Day 1 of Championships concludes with 3 podium finishes

May 11, 2007

LA GRANDE, Oregon - Evergreen Track and Field limped into La Grande Thursday night following a harrowing road journey to the Cascade Conference Championships. The Geoducks weren't about to let such challenges defeat them, placing 3 team members in the top 6 in two events on the first day.

Warm temperatures slowed times in the longer events. In the men's 10,000 meters, two Evergreen runners mixed it up with the front pack with nobody eager to take out the pace. Brian Rakestraw and James Hudson joined a large 9 man group for nearly the first 5k before eventual winner Jacob Haas of Albertson pulled away, stringing out the field. Hudson fell back a few spots but fought for the final point scoring place to finish 8th overall. Rakestraw patiently moved up to fourth and furiously kicked into 3rd place the final lap.

The women's steeplechase had two Greeners competing. Emily Uhlig finished third and Kelsey Blair finished fifth. Blair finished 3rd in 2006. Both will return tomorrow to compete in the 5000 meters.

Other Geoducks represented during the day. Diann Leo finished 10th the the 10,000 meters, Kelly Beckham crossed the line in 14th in the women's 1500 meters. Jason Shoemaker placed 12th in the men's 100 meters to become the first Geoduck to compete in that event at the Cascade Champs.

At the end of the day, Evergreen's women stood in 9th place with 10 points and the men, posting their first ever points at the Conference Champships, also held 9th with 7 points.

Tomorrow Evergreen will have all 9 athletes in just 3 events. The women's (Beckham, Blair, Leo and Uhlig) and men's (Hudson, Eric Jones, Darin Martin and Rakestraw) 5000 meters and Shoemaker in the 200 meters.