Warriors conclude regular season at Concordia/Mt. Hood

April 26, 2008

FINAL RESULTS

Sophomore Tera Stegner ran her fastest 800 meter ever and helped the Warrior women's 4x400 team to a runner-up finish today at the Concordia/Mt. Hood Invite. (Photo courtesy of Jason Dormeyer, Corban track photographer)

GRESHAM, Ore. – Competing for the final time during the regular season, Corban's men's and women's track teams took part in the Concordia/Mt. Hood Invite Saturday at Mt. Hood Community College against fellow conference schools in hopes of preparing for the conference championship.

Led by the record setting performance of the women's 4x400 relay team, the Warriors placed four individuals and one team in the top five in their respective races at today's meet.

The women's 4x400 team, which consisted of freshman Karissa Griggs (Athena, Ore.), freshman Erin Laughlin (Ephrata, Wash.), junior Carli Moller (Vancouver, Wash.), and sophomore Tera Stegner (Damascus, Ore.), set a new school record thanks to a time of 4:10.67. The Warriors, who finished runners-up to relay winner Concordia, were less than 10 seconds away from meeting the NAIA's 'B' qualification standards for the national championship.

Individually, Stegner turned in a third place performance in the 800 meter race thanks to a time of 2:18.80 which was 1.95 seconds off the NAIA 'B' qualification standard for the national championship.

Along with Stegner, Moller competed in both the 800 and 1,500 meter races finishing seventh in the 800 thanks to a time of 2:25.03. Meanwhile, Moller's 1,500 meter performance placed in the top five as she finished fourth in a time of 4:51.89.

Also competing in the 800 meter race were Griggs, Laughlin, and senior Jill Nielsen (Baker City, Ore.). Griggs finished ninth in a time of 2:31.98, while Laughlin and Nielsen were right behind her in 10th and 11th place thanks to times of 2:33.17 and 2:33.20 respectively. Nielsen also ran in the 1,500 meter race, finishing fifth in a time of 5:08.34.

Running her first-ever 10,000 meter race, senior Sara Aikin (Lebanon, Ore.) finished as the runner-up thanks to a time of 43:50.79. Aikin was the first Cascade Collegiate Conference runner to cross the finish line following Janet Howard, who won the race running unattached.

Freshman Ali Ghavami (Keizer, Ore.) competed in the 400 meter hurdles, finishing 10th in a time of 1:21.40 before running the 3000 meter steeplechase. In the steeplechase, Ghavami finished sixth in a time of 12:33.17.

A trio of Warriors took part in the 100 meter dash, as freshman Bianca Davis (Ontario, Ore.), freshman Lauren Nolz (Salem, Ore.), and freshman Alison Clark (Roseburg, Ore.) finished 8th, 12th, and 17th respectively. Davis was the Warriors' top finisher in a time of 13.32, while Nolz and Clark turned in times of 14.06 and 15.26 respectively.

Along with their 100 meter dash performance, the aforementioned trio also ran in the 200 meter dash with Davis earning the Warriors' "gold medal" thanks to a fifth place finish individually in a time of 27.21. Meanwhile, Nolz and Clark posted 12th and 14th place finishes respectively thanks to times of 29.55 and 30.99 respectively.

In the field events, Davis and Nolz both competed in the long jump as Davis finished tied for 10th thanks to a performance of 15 feet, 6.75 inches. Meanwhile, Nolz finished 17th overall with a jump of 13 feet, 8.25 inches to round out the Warrior women's performances for the afternoon.

On the men's side, freshman Kevin Cook (Ashland, Ore.) turned in the Warriors' best performance for the men's program with a fifth place showing in the 10,000 meter race thanks to a time of 37:07.12. Cook was the Warriors' lone competitor in the event.

Freshman Ben Search (Battleground, Wash.) finished sixth in the 800 meter run thanks to a time of 1:56.16. For the second week in a row, Search fell just shy of meeting the NAIA's 'B' qualification standards missing the mark by just over two seconds.

Competing along side Search in the 800 meter run were junior Jason Bernard (Salem, Ore.) and freshman Jason Hardrath (Baker City, Ore.). Bernard finished 16th in a time of 2:03.53, while Hardrath was 20th thanks to a time of 2:09.60.

In the 100 and 200 meter dash, freshman Nathan Moller (Vancouver, Wash.) turned in back-to-back 23rd place showings. In the 100 meter race, Moller turned in a time of 12.55 in the fourth and final heat before being clocked at 25.23 in the 200 meter dash.

Bernard and fellow junior Ben Snell (Spray, Ore.) both competed in the 1,500 meter race with Snell finishing 11th in a time of 4:14.89. Meanwhile, Bernard was right behind his fellow classmate in 12th place thanks to a time of 4:15.95. Along side the aforementioned duo, Hardrath finished 19th individually in a time of 4:33.35 to round out the Warrior men results in the 1,500 meter race.

Rounding out the Warrior men performances for the day was the program's 4x400 meter relay team, which consisted of Bernard, freshman Travis Wells (Springfield, Ore.), Snell, and Search. The quartet finished eighth thanks to a time of 3:33.19, which was fourth best among Cascade Collegiate Conference schools.

Corban's track teams will run again on Thursday, May 8th, when the Warriors compete in the Cascade Collegiate Conference championships beginning at 4:00 p.m. at Mt. Hood Community College in Gresham.