Concordia senior Greg Schultz, shown here competing at the NAIA Outdoor Track and Field Championships outside of St. Louis, won his second consecutive national crown in the hammer, registering a PR of 210-9 Thursday afternoon.
2 Crowns for CCC as NAIA T&F Meet Opens
Photos courtesy of Jason Dormeyer, Concordia Sports Information
Thursday Results
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EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – The 2009 NAIA Outdoor Track & Field Championships began on an impressive note for the Cascade Collegiate Conference Thursday, as CCC athletes picked up a pair of national championships, one runner-up showing, and two third-place finishes on the opening day of the three-day meet.
Capturing individual national crowns were Concordia’s Greg Schultz (hammer) and Jesse Staub (javelin). For Schultz, it was his second straight NAIA title in the hammer. Staub’s national crown comes in his freshman season as a collegian.
Concordia took the opening-day lead in the men's scoring race, totaling 35 points to forge a 15-point lead over University of British Columbia. Eastern Oregon, on the strength of its 2-7 finish in the javelin, is in third with 10 points.
In the women's team scoring, the Cavaliers are in sixth place (11 points). Wayland Baptist has the opening-day lead with 20 points.
The meet is being held at Korte Stadium on the campus of Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville
CCC Thursday Notes:
► Concordia senior Greg Schultz successfully defended his national title in the men's hammer, winning the event with a PR of 210-09. Schultz, who entered the national championships as the No. 1 seed, led a 1-2-7 finish for the CCC; Eastern Oregon junior Chris Dilley (204-3) earned a silver medal, and Mountaineer teammate Quinten Baxter placed seventh (176-11).
►The women's javelin was once again one of the deepest events for the CCC, as the conference went 3-4-7-8. Sophomore Aria Nojima of Concordia led the way with a mark of 147-3 for third, and was followed by teammate Lauren Sexton (fourth, 146-11), Oregon Tech's Sarah Schelb (seventh, 141-7), and Southern Oregon's Stephanie Miller (140-8).
► Concordia dominated in the men's javelin, posting a 1-3-5 finish. Jesse Staub (right) , a freshman out of Wilsonville, won the national crown when he uncorked a PR of 223-03 to narrowly eclipse Curtis Moss (222-05) of the University of British Columbia. Concordia's Paul Roshau, the national runner-up a year ago, placed third with a mark of 220-0. CU's Eric Whalen, a freshman from La Salle High in Milwaukie, finished fifth with a mark of 210-6.
►In the men's 10,000 meter final, Concordia's Eric Burck placed fourth overall in a time of 31:08.26. Southern Oregon's Joe Rath missed by just hundreths of a second of scoring for the Raiders, finishing ninth in a time of 31:12.88.
► In the women's 10,000 meter final, Easten Oregon's Marcella Bosch, competing in her final national championship event after a stellar four-year career, scored for the Mountaineers by placing eighth in a time of 37:30.22. College of Idaho's Tegan Troutner placed 10th (38:08.15) and Concordia's Samantha Robert was 26th (40:35.29).
► After the first day of the decathlon, the CCC is represented by Eastern Oregon's Ivan Staeheli (sixth place, 3,448) and Lucas Ohmes (seventh, 3,430), Southern Oregon's Alex Waroff (11th, 3,214) and Warner Pacific's Brett Van Asch (13th, 3,184). EOU's Chris Hoppie was one of 16 to qualify for the decathlon, but pulled a hamstring in the first event and withdrew. Decathletes participated in the 100 meters, long jump, shot put, high jump, and 400 meters today, and will conclude the 10-event competition Friday with the 110 hurdles, discus throw, pole vault, javelin, and 1,500 meters.
►College of Idaho advanced to the women's 4 x 800 meter finals with a spectacular effort by a patchwork group. "We're so proud of our relay team," said coach Pat McCurry, whose foursome clocked a time of 9:18.12 to finish second in its heat behind Simon Fraser and advance to Friday night's finals. "Their performance was unbelievable, and floored all of us coaches. To make a national final given our circumstances is unbelievable." The group is led by 800 meter runners Maggie Miller and Jayne Saunders, but three others who train in the event were out with various illnesses or injuries -- Kayloni Jones (mononucleosis), Ashley Miller (broken foot) and Stephanie Sparks (broken leg). Stepping up for the Yotes were Emily McCutchan (the CCC champion in the heptathlon) and Colleen Smith (who scored in the 5K at the CCC Championships two weeks ago). Added McCurry: "This shows we have pretty good depth."
►In the women's 1,500 meters, Concordia's Andria Scheese (4:36.42) had the No. 2 time in the prelims to advance to the finals Saturday afternoon. In the men's 1,500, Southern Oregon's Cameron Kreuz qualified for the finals with the sixth-best time (3:56.44) in the prelims.
►Oregon Tech's Nikki Smith advanced to the finals in the 100 hurdles, clocking a time of 15.04.
►Southern Oregon's Antwun Baker had the seventh-fastest time in the men's 100 prelims, posting a time of 11.01. The final is set for Friday evening.
►In the men's 800, Concordia had a pair of runners advance to Saturday's finals -- Jessy Brown, who had the sixth-fastest time (1:53.00) in the prelims, and Cordero Cisneros, whose time of 1:53.04 was the 13th-best mark.
►In the men's 400 hurdles,Concordia's Curtis Parrish advanced to the finals with a time of 53,36; it was the eight-best mark in the prelims.
►Eastern Oregon's Cam Starner advanced to Saturday's steeplechase finals, clocking a time of 9:19.76 in Thursday's prelims.