March 4, 2007

Thinclads Compete Well at Icebreaker; Ten Athletes Qualify for the Conference Meet

Meet Results

McMinnville, Ore. – The Pacific Lutheran track and field team had a great showing at the first outdoor meet of the season yesterday at the Linfield Icebreaker. Ten athletes earned marks that qualified them for the conference meet and three different Lutes cracked the all-time top 25 list.

The top performance of the day was when Freshman Katie Choate won the 1500-meter run. She lead from start to finish and crossed the line with a lifetime personal record (PR) of 4:54.58. Choate also ran the 800 later that day in a time of 2:29.67.

In the sprints Lynette Millard had a good showing when she placed fourth in the 100-meter dash (13.40). Amy LeBrun was able to grab ninth in the same race (13.53). The lone Lute in the 400-meter dash was Faven Araya who took fifth place with a fine time of 1:01.96. Araya also ran in the 100-meter hurdles (16.48)

In her first college track race junior Lauren McDonald ran the 5000-meter run in a conference qualifying time of 19:25.12. McDonald is also a standout cross country runner for PLU.

Junior Rebecca Lewis was all over the track as she competed in three different events. She started off the day running the 800-meter run (2:51.02), followed by the 200-meter dash (31.36). Lewis also competed in the long jump (13-04.25). Freshman Heather O’Farrell edged out Lewis in the long jump by half an inch with a mark of 13-04.75.

The throwing events saw two different Lutes in three different events, Taylor Hacker in the discus (96-02) and hammer (121-01) and Karin Hatch in the Javelin (115-01). Hatch’s toss of 115-01 was just enough to put her in 25th place on the all-time top 25 list.

The men’s side saw a number of outstanding performances this early in the season. James Burnett took second in the 30-man field in the 100-meter dash (11.03). Doug Rickabaugh also ran the 100 (12.09). Sophomore Nick Caraballo ran in the 200-meter dash (26.13).

The middle distances events were packed with Lutes. The 1500-meter run had five PLU athletes with Mark Manske running the fastest time of the day (4:13.13) for the Lutes. Manske won his flight in come from behind fashion and was able to knock eight seconds off his PR. Ben Johnson also ran a PR when he crossed the line in a time of 4:17.51. The other Lutes in the race were Chris Ramirez (4:29.40), Matt Beal (4:31.05) and Nolan Adams (4:36.60). Manske and Ramirez also ran the 800-meter run in 2:06.63 and 2:09.18 respectively. The 5000-meter run had two Lute reps with Kenneth Chilcoat (16:24.43) and Beal (17:43.38).

PLU didn’t fair very well in the jumps at the meet. Freshman Tyler Faust was unable to clear a height in the high jump and Sophomore Jeff Rockenbrant shared the same bad luck in the pole vault. Rockenbrant also competed in the long jump (17-02).

Sophomore Daniel Hibbard placed sixth in the 400-meter hurdles when he ran a time of 59.92. Hibbard’s mark qualified him for the conference championship meet.

The PLU throwers had a grand showing as two athletes cracked the all-time top 25 list. Both the marks came in the javelin as Clint Ludlow (165-07) and Doug Rickabaugh (160-03) placed 17th and 25th on the top 25 list respectively. Ludlow and Rickabaugh are both sophomores but this is their first year as members of the track team. Both are members of the PLU football team as well. Rickabaugh also threw the discus with a toss of 120-04.

Colton Oliphant was busy yesterday as he competed in three of the four throwing events. He competed in the shot put (37-11.50), discus (93-00) and hammer (129-01).

The Lutes also had two relay teams. The men’s 4x100 team ran 45.34 good for fourth while the 4x400 team had a time of 3:45.42.

The Lutes next track meet will be the only home meet of the season as PLU host the Pacific Lutheran track Invitational on March 17.

- PLU -