-meter run on Friday.

Donovan's first place finish was in the 3,000-meter steeplechse on Friday. He won the race in 9:19.51.

Other top performances for the Bearcat women's squad on Saturday included:

Both relay teams placed second. In the 4 x 100-meter relay, Linfield was first in 48.61 seconds, with Willamette completing the race in 49.00 seconds. The time for the Bearcats moved the relay into second on Willamette's all-time list, trailing only the team of Autumn Schmeck, Lydia Marsalli, Kaitlin St. John and Andrea May, who registered a time of 47.78 in the prelims of the 2007 NCAA Division III Championships.

On Saturday, the 4 x 100 team included Sam Nhim (Sr., Tigard, OR/Southridge HS), Dinsmore, Daniel and Brandi Miller (Sr., Grants Pass, OR/North Valley HS).

In the 4 x 400-meter relay, first place went to George Fox with a time of 3:46.99. Willamette's team of Nhim, Miller, Rebol and Dinsmore earned second place in 3:57.92.

Nhim placed seventh in the 100-meter dash at 26.73 seconds and was fourth in the 400-meter dash in 59.01 seconds. She cut 0.95 from her previous personal-best time of 59.96 in the 400.

Sally Venable (Sr., Ventura, CA/Foothill Technology HS), who finished second in the steeplechase on Friday, added a second place finish in the 5,000-meter run on Saturday. She completed the race in 18.33.89. Emily
Thomas of L&C was first in 18:15.59.

Miller scored for Willamette in the hurdle events. She was third in the 400-meter hurdles in 1:05.40 and attained fourth place in the 100-meter hurdles in 16.00 seconds. Ahern was sixth in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 16.08 seconds.

Ginny Hodges (Jr., San Francisco, CA/Saint Ignatius HS) placed fifth in the high jump, as she cleared 4' 11".

Jossalyn Wright (Fr., Aumsville, OR/Cascade HS) was fifth in the shot put. Her top throw went 35' 3".

Additional results for the Willamette men's team on the second day of the NWC Championships included:

Spencer Clemmer (Sr., Sacramento, CA/Elk Grove HS) was one of three pole vaulters to clear 14' 11.50". Based on fewest jumps, Chibron Tomeo from Whitworth received first place, with Clemmer in second and Joseph Green of Whitworth in third. Clemmer's successful jump set a new personal record, breaking his old mark of 14' 3.25" by just over eight inches.

Carson Kennedy (Fr., Forest Grove, OR/Forest Grove HS) took second place in the triple jump, as he covered 44' 3.25" on his best attempt. Kennedy surpassed his previous personal record which was 41' 2.25". Marqui Makupson from Pacific Lutheran won the triple jump at 45' 7.75". Kennedy also achieved sixth place in the 100-meter hurdles. His time was 16.22 seconds.

In the hammer throw, Max Faulhaber (So., Eugene, OR/Sheldon HS) achieved second place and Wyatt Briggs (Jr., Scio, OR/Scio HS) was third. Kyle Peart from PLU won the hammer with a toss of 182' 7". Faulhaber followed at 181' 2", as he established a new personal record, breaking his old mark of 173' 9". Briggs also set a personal record, registering a throw of 177' 9". His previous top distance was 169' 8".

Three Bearcats scored in the 800-meter run. Bart Grabman (Sr., Anchorage, AK/Steller HS) was fifth in a personal-record time of 1:57.27. Kingstad was seventh in 1:58.75 and Jeff Schreiner-McGraw (Fr., Philomath, OR/Philomath HS) was eighth in 1:59.10.

Neal Howard (Sr., Seattle, WA/Ballard HS) finished eighth in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.48 seconds.

The Willamette 4 x 400-meter relay team claimed third place. George Fox won the race in 3:20.73, with Pacific Lutheran in second at 3:21.14 and Willamette next at 3:32.34. Running for the Bearcats were Tom Fiechtner (So., Poway, CA/Cathedral HS), Howard, Schreiner-McGraw and Winger. In the 4 x 100-meter relay, Willamette was fourth in 43.53 seconds, missing third by just 0.04 and second by 0.17.