April 9, 2007

TRACK & FIELD: Lutes at Central in Tune Up for NWC Championships

THIS WEEK: Pacific Lutheran competes at the Spike Arlt Invitational in Ellensburg on Saturday, April 14. The meet starts at 11 a.m.

LUTES AT CENTRAL WASHINGTON: The Lutes will make a trip to the east side of the mountains on Saturday afternoon when compete at the Spike Arlt Invitational hosted by Central Washington University in Ellensburg. This will be the team’s last opportunity to register conference-qualifying marks before heading back to the University of Puget Sound for a third time this season for the Northwest Conference Championships, which are scheduled for April 20-21.

NWC MULTI-EVENT CHAMPIONSHIP: Pacific Lutheran has two athletes competing today and Tuesday at the Northwest Conference Multi-EVents Championships at Willamette University in Salem, Ore. Jeff Rockenbrant is competing in the 10-event decathlon and Rebecca Lewis is entered in the seven-event heptathlon, and both are looking to score early team points for the Lutes and their conference championship efforts. The top eight finishers in both divisions earn team points toward the conference championship totals. This will be each athlete’s second attempt at the multi-event competitions.

LAST WEEK: With six event championships to its credit, the Pacific Lutheran won the women's team title at the Shotwell Invitational held Saturday, April 7, and hosted by the University of Puget Sound.The Lutes scored 162 points to defeat second-place Linfield, which ended up with 148 points. Puget Sound placed third with 134 points. Senior Megan Wochnick and freshman Karin Hatch continued their impressive throwing this year with wins in the hammer and javelin, respectively. Wochnick established a new meet record in the hammer with a throw of 158-0, breaking the mark of 153-1 set by PLU's Leslie Seelye in 1999. Hatch tossed the javelin 127-5 to win that event.The Lutes won four events on the track, including the 400-meter relay in a time of 50.73. Amy LeBrun placed first in the 200 in 27.49, and Faven Araya was the 400 hurdles winner in a time of 1:05.83. Katie Choate continued her strong showing in the 800, taking that event in 2:21.09.

NWC MEET: Pacific Lutheran will be back at the University of Puget Sound's Baker Stadium for the NWC Championships on Friday and Saturday, April 20 and 21. The meet will start at 2 p.m. on Friday and again at 10:30 a.m Saturday morning.

- PLU -