C of I first, Raiders second going into final day of CCC Championships
Complete Day 1 Results
MEN’S TEAM SCORES (DAY 1 of 2) – 1. College of Idaho 97.5, 2. Southern Oregon 88, 3. Oregon Tech 68, 4. Corban 67, 5. Eastern Oregon 56, 6. Northwest Christian 24, T-7. Evergreen 10, T-7. Northwest (Wash.) 10, 9. Warner Pacific 5.5, 10. Multnomah 2
ASHLAND – Vying for its first-ever men’s title, College of Idaho jumped out to a 97.5-88 lead on second-place Southern Oregon after the first day of the Cascade Collegiate Track and Field Championships presented by U.S. Bank on Friday at Raider Stadium.
Though the Yotes didn’t get their first event win until Andrew Sutton topped the 10,000-meter field in the final event of the night, they did the majority of their damage in the throws with 36 points between the shot put and hammer. SOU, which will try
Saturday to win its fourth team title in five years, claimed three event championships, and third place Oregon Tech (68) was led by Jack Roberts’ win in the 1,500.
Below is a recap of the events in the order they unfolded:
Hammer: Defending national champion Zebuliah Hoffman of Evergreen went back-to-back with a throw of 188 feet that easily cleared the field on his third attempt. C of I’s Juston Lindsley (168-5) recorded a season-best NAIA ‘B’ mark to lead four Yotes scorers in second place, and EOU’s Jeremiah Woods (154-2) got All-CCC accolades in third.
Long Jump: Matching his season-best NAIA ‘A’ mark, SOU sophomore Zach Beltz notched a best of 24 feet 2 ¼ inches on his final jump in becoming the first Raider to win consecutive titles in the event. His teammate, Dwight Shaw, also matched a season best at 22-9 ¾ took place second, and C of I freshman Kristopher Kostelecky (22-1 ¾) edged OIT’s Seth Gretz (22-0 ¼) for third.
3K Steeplechase: In a crowd of three 2016 NAIA All-Americans, Corban senior Craig Boekenoogen beat all of them with a season-best time of 9:17.50 that cleared the field by nearly seven seconds. SOU’s Kevin Poteracke placed second in 9:24.38, improving on his third-place finish of a year ago, and C of I’s Billy Godfrey filled third in 9:28.78 to become All-CCC a second time.
Shot Put: The No. 4 seed, EOU senior Jeremiah Woods, recorded a PR of 47-11 ¾ to earn the win – EOU’s first in the discipline since 2009. C of I scored 20 points, however, led by Andrew Galloway (47-8) in second place and Josh Brown (46-11) in fourth. The third-place finisher was top-seeded sophomore Duke York (47-4 ¼) of OIT.
High Jump: Jason Bracken cleared 6-6 ¼ to earn Corban’s first-ever high jump title with a new PR, and C of I’s Kristopher Kostelecky cleared 6-4 ¼ for second place. Two more freshmen – OIT’s Dillon Claybaugh (6-2 ¼) and C of I’s Colton Merges (6-2 ¼) – filled in behind them with Claybaugh getting the tiebreak for All-CCC kudos.
4x100-Meter Relay: For the seventh time in eight seasons, top-seeded SOU’s team of Dwight Shaw, Matt East, Jeremiah Emershy and Cameron Bremner won the 4x1 in 41.33 seconds, just missing their meet record of 41.31 set last season. EOU 42.55) placed second and NCU (42.83) was third.
1,500 Meters: OIT junior Jack Roberts picked up the Owls’ first 1,500 win since 2001 by clocking in at 4:00.87. EOU’s Thomas Morrell III (4:02.42) broke into second as the No. 5 seed, and NCU’s Garrett Kraal (4:03.21) was third.
110-Meter Hurdles: Northwest’s TJ Randle, the heavy favorite to win
Saturday’s 400-meter hurdles title, added a title in the 110 hurdles and an NAIA ‘A’ mark of 14.74 that was a half-second better than his previous season best – good for the Eagles’ first win since 2001 in the event. Top-seeded Seth Gretz (14.88), the CCC decathlon champ, clocked his first NAIA ‘B’ mark to place second, while Corban had the third- and fourth-place finishers in Nathan Martin (14.97) and Michael Schmidt (15.50).
400 Meters: Using a wild-card entry and running in the three-person slow heat as a result, SOU’s Matt East still managed to win the title in 49.64 seconds. He beat out his teammate, Cedric Quartey, who placed second by winning the fast heat in 49.87, and EOU sophomore Devin Lewis-Allen was the third All-CCC performer in 50.40.
10,000 Meters: With a season best by nearly 33 seconds, C of I’s Andrew Sutton pulled off the upset win in 32:03.04, beating SOU’s Ray Schireman (32:14.34) by 11 seconds in the final event of the night. Corban’s Zachary Steele (32:17.23) was third to capture an All-CCC plaque as a senior.