Lutes Compete Well at University of Washington Open

SEATTLE – The Pacific Lutheran track team had a good showing at the University of Washington Open that took place this past Sunday at the Dempsey Indoor facility on the UW campus.

While the numbers were small, the Lutes had some great performances by some of the veteran athletes. The middle distances is where the Lutes shown the brightest. Sophomore Faven Araya had a huge personal record (PR) when she ran 60.95 seconds in the 400-meter dash to win her flight. Araya’s old PR was 62.10 set last season at the McDonald's Open in Idaho. Fellow Sophomore Daniel Hibbard also set a PR in the 400-meter dash when he ran 53.27, good enough to better his old mark of 53.55.

Freshman Katie Choate ran her first college track race and she did not disappoint. Choate ran the 800 meters in a time of 2:25.74, which was almost a two-second lifetime best. Along with running a lifetime best, Choate also won her flight in impressive come-from-behind fashion.

Other competitors on the track were Lynette Millard and Amy LeBrun in the sprints. Both Millard and Lebrun ran the 60-meter dash, clocking times of 8.32 and 8.21, respectively. Millard also competed in the 200-meter dash where she ran 28.61 seconds.

Mark Manske was the only distance representative on the men’s side. Manske ran the mile in 4:57.86 and the 800 meters in 2:09.95. These times were far from Mark’s potential after he spent much of last week fighting off a cold.

The Lutes also had athletes in the field events. Rebecca Lewis went 13-7.25 in the long jump and 29-2.75 in the triple jump. Junior transfer Eric Porter threw the shot put 35-0.25 and the weight throw 32-9.5.

Senior Megan Wochnick set a mark of 48-4.5 in the weight throw, only four inches off the national provisional mark for that event. Wochnick will have one more shot to qualify for the national meet on March 3, at the Last Chance Qualifier also hosted by the University of Washington.

With the exception of Wochnick, this is the last indoor meet the Lutes will compete in this season. The first outdoor meet is the Linfield Icebreaker which takes place on March 3.

- PLU -