Track & Field | 5/15/2010 6:48:51 PM

[Results]

MONMOUTH, Ore. - The Western Oregon University men's track & Field team won two events on the final day of the 2010 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championship (May 15), en route to the men's team placing third with 167.5 points and the women's fourth with 115.

The women's 4x100m relay team of Stefani Dittmar, Sarah Kathrein, McKenzie Redberg and Lacey Meusec, started things strong out of the gate in the first event of the day. The team posted a season-best time of 47.81 to edge out Western Washington, which came into the meet holding an NCAA provisional qualifying standard.

Matson Hardie collected the Wolves' other first place finish on his final leap of the afternoon with a mark of 47-7.25 (14.51m) in the men's triple jump. The freshman from Bend, Ore. (Summit High School) won the event by seven inches over Will Davis of Western Washington. His mark is an NCAA provisional standard, but is not his longest of the season. He grabbed a season-best distance of 48-1.75 (14.67m) at the Mt. SAC Relays to stand fourth in Western Oregon history and earn the top mark in the GNAC this outdoor season.

Ashley Potter finished second in the triple jump with a leap of 38-11.5 (11.87m), a night after taking home first in the long jump. Potter just missed her chance to sweep the horizontal jumps during the 2010 season, as she finished first in three and second in the other. The triple jump, however, was not a season-best for the sophomore from Springfield, Ore. (Thurston High School), that she achieved earlier this season at the Stanford Invite with a provisional mark of 39-8.75 (12.11m), to stand tied for ninth in the country.

Andy Loscutoff (Canby, Ore.) placed second in the men's 110m hurdles and fourth in the 400m hurdles. After Loscutoff edged out Anthony Hogan by three-hundredths of a second for first place in the 60m hurdles at the GNAC indoor championships, Hogan returned the favor by finishing just two-hundredths of a second in front of Loscutoff (15.38) in the 110m hurdle to take second place. He then went 55.09 in the 400m hurdles place fourth. With those finishes and his third place finish in the heptathlon he earned 19 team points in the meet.

Nathan Rowlett and Will Crook both had NCAA provisional standard throws in the men's javelin. Rowlett finished third with a season-best throw of 199-4 (60.76m) and Will Crook grabbed five points by placing fourth with a toss of 197-2 (60.10m).

The men's team also had success in the relays, running season-best times in both events. Their 4x100m relay team of Bobby Alexander, Anthony Yakovich, Jake Hyde and Alex Bourne, posted a time of 42.44 in the event to place third and lower their previous season-best mark by eight-hundredths of a second. The 4x400m relay team of Ashtin Mott, Anthony Yakovich, Carson O'Brien and Matt Kaino, placed second with a time of 3:16.55, to register the ninth-best time in Western Oregon history.

Kaitlyn Reid notched a total of 14 points for the women's team by placing second in the 400m hurdles and third in the 100m hurdles. Reid's time of 1:03.64 in the 400m hurdles marked a career-best time for the junior from West Linn, Ore., and helped secure her fifth-best time in school history. Earlier in the meet, Reid posted a time of 14.85 in the 100m hurdles to edge out Lauren Laichak of Alaska Anchorage and grab third place.

The men's team also earned 18 points in the men's 800m as Mike Schmidt placed second (1:54.98), Kyle Larson third (1:55.18), Carson O'Brien sixth (1:59.36) and Jeff Long eighth.

Jason Slowey brought his point total to 22 by placing fifth in the hammer with a throw of 159-1 (48.48m). He won the shot put and finished second in the discus on Friday (May 14).

Other event winners on Friday included Carolanne Powers in the women's javelin (154-9/47.19m) and Potter in the long jump (18-4.25/5.59m).

The Wolves also received top three finishes in the meet from McKenzie Redberg in the 200m (25.52), Janelle Everetts in 800m (2:13.55), Amanda Schumaker in the javelin (146-6/44.66m), Jordan Werner in the 110m hurdles (15.72) and Jake Hyde in the long jump (22-1.5/6.74m).

Following the meet Western Oregon head coach Mike Johnson marveled that the Jason Slowey (shot put), Matson Hardie (triple jump) and Ashley Potter (long jump) were each able to win events on the student-athlete's final attempt. "This is a championship caliber program and those are championship caliber efforts," he said. "That is the competitive foundation we need to build on for next year."

Johnson would continue about the quality of competition in the meet. "There were great efforts that went unrewarded like Erika Snawder in the women's 1500m, when you nearly had to have an NCAA provisional standard just to place in the event."

The women finished the meet with 115 points to place fourth. "The women exceeded expectations especially considering we lost some athletes this year under bizarre circumstances," Johnson explained.

The season will continue for some of Western Oregon student-athletes at the national championship meet, May 27-29. Selections for the meet will be made by Wednesday, May 19.