34 CCC Athletes Headed to Indoor Nationals

3/2/2009 9:20:25 AM

NAIA Final Entry Lists -- Men l Women

NAIA Team Rosters -- Men l Women

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – A total of 34 student-athletes – 19 women and 15 men -- representing four Cascade College Conference institutions will compete in the NAIA Indoor Track and Field Championships here this week.

The event, which runs Thursday through Saturday, will be held at Memorial Center Mini Dome on the campus of East Tennessee State University.

Five CCC athletes are seeded in the top five in their respective events: Chris Dilley of Eastern Oregon in the men’s 20-pound weight throw (first), Lucas Ohmes of Eastern Oregon in the men’s heptathlon (third), Katherine Tripp of Concordia in the women’s shot put (third), Stephanie Helm of College of Idaho in the women’s 3,000 meters (fourth) and Jessy Brown of Concordia in the men’s 1,000 meters (fifth). College of Idaho’s women’s distance medley relay team is seeded fourth. Six other CCC individuals are seeded from sixth through 10th.

Following are observations from each of the CCC head coaches who have representation at the national meet:


Preston Brashers, Northwest:
"Seth Bridges, a freshman who is seeded 17th in the men’s 3,000 meters, is our only athlete that will be competing at indoor nationals. We've discussed goals, and we're going to take it one day at a time. On his first day of competition the focus will just be on getting through to finals. He is fortunate that the 3K is a little softer than some of the other distance events this year. Although as a freshman this is his first national championship experience, he has a very good shot at making it into finals, especially with the smaller field size. He is able to recover quickly, so if he makes into finals, he should have a good chance at finishing in the front half of the field and getting All-American honors."


Randy Dalzell, Concordia:
“This is by far the largest group of qualifiers we have had -- 13 men’s marks and 14 women’s marks. I was pleased that I actually had to limit the group and decide which events we were going to compete in. Our men have a chance to score in a variety of events and may have a chance to finish among the top 10 teams. On the women’s side, two key competitors were eliminated by outside events, which hurts the women’s team scoring chances quite a bit. Linsie Michels got mono and Eunice Makinde had a family matter to attend to at home, so we lost three events that we had a good chance to score in on the women’s side.

“For the men, Greg Schultz was second last year in the indoor weight and should be in the hunt again in that event. Eric Burck should score in the 5,000 meters, repeating what Tim Badley did for us in that event last year. In addition, Jessy Brown and Martin Romero-Clark are very strong competitors, ranked fifth and sixth, respectively, in the 1,000 meters, with Cordero Cisneros as a wild card in that same event. DeAndre Burton can score in the triple jump if he competes at near PR level. Eric Whalen and Leon Carl have a chance to score in the shot if they can produce some PR’s. The pole vault is always volatile and if Jordan Trump can hit opening height confidently, then he could score as well. Michael Wright is a senior who could PR in the indoor weight and have a chance to get into the finals, giving him a chance to score.
 
“On the women’s side, Katherine Tripp is looking very strong -- she's ranked third in the shot -- and Kristine Leonard could surprise some people and also score in that event. Lakeesha Cadogan could score in the long jump and/or triple jump as she has in the last two indoor and outdoor national meets. Andria Scheese and Samantha Robert have both been running great this winter and both have a good chance of getting through to the finals with PR efforts. We lost our distance medley relay when Linsie was lost for the meet.

“Indoor season is always preparation for outdoors. That being said, the fact that we had so many people qualify, combined with the fact that we are very deep and talented at the discus and javelin, which are both outdoor-only events, shows that we will be a very good scoring team at the outdoor national meet in May.”


Pat McCurry, College of Idaho:
“I feel good about our small group going. Stephanie Helm was the national runner-up in the 3,000 meters last year and is seeded fourth in a loaded field. Our distance medley relay team is also seeded fourth. We are focused on getting both the relay and Stephanie into Saturday's finals, and then seeing what we can do there. NAIA women's middle distance and distance running has never been as strong at the top or as deep as it is right now, and it is fun to be a part of that quality. The races should be very tightly contested.”


Ben Welch, Eastern Oregon:
“Lucas Ohmes, who will compete in the heptathlon and pole vault, is a proven competitor at the national meet. This will be his third indoor national championship meet, and he is a two-time All-American outdoors in the decathlon. At the 2008 national indoor championships, he was ranked ninth and finished seventh, just missing All-America honors. This year he enters the heptathlon ranked third, and he stands an excellent chance of earning All-America honors.

“Chris Dilley will compete in the weight throw, and enters his first national meet with the leading mark in the country. The goal, indeed, is to win. However, he will have to stay focused and relaxed to meet that goal, especially as several individuals have been creeping up on him as the season progressed.

“Quinten Baxter (shot put and weight throw) and Ivan Staeheli (heptathlon) will also be competing for the men. Staeheli is one of three freshmen in the 16-man field.

“Cayla Weissert was a 2008 outdoor All-American in the pole vault, so we will see if she can duplicate that here. The women’s pole vault is a deep field, so she will need to be on top of her game.

“Our women’s distance medley relay team [Marcella Bosch, Alma Garcilazo, Kami Hernandez, Sara Bates] is currently ranked 11th, and its qualifying mark is right at what has been required, on average, to make the eight-team final the past four years. It will take a strong performance to make the final. The squad will be led by Marcella Bosch on the opening 1,200-meter leg. She enters her third indoor national championship and her 10th NAIA national meet overall.

“Kimmy Moore is the No. 12 seed in the pentathlon, and is one of two freshmen in the 16-person field. Orie Gamez will run the 200 meters and serve as the alternate on the distance medley relay team if we need to sub someone at 400 meters.”

CCC Men's Entries
Concordia	Event	Seed	Mark
Jessy Brown	1,000 Meters	5th	2:28.89
Eric Burck	5,000 Meters	10th	15:02.92
DeAndre Burton	Triple Jump	7th	14.47m
Leon Carl	Shot Put	20th	15.42m
Cordero Cisneros	1,000 Meters	22nd	2:32.78
Martin Romero-Clark	1,000 Meters	6th	2:29.35
Greg Schultz	20# Weight Throw	8th	17.68m
Jordan Trump	Pole Vault	26th	4.57m
Eric Whalen	Shot Put	14th	15.83m
Michael Wright	20# Weight Throw	15th	16.68m
Eastern Oregon	Event	Seed	Mark
Quinten Baxter	Shot Put	18th	15.66m
Quinten Baxter	20# Weight Throw	25th	15.74m
Chris Dilley	20# Weight Throw	1st	18.91m
Lucas Ohmes	Pole Vault	11th	4.70m
Lucas Ohmes	Heptathlon	3rd	4,870
Ivan Staeheli	Heptathlon	16th	4,485
Northwest	Event	Seed	Mark
Seth Bridges	3,000 Meters	17th	8:47.71
CCC Women's Entries
College of Idaho	Event	Seed	Mark
Stephanie Helm	3,000 Meters	4th	9:57.65
Team	Distance Medley Relay	4th	12:25.59
Concordia	Event	Seed	Mark
Lakeesha Cadogan	Triple Jump	12th	11.31m
Lakeesha Cadogan	Long Jump	8th	5.55m
Kristine Leonard	Shot Put	12th	13.05m
Linsie Michels	1,000 Meters	6th	2:59.32
Samantha Robert	5,000 Meters	24th	18:47.24
Andria Scheese	3,000 Meters	17th	10:28.11
Katherine Tripp	Shot Put	3rd	14.64m
Eastern Oregon	Event	Seed	Mark
Orie Gamez	200 Meters	26th	26.01
Kimmy Moore	Pentathlon	12th	2,950
Cayla Weissert	Pole Vault	20th	3.30m
Team	Distance Medley Relay	11th	12:33.53