Lars Tysver placed sixth in the 5,000 meters, running close to his career-best time for the event, to give Whitman its best performance in the Salzman Invitational track meet Saturday at Pacific Lutheran University.
Tysver, a sophomore who was slowed by a nagging leg injury during his freshman track season, was timed in 16:33.37, finishing seven seconds out of fifth place. Mike Hill of the University of Washington won the race in 15:01.08. The only other Northwest Conference runner who finished ahead of Tysver was Puget Sound's Chris Gossett, who took third in 15:51.61.
"That's a great time for Lars, especially this early in the season," Whitman track coach Scott Shields said.
In the women's competition, Whitman freshman Heather Barr placed 12th in the 5,000 meters in a time of 20:13.71. "That's a very good time for Heather," Shields said. "She wants to break 20 minutes in the event, and she's well on her way to doing that."
Kierstin Howe of the University of Washington won the women's 5,000 meters in 18:22.32. The only other who outran Whitman's Barr in the event, however, was Pacific Lutheran's Michaele Meiser, who placed seventh in 19:50.07.
Whitman's only other entries in the women's event were in the relays. Jenny Wood, Christina Anderson, Jessica Chamberlain and Alison Gillespie placed seventh in the distance medley in a time of 13:37.52. Puget Sound won the race in 12:19.52. Members of each team ran one of our distances. For Whitman, it was Gillespie in the 1,600 meters, Wood in the 1,200 meters, Anderson in the 800 and Chamberlain in the 400.
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Chamberlain and Barr teamed with Katherine Hatch and Charlotte Crane to place fifth in a field of five teams in the 4x800-meter relay. Whitman's time was 12:02.63. Puget Sound won the event in 9:42.26.
In the men's field events, Whitman's Marc Sidel placed ninth in the triple jump with a distance of 37 feet. 11.5 inches. Demetrius McCain of the Highline Track Club won the event with a jump of 44-02.75. The only other Northwest Conference jumper to finish ahead of Sidel was Pacific Lutheran's Brian Cleven, who placed eighth in 38-11.5.
Whitman's Jonathan Gold placed 14th in the long jump with a leap of 19 feet. The University of Washington's Josh Renz won the event with a jump of 22-03.5. Only one Northwest Conference athlete finished ahead of Gold. Seth Berghoff of Pacific Lutheran placed fifth with a leap of 21-04.5.
Whitman's Mark Csepreghy placed 10th in the men's 100 meters in 11.91 seconds and finished 22nd in a large field in the 200 meters with a time of 24.70. He had the third-best Northwest Conference time in the 100 meters, which was won by the University of Washington's Willem Ryan in 10.90 seconds.
Hossein Baghdadi placed 13th for Whitman in the 800 meters in 2:05.92, the third best time among conference runners. Seattle Pacific's Chris Berkey won the race in 1:56.42.
Bracan Williams finished 17th for the Missionaries in 400 meters in 54.77. He was f ifth among conference runners. Josh Rogge won the event in 49.44.
Competing Saturday in a Northwest Conference Quadrangular meet hosted by George Fox University, Whitman's Christina Anderson in the 800 meters and Jenny Wood in the 1,500 meters came close to making qualifying times for the conference championships planned for later this spring.
Anderson came the closest, placing fourth in the 800 meters in 2:23.05, just five one- hundredths of a second off the conference qualifying time.
Wood placed fifth in the 1,500 meters in 5:00.59. The qualifying time is 4:55.
Heather Koertje also competed for the Missionary women, placing fifth in the 3,000 meters in 11:41.43.
MenIn the men's competition, Marc Sidel gave Whitman it's highest placing with a second- place showing in the triple jump. Sidel leaped 39 feet, three inches. He missed qualifying for the conference championships by less than two feet.
Whitman's Lars Tysver finished third in the 5,000 meters with a time of 16:14.34. The conference qualifying standard for the event is 15:57.79.
Mark Csepreghy placed fourth in the 200 meters in 23.99 seconds and ninth in the 100 meters in 12.03 seconds.
Placing fifth for Whitman were Bracan Williams in the 400 meters and Neil Hoff in the 110-meter hurdles. Williams was timed in 53.60 seconds, while Hoff finished in 18.15 seconds.
Running for the first time in the 3,000 meters, Whitman's Jenny Wood qualified for the Northwest Conference championships later this month by posting a time of 10:37.49 while placing seventh in the Willamette Open Saturday afternoon in Salem, Oregon.
Wood, a sophomore, beat the conference qualifying mark by more seven seconds and missed qualifying for the NCAA Div. III regional championships little more than two seconds. "Since this was her first race at 3,000, Jenny really wasn't very familiar with the pace she was supposed to run," Whitman track coach Scott Shields said. "So, she just ran with the pack. As long as she stays healthy, she should easily qualify for regionals."
Wood finished a fraction of a second behind Linfield College runner Carrie Mohoric, who took sixth in 10:37.14, and less than two seconds behind Willamette's Amber Strickler, who captured fifth in 10:35. 76. The race was won by Deanna O'Neil, a non-collegiate runner in training for the Olympic trials. Her time was 9:51.45. Two other unattached runners placed second and third, while an Oregon State runner took fourth.
Also running in Saturday's 3,000 meters for Whitman were Heather Koertje, who placed 15th in 11:29. 47, and Heather Barr, who finished 17th in 11:42.70. Both runners normally compete in the 5,000 meters, an event that wasn't held in Saturday's meet.
Whitman's Jamie Sage, throwing for the first time this season, placed fourth in a small field in the discus. Her best throw was 100 feet, one inch, about 10 feet short of the conference qualifying mark.
Others competing for the Whitman women included Kirsten Adams, who was ninth in the 100-meter hurdles in 17.63 seconds. In the 1,500 meters, Charlotte Crane was 17th in 6:05.41, while Jessica Chamberlain was 18th in 6:14.53.
Men
In the men's discus, Whitman's Brandt Arrington placed fourth with a best throw of 128 feet, 10 inches, which missed the qualifying mark for the conference championships by less than six feet. Teammate Doug Ludlow placed 12th with a throw of 107-7. Both Arrington and Ludlow were competing for the first time this spring.
Whitman's Lars Tysver was the top Northwest Conference runner in the men's 5,000 meters with his season-best time of 16:13.66. Tysver placed 15th overall, but all of the runners finishing ahead of him were unattached or competing for a larger college or university. To qualify for the conference championships, Tysver needs to lower his time by about 16 seconds.
Competing in a small field, Neil Hoff took sixth for Whitman in 110-meter hurdles in a time of 18.49 seconds. Bracan Williams won his heat and placed ninth in the 400 meters in 53.66 (the conference qualifying mark is 52.28).
Other placing for the Whitman men included Mark Csepreghy, who finished 12th in the 100 meters in 12.02 seconds and placed 14th in the 200 meters in 24.59 seconds. Hossein Baghdadi finished 17th in the 800 meters in 2:04.83.
Whitman sophomore Lars Tysver ran away from the field to win the 5,000 meters Saturday afternoon in a Northwest Conference Quadrangular meet hosted by Whitworth College in Spokane, Wash. Tysver, who was slowed during his freshman track season by a leg injury, ran a career-best 15:38.69, beating his nearest competitor by nearly ten seconds.
Tysver's time was well under the qualifying standard -- 15:57.79 -- for the conference championships, which are slated for April 30 and May 1. To qualify for the NCAA Div. III regional championships, Tysver needs to lower his time below 15:20.24.
Other teams competing Saturday, in addition to Whitman and Whitworth, were George Fox and Puget Sound.
Whitman's Bracan Williams placed fourth in the 400 meters in 53.01 seconds. He missed the conference qualifying mark (52.28) by less than a second.
Running in the 100 meters, Mark Csepreghy missed qualifying for the conference championships by six-tenths of a second. He placed seventh in 11.90 seconds. The conference qualifying standard is 11.60 second.
Csepreghy placed eighth in the 200 meters in 23.85 seconds. To qualify for the conference finals, he needs to run at least 23.00 seconds.
Others placing for the Whitman men in the running events were Jimmy Lehman, 8th, 100 meters, 11.93; Jonathan Gold, 100 meters, 12.66; Hossein Baghdadi, 6th, 800 meters, 2:03.16; and Neil Hoff, 6th, 110-meter hurdles, 18.27.
Placing for Whitman in the field events were Jonathan Gold, 6th, long jump, 19-02.5; Marc Sidel, 5th, triple jump, 37-11.25; and Doug Ludlow, 8th, shot put, 37-10, and 7th, discus, 116-0.
Women
Whitman's Christina Anderson placed second in the 800 meters while teammate Heather Koertje finished third in the 5,000 meters. Anderson's time was 2:24.82, less than two seconds off the qualifying minimum for the conference championships. Koertje ran a 19:50.23, about 20 seconds above the qualifying mark for that event.
Kirsten Adams missed qualifying in the 100-meter hurdles by little more than a second. She placed fourth in 17.60 seconds.
Competing in the pole vault for the first time after one week of practice, Ingrid Backstrom placed fourth by clearing six feet, six inches. She also cleared seven feet, although her pole fell back and knocked over the bar.
Others placing for the Whitman women were Jamie Sage, 6th, discus, 97-04; Jessica Chamberlain, 11th, 1,500 meters, 5:58.29; and Charlotte Crane, 12th, 1,500 meters, 5:58.42.
Competing in the pole vault for only the second time her athletic career, Whitman's Ingrid Backstrom broke the school record she set the previous week by vaulting seven feet, two and one-quarter inches Saturday at the J.D. Shotwell Invitational in Tacoma, Wash. Backstrom, a junior and All-American alpine skier, placed ninth and missed qualifying for the conference championships by about four inches.
The Whitman school record for the women's pole vault, an event that has attracted little attention in recent years, was set a year ago by Faye Hutchison, a cross country runner and basketball player who also had little experience with the event.
In the women's 3,000 meters, Whitman's Jenny Wood battled gusting winds while placing third in a time of 10:49.26. Wood has already qualified for the conference championships, running a 10:37.50 earlier this season.
Christina Anderson placed sixth for the Missionaries in the 800 meters in 2:24.84, a time that was almost identical to the one she ran the previous week. Anderson needs to run 2:23 to qualify for the conference championships.
Kirsten Adams finished seventh in the 100-meter hurdles with a season-best time of 17.46 seconds, less than a second off the conference qualifying standard.
In the women's 1,500 meters, Charlotte Crane and Katie Hatch ran personal best times in placing 11th and 12th, respectively. Crane's time was 5:56.66. Hatch finished in 6:21.85.
Jamie Sage placed 10th for the Missionaries in the women's shot put. Her best toss was 91 feet, one inch.
MenWhitman's Marc Sidel placed fourth in the men's triple jump. His best leap was 37 feet, 10.5 inches. He needs to clear 41 feet, one inch to qualify for the conference championships.
Hossein Baghdadi continued to inch closer to a conference qualifying time in the 800 meters. He placed eighth in a season-best time of 2:02.03, just over a second over the qualifying standard.
Lars Tysver, who has already qualified for conference in the 5,000 meters, placed 10th Saturday in a time of 16:19.31.
Doug Ludlow, who got a late start in track due to the alpine ski season, tossed the shot put 40 feet, 3.5 inches, his personal-best mark for the season. He placed 12th and missed the conference qualifying standard by about three feet.
In the men's discus, Ludlow placed 15th with a throw of 100 feet, nine inches. Teammate Brandt Arrington placed 10th in the discus with a throw of 114 feet, seven inches.
Bracan Williams missed qualifying for the conference meet by about one second in both the 200 meters and 400 meters. Running the shorter distance for the first time this season, Williams placed 14th in 24.16 seconds. He finished 12th in the 400 in 53.09 seconds. Despite a hamstring injury, Calon Russell placed 18th in the 200 meters in 26.83 seconds.
Neil Hoff ran a personal-best time of 17.89 seconds in the 110-meter hurdles and placed 12th. Jimmy Lehmann finished 17th in the 100 meters in 11.81.
Whitman's Ingrid Backstrom in the pole vault and Christina Anderson in the 800 meters qualified for the Northwest Conference championships with strong performances Saturday afternoon at the Lewis & Clark College April Open in Portland, Oregon.
Backstrom, an All-American alpine skier competing for the first time this spring in the pole vault, broke the Whitman school record for the third time in as many weeks. Her best height in Saturday's meet was seven feet, 6.5 inches, which earned her a fourth-place finish and matched the conference qualifying standard.
Anderson, a freshman, ran a personal-best time of 2:21.90 in placing fifth in the 800 meters. That bettered the conference qualifying time by more than a second.
Whitman sophomore Jenny Wood placed second in the 3,000 meters with a time of 10:41.2. That beat the conference qualifying standard by about four seconds, although Wood had qualified earlier in the season with a time of 10:37.49.
In other women's events Saturday, Kristen Adams placed seventh in the 100-meter hurdles in 17,47 seconds, while Jamie Sage placed seventh in the discus (99 feet, 11 inches) and eighth in the javelin (94 feet, seven inches).
Whitman's Doug Ludlow had a pair of personal-best throws Saturday, placing fourth in the shot put (42 feet, one-half inch) and 10th in the discus (118 feet, nine inches). Ludlow missed qualifying for the conference championships by about 19 inches.
Lars Tysver ran a conference-qualifying time of 15:54.7 to place third in the 5,000 meters. Earlier in the season, Tysver ran a career-best 15:38.69 in the event.
Despite running with a sore hamstring, Hossein Baghdadi placed fifth in the 1,500 meters (4:13.88) and 13th in the 800 meters (2:05.52).
Bracan Williams also placed in two running events, finishing seventh in the 200 meters (24.48) and ninth in the 400 meters (53.04).
Jenny Wood posted Whitman's best performance on the opening day of the Northwest Conference Track & Field Championships Friday at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Wash. Wood placed seventh in the 3,000 meters in a season-best time of 10:36.05.
On the men's side, Brant Arrington placed 11th in the discus with a toss of 120 feet, nine inches.
Whitman's only other first-day competitor was Ingrid Backstrom, who competed but did not place in the pole vault.
Christina Anderson and Lars Tysver were Whitman's only competitors Saturday on the final day of the Northwest Conference Track & Field Championships at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Wash.
Anderson placed seventh in the women's 800 meters in 2:28.69. Tysver finished 12th in the 5,000 meters in 16:29.40.
Lars Tysver, Whitman's sole entry in the Pacific Northwest Regional Track & Field Meet, placed eighth in the 5,000 meters Saturday afternoon. The meet was held at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Wash.
Tysver's time was 16:03.21, which was his third fastest time of the season. Matt Johnson of Simon Fraser Univeresity, an NAIA school, won the race in 14:49.27.
Paul Davis of Linfield College was second in 15:23.91. The only other Northwest Conference runners to finish ahead of Tysver were a pair of athletes from the University of Puget Sound, who were fifth and sixth.