Saints track and field begin run at NWAC title in Spokane

Mt Hood hosted the NWAC league’s South Region Championship for track and field last Saturday at Earl Klapstein Stadium, marking the first of back-to-back championship events for the Saints.

Next up: the NWAC Championship, set to start Monday in Spokane, Wash., with more than 15 Saints athletes qualified for the meet.

Six teams competed in the regional showdown in Gresham: Clackamas, Clark, Lane, Mt. Hood, Southwestern Oregon, and Treasure Valley community colleges.

On the women’s side, the top three teams stayed in the same order as in the past few years: Lane would take first with 239 points, Clackamas  second with 223, and Mt Hood third, scoring 95.

The Saints managed an impressive six first-place individual finishes, but they didn’t have the depth that the other two teams had in order to compete with them.

On the men’s side, Lane dominated the meet, taking first by an impressive152 points, scoring 309 points total.

Clackamas managed 157 points for second, and Treasure Valley grabbed third with 110. Mt. Hood was close to Treasure Valley for most of the meet, but fell toward the end when Hood didn’t have any entries in the 5,000 meter run or 4×400 meter relay, where the Chukars scored 27 points. The Saints finished with 80 points.

Individually for the women, Courtney Andre scored 31 points, the most points scored by any competitor. She placed second in the 100 meter  hurdles with a personal best of 14.38 seconds, first in the 400 hurdles with a season best of 1:05.31, and second in the long jump, soaring to 5.23 meters.

The meet also included the marks from the NWAC Multi-Event Championships, giving Andre another fourth place-finish (in the heptathlon-type competition).

NWAC sprinting leader Margaret Paul had a couple of first place finishes for the Saints, winning 100- and 200-meter sprint titles. She ran 12.15 for the 100, and 25.29 for the 200. Shanice Lakes added another first for the team, winning the 400 meter race in 57.18. She also jumped to seventh in the triple jump with a mark of 10.32 meters.

Kayla Watkins placed eighth in the 800 meters, running 2:42.45, and sixth in the javelin, throwing 34.70 meters. Rachel Woodcock also competed in the javelin, recording a third-place, 37.38-meter throw.

Georgia Glovastky and Emily Trosino won their distance events, Glovastky taking the 5,000 meters in 18:46.71, and Trosino winning the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 12:18.04. Kim Smith also ran the 5,000, taking seventh in 22:16.99.

For the Mt. Hood men, Josh Turner had a full day, competing in the 100-meter dash, 110 hurdles, triple jump, 400 hurdles, and taking part in the 4×100-meter relay. His best performance came in the 110 hurdles, where he took the win in 15.23. Devon Larson also had a strong race, taking second in a personal best of 15.38.

Brandon Raleigh ran the 1,500- and 800-meter double, taking fourth in the 1,500 in 4:03.26 and sixth in the 800 in 1:59.89.

Jonathan Zacarius and Santiago Velasco-Lopez both ran the 3,000-meter steeplechase, Zacarius taking fourth in 10:29.78 and Velasco-Lopez fifth with a time of 11:03.36.

Josh Visan had a season best in the pole vault, with a clearance of 3.73 meters. Bryce Evens jumped 6.38 meters in the long jump, good for eighth.

Tyler Jackson had a strong performance in the shot put and discus, taking second in the shot, throwing 14.39 meters, and first in the discus, throwing 45.12. Nick Ham finished fifth in the hammer with a mark of 42.12.

After the meet, 800-meter runner Barnett spoke about his experience.

“It was really professionally run and was a great atmosphere for all athletes and spectators,” he said. As far as his own event, “I want to be able to maintain contact (with the lead pack) throughout the last 200 meters of the race. I talked to (Saints) Coach (Jim) Satterfield about how we are going to train in order to do that.

“The coaches put forth effort in each athlete, really working on being runner-specific and not generalizing training this year,” Barnett added. “That really helps.”

The athletes who have qualified throughout the year (with high personal marks) will head to Spokane for the NWAC Championship meet, held at Spokane Falls Community College.

The meet runs Monday and Tuesday, and will be the Saints’ final action of the year. Events start at 10 a.m. Monday.