Freeby Leads 1-2-3-4 Finish in Women's Steeplechase at NWC Championships

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

SALEM, ORE. -- Willamette University sophomore runner Michaela Freeby (Milwaukie, OR/Rex Putnam HS) took first place to lead a 1-2-3-4 finish by the Bearcats in the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase on the first day of the 2013 Northwest Conference Track and Field Championships, at the Charles Bowles Track on Friday, April 26. Freeby's winning time was 11:06.01.

It was the second consecutive NWC championship for Freeby in the steeplechase. She won last year's title with a time of 11:08.91.

Stevie Gildehaus (Sr., Spokane Valley, WA/University HS) was second in the women's steeplechase at 11:20.02 and Taylor Ostrander (Fr., Soldotna, AK/Kenai Central HS) was third at 11:24.94. Hannah Bressler (Fr., Oak Harbor, WA/Oak Harbor HS) completed WU's top-four sweep in 11:27.83.

The men's steeplechase was won by Matthew Edwards of Whitworth in 9:36.62, as he set a personal record. Willamette received two top eight finishes in the race, as Jacob Shafi (Fr., Pleasanton, CA/Amador Valley HS) took fifth in 9:58.85 and Hunter Matthies (Fr., Moran, WY/Jackson Hole HS) placed sixth at 10:00.14.

Yonny Castillo (Fr., Parkdale, OR/Hood River Valley) provided WU with fifth place in the men's 10,000-meter run. Castillo attained a personal record time of 32:47.17. Tyler Shipley from Pacific won the race in 31:58.63.

In the women's 10,000-meter run, Willamette's Amanda Tamanaha (Sr., Honolulu, HI/Saint Andrews Priory School) ran well and achieved fifth place in a personal record of 38:53.53. Alisha Till (Sr., Richland, WA/Richland HS) was seventh in a personal record at 40:03.56. Emily Thomas of Lewis & Clark won her second straight NWC 10,000-meter title with a time of 36:49.82.

The men's and women's steeplechase and the men's and women's 10,000-meter run were the only running events with finals on Friday. All of the other events on the track featured preliminary heats with the finals set for Saturday, April 27.

Finals were held in several field events on Friday.

In the men's long jump, Carson Kennedy (So., Forest Grove, OR/Forest Grove HS) of Willamette took third place with a personal record distance of 22' 3". Tyler Guinn from Whitworth University won the long jump at 23' 2.50".

Wyatt Briggs (Sr., Scio, OR/Scio HS) from Willamette placed third in the men's hammer throw. He registered a personal record with his best toss of the day, which covered 182' 3". His previous top throw was 177' 9". Keegan Shea of Whitworth took first place with a throw of 191' 11".

The men's discus was won by Carter Comito of Whitworth, who set an NWC Championships record and a Charles Bowles Track record with a throw of 195' 3.25". It was Comito's third consecutive NWC title in the discus to go along with a second place finish as a freshman in 2010.

Hans Lehndorff (Fr., Boulder, CO/Boulder HS) of Willamette was fourth in the discus at 139' 4", while Briggs took seventh place at 138' 2.50".

Chibron Tomeo of Whitworth prevailed in the pole vault, as he cleared a winning height of 16' 1.75" to set a school record for the Pirates.

In the women's high jump, Taylor Ottomano (Jr., Poulsbo, WA/North Kitsap HS) from Willamette earned third place by clearing 5' 3.25". Christina Dobbins from Whitworth won the high jump at 5' 5.25". Ottomano was one of three other athletes to clear 5' 3.25", with the order of finish determined by jumps. Maria Green of GFU finished second and Beth Stam of GFU finished fourth.

Willamette's Bekah Daniel (So., Silverdale, WA/Central Kitsap HS) was fourth in the long jump at 17' 0.75". First place went to Emily Wyatt of George Fox at 18' 7.75".

Meka Townsend (Fr., Okanogan, WA/Okanogan HS) of WU took fourth place in the javelin throw with a distance of 134' 1.25". Kerry Wright won the javelin for Whitworth with a toss of 148' 9.25".

Marisa Gonzalez of Pacific Lutheran was the NWC title winner in the shot put. She registered a throw of 41' 5.25". Jossalyn Wright (So., Aumsville, OR/Cascade HS) of Willamette placed seventh at 36' 9".

Team Standings

At the end of the day, George Fox University led the women's team standings with 83.5 points. Whitworth was second with 65 points and Willamette was third at 64.5 points.

The Pacific Lutheran University women were in fourth place with 22 points, Lewis & Clark College was fifth at 16 points, while Linfield College was sixth with 15 points and the University Puget Sound was seventh with 7 points. Pacific University did not score.

Whitworth built a big lead in the men's team standings with 110 points. Puget Sound was in second place at 45 points and Willamette held third place with 38 points.

Pacific was fourth in the men's standings with 28 points, George Fox was fifth with 21 points, Pacific Lutheran was sixth with 19 points. Lewis & Clark followed in seventh place with 9 points and Linfield was eighth with 3 points.

Advancing from Preliminaries (Women):

Erynn Rebol (Sr., Cottonwood, CA/Red Bluff Union HS) registered the top time in the prelims of the 800-meter run in 2:17.91. She was one of three Bearcats who advanced to the finals. Joining Rebol were Theresa Edwards (Sr., Lake Tapps, WA/Bonney Lake HS) and Stevie Gildehaus.

Kylea Johnson (Fr., Onalaska WA/Onalaska HS) qualified for the finals in the 100-meter dash and the 200-meter dash, while Carmela Roberts (Fr., Santa Cruz, CA/Santa Cruz HS) advanced in the 200-meter dash and the 400-meter dash. Ashland Bernard (Fr., Kirkland, WA/Juanita HS) earned the second-fastest prelim time in the 400 at 59.76.

Molly Bond (So., Clarkston, WA/Asotin HS) also advanced in two events. She reached the finals in the 100-meter hurdles and the 400-meter hurdles.

100m dash - Kylea Johnson, 12.93.
200m dash - Kylea Johnson, 26.15 (PR); Carmela Roberts, 26.47 (PR).
400m dash - Ashland Bernard, 59.76 (PR); Carmela Roberts, 1:00.14 (PR).
800m run - Erynn Rebol, 2:17.91; Theresa Edwards, 2:19.98; Stevie Gildehaus, 2:21.35.
100m hurdles - Bekah Daniel, 15.42 (PR); Elisa Ahern (So., Lake Forest Park, WA/Shorecrest HS), 16.01; Molly Bond (So., Clarkston, WA/Asotin HS), 16.20.
400m hurdles - Molly Bond, 1:08.64.

Advancing from Preliminaries (Men):

Tom Fiechtner (Jr., Poway, CA/Cathedral HS) achieved the top prelim time in the 200-meter dash at 22.00 seconds and produced the second-fastest time in the 400-meter dash at 49.76 seconds. Dylan Jones (Fr., Santa Maria, CA/Ernest Righetti HS) reached the finals in the 100-meter dash and the 200-meter dash.

In addition to taking third place in the long jump, Carson Kennedy (So., Forest Grove, OR/Forest Grove HS) moved into the finals in the 110-meter hurdles.

100m dash - Dylan Jones (Fr., Santa Maria, CA/Ernest Righetti HS), 10.91 (PR); Chris Luetjen (Jr., Lake Oswego, OR/Lake Oswego HS), 11.13 (PR).
200m dash - Tom Fiechtner, 22.00 (PR); Dylan Jones, 22.60.
400m dash - Tom Fiechtner, 49.76.
800m run - Kit Kingstad (So., Beaverton, OR/Beaverton HS), 1:56.08.
110m hurdles - Carson Kennedy, 15:41 (PR).
400m hurdles - Matt Merritt (Sr., Aurora, OR/North Marion HS), 58.55.