Relays dominate at championship meet

Sophomore Laura Knudson hands off to sophomore Mariah Crumpler in the 4x100-meter at the Southern Region Championships Saturday.

The Saint’s women relay teams were fire on the track Saturday, as they became the 2012 Southern Region champions in both the 4×100-meter and 4×400-meter relay events.

Competing at home on the MHCC track, the women’s 4×100-meter, consisting of freshman Molly Scoles and sophomores Laura Knudson, Mariah Crumpler and Terra Zodrow, finished with a time of 48.24, the second fastest time in NWAACCs this season. The 4×400-meter team, consisting of the same lineup, finished in 4:03, also putting them in second in NWAACCs.
The men’s 4×100-meter relay team, consisting of freshmen Douglas Sudberry, Michael Hopkins, Thomas Avants and sophomore Jacob Troupe, finished in 42.33 seconds, also good enough to place them second in NWAACCs and placed first at the meet.

Freshman Douglas Sudberry kicking it to the finish line at the 2012 Southern Region Championships.

According to head track and field coach Matt Hart, the sprinters in general were a dominating force at the meet.

“We just dominated the sprints,” said Hart.

“I was proud that we competed really well at home. There were a lot of life-time personal records,” he said.

The championship meet, which served as a qualifying meet for NWAACCs, proved bountiful for the track and field teams as they laid claim to 23 other top three finishes.

The top finishes in the sprints on the women’s side included Crumpler’s second-place finish in the 100-meter dash (12.61), Zodrow’s second place in the 200-meter, followed closely by Crumpler in third (26.17), Knudson’s first-place finish in the 400-meter (58.05) with Scoles finishing just a hair behind at 58.36.

On the women’s distance squad, freshman Christa Collmer placed second in the 800-meter (2:21) and sophomore Gabriela Diaz placed third in the 5000-meter (20:44).

Multi-talented athlete Zodrow also placed in the top three in three other events, including second in the 100-meter hurdles (14.98), first in the 400-meter hurdles (1:05), and second in the long jump, (5.38 meters).

In the throwing and the jumping events, freshman Kaitlin Doyle placed third in the discus (37.23 meters) and second in the shot put (11.32 meters). She was followed closely by freshman Tori Dixson, who placed third (11.24 meters), and jumper Mariah Delepierre who placed second in the triple jump (10.58 meters).

In the men’s sprints, the 4×400-meter team, consisting of Sudberry, sophomore Robert Hanke, Hopkins and Avants, placed third (3:27). All members of the 4×400-meter also managed to place individually: Hopkins and Sudberry placed second and third in the 100-meter dash (11.11 and 11.13, respectively), and Avants finished third in the 400-meter (50.54). Troupe of the 4×100-meter team also placed second in the high jump (1.92 meters) and third in the long jump (6.51 meters).

On the distance team, sophomores Kyle Williams and Donnie Coulson placed second and third in the 5000-meter, running 17:10 and 17:14, respectively.
As a team, the women’s side proved the Saints to be a formidable member of the Southern Region, placing second with 209 points behind the Lane Titans, who totaled 251 points. The Saints improved considerably from a year ago when they placed third overall and the Titans beat by them by more than 100 points.

The Saints’ men placed third, scoring 128 points, with the Titans again claiming first place with 333 points.

“It was a good experience hosting a championship meet and having our kids come through and perform like champions,” said Hart.
In regard to the women’s second-place finish to Lane, Hart said, “Lane has a lot of depth. They’ve got a lot of women, and that’s where they got us. They got us on the bodies. We only had 12 women score. We lost the championship over back points.”

In comparison, Lane had more than 40 female competitors.
The track and field team has picked up momentum as of late, after struggling earlier when losing key athletes due to ineligibility.

Asked if the team is competing at a higher level now than earlier in the season, Hart said, “Absolutely finishing stronger. It’s boiling down to the people who really want to compete and improve and they are.”

The track and field team will take this weekend off, but will be head back into action at the NWAACC Championship meet, which will be held Monday and Tuesday at Spokane Falls Community College.

Hart said he hopes the athletes will use the opportunity to express their passion and love for the sport, which will hopefully be reflected in their performances.

“I’m really hoping people start not holding back. There’s no reason to hold back anymore. I told one of our female athletes today, ‘Just start expressing yourself through your event.’

“It’s going to be hard, you know, it’s the championship meet. It’s not easy” Hart said.

“The NWAACC championship is about getting those front points and it’s a really competitive conference right now,” he said.

Advocate Staff