April 30, 2007

TRACK & FILED: ARAYA HITS PROVISIONAL MARK AT WOU MEET

THIS WEEK: The Pacific Lutheran track & field team will head to Seattle to compete in the Ken Shannon Invitational being hosted by the University of Washington. The meet scheduled for Friday, with the first event to start at 4:30 p.m.

LAST WEEK: The Lutes competed at the John Knight Twilight meet in Monmouth, Ore. The meet was hosted by Western Oregon University.

TWILIGHT HIGHLIGHTS: There was a small contingent of Pacific Lutheran track & field athletes that competed at the John Knight. Even though the numbers were small, the Lutes had some huge marks. Sophomore Faven Araya had the biggest mark of the day in the 400-meter hurdles. Her time of 1:03.56 meets the provisional standard for the NCAA Division III national meet. Araya also moves up to number eight on the PLU all-time top 25 list. Katie Choate also had a good day, running 2:19.63 in the 800-meter run, less then half a second off her personal best. On the men’s side Jeff Nielsen had his best throw of the season in the shot put with his toss of 40-8. On the track, Chris Ramirez and Mark Manske performed well in the 800-meter run, finishing with almost identical times of 2:03.10 and 2:03.19 respectively. Manske’s time was a lifetime best in that event. The thinclads are in action next week at the Ken Shannon Invitational hosted by the University of Washington. Action will start at 4:30 p.m.

NATIONAL MARKS: Four Lutes have hit the provisional mark for the NCAA Division III national meet this season. Faven Araya is ranked 13th in the 400-meter hurdles. Freshman Karin Hatch is currently ranked 13th in the nation in the javelin. Senior Megan Wochnick is currently 12th in the nation in the hammer throw. Sophomore Taylor Hacker is ranked 23rd in the same event. The national meet is on May 24-26, hosted by the University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh.

MAKING THE LIST: There have been a handful of athletes whose marks have made it on the all-time top 25 list this season. Araya jumped from 16th to number eight on the 400-meter hurdle list. She is also ranked 15th in the 100-meter hurdles. Taylor Hacker moved up to number six in the hammer throw, while also being 21st in the shot put. Freshman Katie Choate is ranked 20th in the 800-meter run. This is notable because it’s been six years since the last women made the top 25 list in the 800. On the men’s side a pair of javelin throwers, Clint Ludlow and Doug Rickabaugh, are the only two to make the top 25 list, placing 11th and 17th respectively.

- PLU -