Javelin throwers Justin Larson, Sheila Limas De La Cruz and Amanda Short competed in the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championship. The trio competed at Grand Valley State University’s Track & Field Stadium in Western Michigan from May 21-23.
In his third straight national championship appearance, Larson threw a personal best of 66.68 meters (218-9) on his final throw of the competition. Larson broke a 24-year-old school record set by Western alum David Nickell in addition to earning U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Outdoor All-American honors.
Larson’s top-eight performance earned him the First-Team USTFCCAA All-American honors, a feat that has not been achieved by a Wolf since 2011.
Limas De La Cruz and Short made their national championship debut on Saturday, May 23 in the women’s javelin finals. Limas De La Cruz and Short placed 17th and 19th, respectively. Limas de La Cruz threw 39.19 meters (128-7) and Short threw 38.76 meters (127-2).
The NBA Finals Playoff series is set to start in Oakland on Thursday, June 4 with tipoff at 6 p.m. PST. The Golden State Warriors are favored to win the series with in-form Stephen Curry coming in off the back of game three against the Rockets where he broke the record for most three-pointers scored in a playoff season at 67 and counting. Klay Thompson is also heating up for the Warriors sinking 20 points in the final game against the Rockets. This is the Warriors first finals appearance since their last NBA title win in 1975.
The Cavaliers and Lebron James are arriving to the big stage battered and bruised. With at least four players experiencing day-to-day injuries (including James), the Cavs played one less game but are still feeling the physical side. This didn’t stop James’ trophy-hunting side from putting up a triple-double in the overtime game three, and a respectable 23 points in game four against the Atlanta Hawks. Looking for a boost, Kyrie Irving returned to the starting line-up after missing two games and posted an efficient 16 points and 4 rebounds in 20 minutes of play.
After winning three games in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) tournament, the Wolves baseball team clinched its 14th consecutive championship in a 4-3 win against the Northwest Nazarene Crusaders. Left-handed pitcher Darrien Moran earned the title of GNAC Championship MVP.
Right-handed pitcher Jesse Pratt was named to the 2015 Daktronics, Inc. Division II All-West Region Baseball Team.
Pratt was also named to the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association All-West Region Team as an honorable mention selection, along with outfielder Matt Taylor.
The Wolves are waiting for word on whether they qualify for the NCAA Division II West Regional tournament, which will be announced this weekend.
The Great Northwest Athletic Conference Outdoor Championships were held this past weekend on the Wolves home turf to showcase the outdoor track season as well as giving those going a chance to prepare for the National meet.
The first highlight came from Emmi Collier who became the first Wolf to win an individual title in the shot put since 2006. Her lifetime personal best came Friday, May 8, en route to win the shot put with 13.89 meters.
Jeremy Moore was able to step on the podium Friday after a 45.34 mark in the discus to give him a second place finish overall.
For the runners, preliminaries took place Friday. Rochelle Pappel raced the 100-meter hurdles, qualifying for finals in 14.46 seconds. Laura Patrick raced the 100 to qualify for finals in 12.36.
In the 400 hurdles, seniors Audrey Hellesto and Laura Knudson raced to keep their season alive, qualifying for finals in 1:04.31 and 1:04.96, respectively.
The men’s side included Aaron Whitaker finishing the 400 in 49, finishing seventh and qualifying for finals. Standout first year Cody Warner earned a spot in the finals in the 100 with 10.67 and the 200 in 21.68, taking second in both events.
Kaleb Dobson raced the 400 hurdles, winning his preliminary race in 54.18. In the 800, All-American Badane Sultessa, Josh Dempsey and Josh Hanna all earned spots in Saturday’s finals. Sultessa won the prelims with a time of 1:51.46.
On Saturday, senior Rebecca Laible defended her individual title in the triple jump with 11.79 meters. She won the event by 1.50 inches and also achieved a season-best to end her career at Western. Kylie Reinholdt took third in the event with 11.69, a life-time best.
Stephanie Stuckey raced the 1,500, placing third in 4:35.26. Emily Wetherell threw a lifetime best mark of 48.70 in the hammer throw while Amanda Short and Sheila Limas De La Cruz finished third and fourth, respectively, in the javelin. They both threw lifetime bests in 44.12 and 44.04 meters, respectively.
The men took home two individual titles when Sultessa won the finals of the 800 in 1:52.31. He became the Wolves’ third 800 champion since 2011. First year David Ribich took home his first conference title in the 1,500 in 3:50.58, a lifetime best.
Warner finished in second place in the 100 after finals while Dobson finished second in the 400 hurdles after the finals race.
The men’s team finished with 88 points in the conference standings, placing fourth overall after the two days. The women’s team placed fifth with 62 points.
The last opportunity to race during this outdoor season takes place on May 21-23 in Grand Rapids, Michigan at the NCAA Division II Outdoor Championships. The Wolves will wait for the announcement of what times qualify to earn a spot in the meet.
Distance runner Stephanie Stuckey at the OSU High Performance Photo by Rachel Gosney
By Rachel Shelley
Staff Writer
Western track competed at two separate meets in preparation for the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Meet, the Oregon State High Performance Meet and the Mt. Hood Track Festival.
Just 20 miles down the road, the Wolves traveled to Oregon State to set multiple personal records before conference. Emily Wetherell started it off for the Wolves, throwing a personal record of 45.72 meters in the hammer throw, finishing 11th overall.
Justin Larson took third with his javelin throw of 61.06 while Aaron Whitaker would take home a season-best and first place in his section of the 400-meter dash, finishing in 49.21 seconds, giving him eighth overall.
Jeremy Moore threw a season-best with 14.88 in the shot put, finishing 11th overall. Cody Warner would finish second overall with 10.68 in the 100.
In Gresham, the team would set 14 personal records in the final meet before conference. Nine personal records were set by the women’s team, with Alecia Falck starting it off with a PR in the discus and hammer throw with 38.68 and 34.51, respectively. Leah Nicklason would also throw a personal record in the discus with 36.47.
Megan Rose would then set a personal record in the 400 in 59.67 seconds, right behind Suzanne Van De Grift who also would post a season best time of 59.43. Laura Knudson set a personal record time of 1:05.16 in the 400-meter hurdles, winning the event while Felicia Covey would win the following section of the 400 hurdles with her personal record time of 1:07.76. Rebecca Laible won the triple jump with a season best mark of 11.68 meters.
For the men, five personal records were set in four different events. in the 1,500 meter, Josh Dempsey won section two in 3:57.60. Lucas Clark and Chris Mudder would set their PRs in the discus with 38.92 and 37.53, respectively. Kegan Allen threw 45.24 in the hammer throw – a personal record – while Jacob Kantola would jump 6.36 in the long jump, his personal record.
Badane Sultessa would earn a NCAA Division II provisional time, the second Western runner to do so, and became number 20th in the country in the 800 with a time of 1:51.13, placing second in the race.
The team will now race at the GNAC Outdoor Championships held Friday, May 8, and Saturday, May 9, at McArthur Field starting 2 p.m. Friday and 9:30 a.m. Saturday.
The Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championship softball championships were held April 30 through May 2 in Yakima, Washington. Western’s softball team ended their season after a 3-8 loss to Western Washington University. Western Washington advanced to the championship game and lost 5-9 to Montana State Billings.
In other news, the softball team announced that their elite competition camp will be held June 22-24 at Western’s softball field. The elite competition camp is intended to enhance and improve the skills of high school students and prepare them for a higher level of competition. For more information, go online to www.wouwolves.com.
SOFTBALL:
PHOTO BY OLIVIA DeJANVIER First baseman Nathan Etheridge (#12) at bat in game one against Northwest Nazarene on Saturday, May 2.
By Jacob Mitchell
Staff Writer
Western’s baseball team had a solid weekend of play, as they went 3-1 in a four-game series against fellow GNAC competitor, Northwest Nazarene University. Their only loss in the series came by way of a nail biting, extra-inning slugfest in game three (7-8).
Junior Adam Bloom led the Wolves offensively this past weekend, with a combined 6-for-8 at the plate with one run scored and two RBIs.
Seniors Matt Taylor and Marcus Hinkle hammered out five hits apiece in their final games at home for Western. Senior Michael Sherwin recorded a pair of home runs in game one, and had a pair of RBIs to match.
It was announced Monday from the GNAC head office that Western had 10 baseball players named to the GNAC Team.
Senior Jesse Pratt was named Pitcher of the Year and Brady Miller was awarded Freshman of the Year.
Along with Pratt, seniors Garret Harpole and Taylor, juniors Shawn Domke and Nathan Etheridge were named as members of the first team.
Second team selection included Miller, junior Garrett Alvarez, juniors Darrien Moran, and Cody Sullivan, while earned honorable mention honors.
Pratt and Taylor were unanimous selections on this year’s first team, while Harpole and Taylor were veterans as they earned the same awards last season.
The team traveled to Billings, Montana Thursday to play in the GNAC tournament. The Wolves lost their first game to NNU, 3-2.
At the time of publication, the Wolves were playing against No. 1 seed Montana State Billings. A loss in this double-elimination tournament would end their season.
