Westmont’s participation in the NAIA Outdoor Track and Field Championships came to an end today with Warrior runners competing in four races. Junior Eric Williams posted a time of 1:55.23 in the semifinals of the men’s 800 meters but missed qualifying for tomorrow’s finals. Williams was the seventh finisher in the second heat.

Freshman Matt Day finished in eleventh place in the third heat of the 5,000 meter prelims with a time of 16:13.46.

In the women’s 5,000 meter prelims, junior Chrissa Trudelle recorded a time of 19:11.27 in a thirteenth place finish in the second heat. Freshman Danica Rosendale competed in the first heat, completing the race in a time of 20:07.04 and finishing fifteenth.

Brent Lagace produced a throw of 66.07 meters (216-9) to take third place in the men’s javelin and earn All-American status at the NAIA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Marion, Indiana.

“It was really fun,” said Lagace. “We had a really good group of guys out there that were all cheering for each other. I had a lot of teammates cheering for me as well as my coach. I felt very relaxed and confident.”

The senior recorded a 63.48 meter throw on his final attempt in the third flight to qualify for three more throws in the nine-competitor final. On his first throw in the finals, Lagace improved his mark to 64.00 meters but fell into fourth place behind Andy White of British Columbia whose first throw went 64.62 meters. However, Lagace regained third place on his second throw which was his longest of the day.

“It felt great to keep building and just keep improving,” said Lagace. “I came here with the goal to win but the two guys that beat me had amazing throws. It was an amazing competition. I felt like I had a really good meet and felt really good today. It was a lot of fun.”

[men's results] [women's results]

Photos from the NAIA Outdoor Track and Field National Championships in Marion, Indiana.

Click on image for more photos. Keep clicking photos for larger image.

By Kristi Kiely

Greetings from Santa Barbara,

We are back and everyone made it home safe! I would have written last night but once 2 p..m. came (midnight for us) I turned into a Zombie and there’s no telling what this entry would have looked like. So, let me catch you up our last three days…

Saturday morning we got up and drove to Parra Lodge (a safari lodge in northern Uganda). It was an interesting switch back into an affluent culture but still in Africa. Once we arrived we went straight into our first leg of the safari: the Nile River. We got on a boat on THE NILE (which is still somewhat bazaar to say) and cruised on up to an incredible waterfall: Murchison Falls. On the Nile we saw hippos, crocodiles, elephants, more hippos, various birds and still, more hippos. It was an incredibly beautiful place full of wildlife.

Ten Westmont Track and Field Athletes travel to Marion, Indiana this week to participate in the NAIA Outdoor Track and Field National Championships to be conducted at Indiana Wesleyan University. The championship event will be held Thursday-Saturday, May 27-29.

Six men and four women will compete in 11 events in which all-American and national champion honors are at stake. In order to qualify as an all-American, an athlete must finish in the top six.

Senior Brent Lagace and freshman Andrew Kolodinski are among the favorites in the men’s javelin. Lagace and Kolodinski both shattered the school record in the discus this season. Lagace’s throw of 68.15 meters (223-7) at the GSAC Track and Field Championships was the second longest throw among NAIA athletes this year. Kolodinski’s mark of 66.75 meters (219-0), set at the Occidental Invitational, is the fourth best qualifying mark in the NAIA. Lagace’s mark exceeds the best throw at the 2009 NAIA Championships by 0.36 meters (one foot, two inches). The javelin will be contested beginning at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday (all times EDT).

Jacob Goodin will compete in the men’s 1500 meters after posting the NAIA’s eighth fastest qualifying time (3:51.29) at the Occidental Invitational. The junior dropped more than five seconds off his GSAC Championship time (3:56.51) to earn the automatic qualifying mark and position himself to compete for all-American honors. The 1500 meter prelims will be held on Thursday at 1:55 p.m. The finals are scheduled for 3:10 p.m. on Saturday.

[schedule]

By Kristi Kiely

Greetings from the end of our trip,

It’s Friday evening and we have finished our time in Gulu. Sorry for my absence in yesterdays blog…computer access was limited. First I must say, Happy Birthday Dan! Dan spent his 55th birthday here in Gulu doing some of the things he loves most: building a piggery and being serenaded by our women’s team at dinner.

Yesterday, we spent ALL day working on various projects (from digging to building a piggery) in the “bush” as they call it here in Gulu-meaning those that live deep in the bush in huts as part of small villages they are trying to rebuild after the war. It was a long and fruitful day. It felt good to work with our hands to the point of exhaustion. Nicole and I also shared the hard task of holding the cutest Ugandan baby! After our long day in the trenches we had a wonderful dinner (some of us had goat) outside under the Ugandan sky.

The season came to an end for Westmont Men’s Tennis (10-10) in the quarterfinals of the NAIA National Championship. The eighth-ranked Warriors fell 5-1 to top-ranked Fresno Pacific (19-1) at the Mobile Tennis Courts in Mobile, Alabama.

The Warriors’ only win came at number two doubles where Mattias Neuman and Diego Almeida earned an 8-4 victory over Denny Fafek and Jose Hilla.

“I felt like we completed well,” said Neuman who won three of four matches at the tournament. “We won our match yesterday easily and were up 6-1 today. It will be a good memory to take with me from this tournament.”

At number one doubles, Carlos Lima and Bryan Cox fell 8-4 to Xavier Smith and Alex Gonzalez while at number three, Arthur Kalayjian and Tiago Hayashi were swept 8-0 by Martin Vaisse and Maxine Adam.

“Getting to nationals is what we have worked for,” said Mattias after today’s match. “We are finally here and are able to compete with the best. It feels good for all of us. We have known we are this good, but to get that affirmation is big. All of us have enjoyed being here and it is a good final thing to do as a team before we all go off to different things.”

[results]

Eighth-ranked Westmont Men’s Tennis validated their national ranking by claiming a berth in the quarterfinals of the NAIA National Tournament. Westmont posted a 5-4 win over the tenth-ranked Yellowjackets of Graceland (Iowa) in a second round match. Tomorrow, Westmont will play a familiar foe in top-ranked Fresno Pacific. The match is scheduled to begin at 1:00 p.m. CDT.

Mattias Neuman and Diego Almeida started off strong at number two doubles, defeating Yassir El Ghazzi and Jeremy Ackerer 8-2 to give the Warriors an early 1-0 lead. However, things were not going as well for the Warriors in the other doubles matches.

“I was concerned that we were going to be down 2-1 in doubles because Bryan (Cox) and Carlos (Lima) were down a break and it was looking suspect,” said Westmont Head Coach Mark Basham about his number one team. “But Carlos, with all his leadership as a two-year All-American, is a really great doubles player, especially when he is playing his game. He set the tone and Bryan was there to follow suit.”

[results]