Throwers leads track team at ‘Icebreaker’ opener

The MHCC throwers took the spotlight March 3 with seven top-five finishes at the team’s first meet of the season at the Erik Anderson Icebreaker meet in McMinnville.

Freshman Molley Scoles placed first in the women’s 200-meter dash with a time of 26.70.

Sophomore Terra Zodrow, who finished in third last year at NWAACCs, placed second in the 400-meter hurdles Saturday with a time of 1:07.80.

The women’s 4×100-meter relay team, which brought home the NWAACC title last year, seems set to be a top competitor in the event this year and placed second with a time of 50.81. The team consisted of sophomores Laura Knudson and Amy Kegler and freshmen Emily Sharp and Scoles.

Freshmen throwers Kaitlin Doyle and Tori Dixson had an impressive outing in the shot put at the Icebreaker, placing first (11.03 meters) and second (10.91 meters), respectively.

The two also placed well in the discus, with Doyle finishing third with a throw of 36.04 meters, and Dixson coming in fourth with a throw of 35.97 meters.

On the men’s side, sophomore Robert Hanke, who placed fourth at NWAACCs in the 400 meters, placed fourth in the same event at the Icebreaker, finishing in 57.42.

Jon Lawson, another freshman, threw his way into the top five in three events. He placed first in the discus (46.79 meters), fourth in the hammer throw (46.79 meters) and second in the shot put (14.28 meters).

Head track and field coach Matt Hart said, “We had some good performances. We were about where I expected. Our women throwers did well.”

Hart said that although their marks weren’t the most impressive, relative to how other colleges are performing, they’re ahead of the game.
“Right now everyone is heavy. Everyone’s not as sharp as they could be,” he said.

“Everyone’s kind of broken down from weightlifting and from training hard. So for them to perform the way they did and to have the placing they did, it says a lot about the program and about where they’re at.”

Though numerous Saints athletes placed high at the meet, several competed at the meet unattached due to academic ineligibility.

Asked if this fact hurt the team in their performance, Hart said, “It didn’t hurt us because we’re not scoring right now. Right now it’s about individual performances.”

However, he added, “It will hurt us if they won’t get eligible. ”

As for the competition, Hart said there was enough to go around.

“Clackamas (Community College) was there unattached and Clackamas has some really strong women in certain events,” Hart said.

This weekend, the track and field team will stay home to host the Saints Open which Hart said they have been busy preparing for.

“It seems like it’s going to be a smaller meet, which is okay,” said Hart.

“It will be a fun, kind of small meet and should be fairly quick. So it won’t be so much pressure on our athletes plus we’re at home,” said Hart.

“Hopefully our athletes can relax a little bit and just do what they’ve been doing in practice but under a competitive kind of environment. If they do what they’ve been doing in practice, with adrenaline and are fresh, I think they’ll surprise themselves.”