Dominic Baez
Managing editor

Earning first and second place, respectively, and automatically qualifying for the NCAA Division III Championships, junior twin brothers Josh and Jeremy Lovell dominated the Northwest Conference Multi-Event Championships on April 13 and 14.
After carrying over their 1-2 standing from the opening day, Josh Lovell scored 7,003 points while Jeremy Lovell scored 6,737 points during the meet, held at Baker Stadium at the University of Puget Sound.
“Placing first was a great accomplishment, but it made me feel even better that everyone who competed at the meet from Linfield did awesome, as well,” Josh Lovell said. “If you want to win conference championships, which this team is set out to do, there has to be a team effort, and I feel that we all represented the team very well and began the conference meet on a great note. We set the tone, and hopefully we can continue it in a couple weeks at conference.”
The next meet will be the NWC Championships at Pacific University’s Lincoln Park Stadium on April 24 and 25.
Josh Lovell placed first in the pole vault, 100-meter dash, long jump, high jump and 110 hurdles; third in the javelin and shot put; fourth in the discus and 400; and ninth in the 1500.
“There is still some work that I need to do in order to compete at the level that I know I can, but that being said, I was very satisfied with what I accomplished at the conference decathlon,” Josh Lovell said. “It shows how much I have worked and how hard I trained during the off-season and leading up to the meet. I owe all of my accomplishments to my coaches: All of them have set me up to have a great meet. My strength was my training and the confidence that I had going into the meet. It takes a lot to get through the two days, and my training set me up perfectly. Also, with the training, you have to have the confidence that you are capable of achieving your goals and I feel that everything came together perfectly.”
Jeremy Lovell placed first in the pole vault, tying with Josh; second in the javelin, 100, long jump and high jump; third in 400; sixth in the shot put and 110 hurdles; and eighth in the 1500.
“Placing second overall was a great feeling,” Jeremy Lovell said. “The last two years at this same multi -event competition, I didn’t compete as well as I could have. I felt like this year I put everything I had out there, and it all came through in the end. I would like to improve on is the high jump and the hurdles. I have been dealing with a little ankle injury the past couple years, which really effects the high jump, but I manage to get by.”
Senior Gabe Haberly competed well, earning sixth place overall for the event, scoring 6,101 points and provisionally qualifying for the championships next week. His best performances include placing first in the pole vault, fourth in the javelin and fifth in the shot put.
“It felt great, like it should, to perform at the level I did and at the meet I did it at, but it wasn’t all about me during the meet and I think that is what made it so awesome,” Josh Lovell said about breaking several PRs. “We were all doing great things, my brother, Gabe Haberly and I, and that just made the meet so amazing and great to be a part of.”
In the NWC heptathlon championship competition, senior Laura Sibley placed sixth with 3,828 points, a season-best. Sibley’s best scores included second place in the 800, third in 200 and fourth in the 100 hurdles.
The track and field athletes also participated in the Washington v. Oregon track meet as well April 11, where four colleges and universities from Washington and four colleges and universities from Oregon competed. From Washington, Whitworth, Eastern Washington and Central Washington universities and Spokane Community College participated. From Oregon, Linfield, Lane Community College and Portland State and Eastern Oregon universities competed. The best performance was the men’s 4×400 relay, ran by the Lovell brothers, sophomore Mike Eldredge and senior John Torsey, head coach Garry Killgore said. The team qualified for the championship. Junior Marci Klimek did also as well, Killgore said. She had a double win in the steeplechase and in the 5000.
Overall, the teams performed well at both events.
“This meet really showed how much I have put into the decathlon, and my focus going into the meet was to just do the best I could for the team,” Josh Lovell said. “I went out there knowing that if I did well, and if we all did well, it would set the team up perfectly to do great things at the conference meet. That is the cool thing about the decathlon being a couple weeks before the single event conference meet. We can set the tone for everyone on the team and that tone this year is another conference championship.”
His brother agreed with the sentiment.
“Both my brother and I did what we had to do to secure some points coming into conference,” Jeremy Lovell said. “Gabe Haberly contributed nicely with an awesome PR and also scoring some points. But there is always room for improvement. You can always look back at a decathlon and see where you could have jumped further or ran faster, but when it all comes down to it at the end of the day, all that really matters is how much you put into it.”
For specific times and throws regarding the NWC Multi-Event Championships, refer to the Linfield athletic home page at www.linfield.edu/sports.
For information on the Washington v. Oregon meet, go to the Spokane Community College athletic Web site at athletic.spokane.edu.