Two More Conference Qualifiers and a Trio of School Records Officially Open Evergreen’s Outdoor Season
March 13, 2010
PARKLAND, Wash. -- Sporadic rain and wind didn't stop Evergreen Track and Field from giving a great showing this weekend at the Pacific Lutheran University Invitational. Brief flashes of green could be seen on and off the track amidst the 325 athletes from other area schools such as University of Puget Sound, Central Washington, Saint Martin's, Warner Pacific College, Northwest University, and Seattle University. With high spirits and a field of good competition pushing them onward the Geoducks persevered through the weather and came away from the meet with two more Cascade Conference Championships qualifiers and a trio of new school records.
Perhaps the most significant performance of the day was displayed by freshman jumper Jordan Turner. The freshman broke both the 24-year-old men's school records for both the long jump and the triple jump in his first attempts. Turner jumped 5.60 meters (18'4.5") in the long jump and 11.89 meters (39'0.25") in the triple jump. Both records were previously held and established by Pat Rawnsley in 1986. On these, his first jumping events the season, Jordan said "I'm happy with this as a starting point. I think that I can definitely improve on these distances as the season goes on." Jordan's triple jump also surpassed the qualifying mark for the Cascade Conference Championships in May, while his long jump of 5.60meters (18'4.5") was just .15 meters (6") shy of the qualifying mark.
Darren Woods gave another stellar performance in the 400m. Woods showed a combination of experience and sheer guts by sprinting from third place into a close finish and just barely matching PLU's Barret Bollen for a second place tie. Woods improved a full half a second on his season's best time set just last week at Linfield College. His mark set a new school record with his time of 50.63, besting the previous mark of 50.98 run by Ryan Lara in 2008, a former team member who recently transferred to Central Washington University. Lara now competes for Central Washington University's team and was present at the meet and witnessed Woods' sprint. When he was asked to describe how he felt about watching Woods break his old record he replied, "Pshht!"
Britta Peterson showed the best for the Evergreen Women, breezing through the 5000m in 19:30.0. Peterson took the lead for laps 5 through 9 of the event, eventually settling into a 7th overall finish, and landing herself the first Cascade Conference Championships qualifying mark for the women this outdoor season. Peterson recently qualified for the NAIA Outdoor Track and Field National Championships in the Marathon earlier this year.
Freshman Emma Loftis shook out the cobwebs with a 2:35.56 in the 800m. Loftis, who also competes for Evergreen's Soccer team, proved exactly how much potential she possesses in the middle distances by running a beautifully executed race. Moving up through the pack in the last lap, Emma earned herself an 8th place finish in the final sprint. "Emma is one of the strongest athletes on the track, both mentally and physically. Her competitive instincts make her well suited for events such as the 800m," says head coach Jason McConnell. The event was her first collegiate race.
Karissa Carlson, competing unattached, joined her old teammates on the track in her first race in over a year. Carlson took third overall in the women's 1500m with a 5:02.90 performance.
LeAsia Jones opened her season with a 14.45 second 100m dash. Jones is a three-sport athlete, competing in Track and Field in addition to both the Basketball and Volleyball teams at Evergreen.
Evelyn Coleman and Melissa Crumb ran side by side in both the 100m and 200m races. Coleman ran a 15.66 and 32.81 respectively, both personal bests. Crumb followed close behind running a 15.87 and a 33.52 respectively, also setting a pair of PR's.
Another notable performance was given by senior sprinter Alexander Combs-Bachmann, who won hi s heat of the 100m by a full two strides. His time of 12.33 was only a hair off his personal best.
Hurdler Connor Abdelnoor competed in the 110 high hurdles, running a 17.44, and narrowly missing a season's best in the event.
Junior Liam Rockwell debuted on the track alongside a new teammate, freshman Sebastian Lasbo, in the 800m. The two both set season's best marks of 2:12.51 and 2:07.61 respectively.
Nicholas Pace ran a well executed, tactical race in the 1500m, crossing the line in 4:44.
Tyler Luce set a new personal best in the 5000m shaving ten seconds of his time from last week, running a 16:38.55. Luce was followed by teammate Chris Johnson, who opened his season with an 18:44.90.
Evergreen ended the meet with a men's 4x400m relay, run by Darren Woods, Alex Combs-Bachmann, Connor Abdelnoor, and Sebastian Lasbo. The team ran the relay in a time of 3:39.51, overtaking Northwest University's team in the third leg and holding on to the lead and finishing in a time of 3:39.51.
Evergreen will compete next on March 27th at Club Northwest's Spring Break Open in Shoreline, WA.