Saints run, jump, throw for fourth and seventh at Northwest Athletic Conference

 

The Saints finished their track and field season on Monday-Tuesday at the NWAC Championship meet, hosted by Spokane Falls Community College.

It was the culmination of hard work put in over the season. The team placing didn’t change for Mt. Hood from last year, as the women took fourth place, and the men took seventh.

Spokane won the team competition on the women’s side, with Lane Community College taking second, and Lane won on the men’s side, with Spokane taking second.

On the women’s team, it was the Margaret Paul and Georgia Glovatsky show for Mt. Hood, as both of them grabbed a pair of golds in their events.

Paul brought home titles in the 100- and 200-meter races, both in personal record times. She went under 12 seconds for the first time in the 100, running 11.96 – breaking the  20-year NWAC record, the league announced – and ran under 25 for the first time in the 200, going 24.61.

Glovatsky starred on the other side of the spectrum, winning the 5,000 and 10,000-meter races. The races were tactical – slower-paced, strategically run – but she still managed times of 18:16.63 for the 5k, and 39:03.35 for the 10k. She won both by considerable margins, creating gaps as large as 200 meters by the end in both cases.

Courtney Andre helped the team finishing second in the 100 hurdles, and second in the 400 hurdles. She ran 14.75 in the 100s, and a season best of 1:04.80 in the 400s. Her heptathlon score of 3939 also counted in this meet, giving her another sixth-place finish. Madison Greenleaf also had a strong race in the 400 hurdles, finishing right behind Andre in 1:05.73.

Rachel Woodcock threw the javelin 35.53 meters to finish seventh. Emily Trosino and Haley McDonald competed in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, Trosino finishing second in 12:01.48, a personal best and school record, and McDonald in eighth place, at 13:00.14.

The women’s 4×100 meter relay, consisting of Kayla Watkins, Andre, McDonald and Paul, took sixth in 51.27 seconds. The 4×400 meter relay, consisting of Paul, Watkins, Greenleaf and Andre, took third in 4:01.78.

For the Saints men, Brandon Raleigh ran the 1,500 and 5,000 meter double, finishing fifth in the 1,500 in 4:05.04 and eighth in the 5,000 with a time of 16:17.57.

Devon Larson and Joshua Turner both ran strong in the 110-meter hurdles, Larson taking second in 15.01 and Turner getting third in 15.05. Turner also ran the 400 hurdles, grabbing seventh in 58.05.

Tyler Jackson threw well in the discus, throwing 45.25 meters, good enough for second.

The men’s 4×100 meter relay team, consisting of Ngai Li, Bryce Evans, Larson, and Dennis Carline, took fifth in 43.95.

After the meet, Paul was extremely happy – no surprise, given her record marks.

“I was surprised with the times I hit at NWAC’s… all the training and little tweaks in my running form paid off!” she said. “Fernando (Fantroy, sprints and hurdler coach at Mt. Hood) is literally the best coach ever.”

As for the women’s overall performance, she said, “The distance girls rocked it, and our hurdles performed really well. Everyone tried their hardest and supported each other. It was awesome!”

With the season over now, team members said goodbye to the departing sophomores and began prepping for 2016.