Dominic Baez
The Wildcats came out roaring at the Northwest Conference Championships at Pacific University’s Lincoln Park Stadium April 24 and 25, taking home six NWC first-place titles.
The men’s team finished in third place overall, and the women’s team finished fifth, each out of eight teams.
The Wildcats’ next event is the Pacific Twilight at Pacific University on May 2, in which athletes will continue to compete for NCAA qualifying marks.
Of the six first-place wins, five were individual wins, and the sixth was a team win.
Senior Gabe Haberly placed first in men’s pole vault, jumping 4.42 meters; senior John Torsey earned first in the men’s 200-meter run with a time of 22.72 seconds; junior Josh Lovell, named Athlete of the Meet, took first in the men’s long jump, jumping 6.84 meters; sophomore Chelsea Machida earned first in the women’s high jump with a height of 1.61 meters, which is also a personal record for her; freshman Catherine Street took first in the women’s pole vault, jumping 3.75 meters, setting a Northwest Conference championship-meet record and again breaking Linfield’s school record, and the men’s 4×400 relay team of senior Mat Strum, juniors Josh and Jeremy Lovell and sophomore Cory Parrish earned first with a time of 3:20.48, setting a Lincoln Park Stadium record.
“It feels great [winning],” Haberly said. “Pole vault has always been my favorite event, and for me to win my senior year [was great]. The competition was fun. I enjoyed the company of my own teammates as well as the competitors from other schools.”
Other high-placing Wildcats include junior Marci Klimek, who placed second in the women’s 5,000 ,and junior Jared Forell, who placed third in the men’s 400 hurdles. Sophomore Brooke Bekkedahl also earned third place in the women’s 400, breaking her previous PR; junior Rebecca Fister placed third in the 800; senior Laura Sibley took third in the 400 hurdles; and junior Clinton Moore earned second in men’s discus.
To add to the list, freshman Misty Corwin took second in women’s pole vault, and freshmen Katrina Amsberry and Kelly Marineau went 2-3 in the javelin. Amsberry provisionally qualified for the NCAA Division III Men’s and Women’s Outdoor Track and Field Championships, which will be held in Marietta College at Marietta, Ohio, May 21-23.
Haberly also provisionally qualified for nationals, but back during the NWC decathlon. He is currently ranked 20th in the nation and the NCAA only takes the top 18 to nationals.
“This is why I am doing a decathlon this weekend to improve my score so I can go,” Haberly said when asked if he would be participating in the Twilight Invitational.
He instead will be running in a decathlon at Willamette University.
“My goal is to make it to nationals in the decathlon,” he said. “Another smaller goal is to jump 15 feet in the pole vault, which will hopefully be a by product of my first goal. My biggest goal is to enjoy competing with my teammates and coaches for the last few weeks of my collegiate career.”