TRACK & FIELD: Lutes Send 28 Athletes to Conference Championships

THIS WEEK: The Pacific Lutheran men’s and women’s track team will take part in the 2007 Northwest Conference Championships on April 20 and 21 and being hosted by Puget Sound. Action will start on 2 p.m. Friday afternoon and at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday at Baker Stadium on the UPS campus.

WINDY CITY: Last week the track team competed at the Spike Arlt Invitational, which was hosted by Central Washington University. The Lutes had to battle high winds that reached speeds of 30 miles per hour. Despite the high winds there were some good performances from PLU athletes. Megan Wochnick led a 1-2 Lute finish in the hammer with a throw of 158-0. Taylor Hacker, whose 152-10 performance was a personal best by more than 10 feet, placed second in the event. Faven Araya had a pair of top-four finishes. She placed second in the 400 hurdles in a time of 1:06.46, and she was fourth in the 100 hurdles with a time of 16.34. On the men’s side, James Burnett placed fifth in the 100-meter dash in a time of 11.11, that despite coming off of a slight hamstring injury. Burnett also ran a leg on PLU’s fifth-place 400-meter relay team that clocked 44.32.

LUTE CONTINGENT: The Lutes will send a total of 28 athletes, 15 women and 13 men, to the NWC track and field championships this weekend. On the women’s side the Lutes should rack up points in the throwing events. Wochnick and Hacker are ranked 1-2 in the hammer throw while both are also ranked in the top seven in the shot put and discus as well. Freshman Karin Hatch completes the throwing trio as she is ranked second in the javelin. Faven Araya will lead the charge on the track. Araya is ranked second in the 400-meter hurdles and third in the 100-meter hurdles. Amy LeBrun finished third in the 100- and 200-meter dashes at last year's NWC championship and she will look to place high in both those events this year as well. First-year runner Lauren McDonald is also hoping to grab a few points in the 10,000-meter run. The men’s team will try to improve its sixth-place finish in last year’s conference championship, but with only four athletes in five events ranked in the top eight, points will be hard to come by. Burnett and Luke Weinbrecht are ranked fifth and sixth in the 100-meter dash, respectively. Daniel Hibbard will join Weinbrecht in the 400-meter hurdles as the two will both vie for a spot in the finals. In the throwing events, Colton Oliphant is ranked seventh in the hammer and Clint Ludlow is eight in the javelin.

MORE ON CONFERENCE: Willamette is the five-time defending NWC champion on both the men’s and women’s side. The forecast for this year's meet is looking all cardinal and gold as the Bearcats are heavily favored to repeat as women team champions. On the men’s side, Willamette should receive some stiff competition from Linfield. The last time Pacific Lutheran won a conference championship was in 2000 when the men’s team took the title. PLU last won a NWC women's championship in 1999.

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