Meet Results
MONMOUTH, Ore. (May 14) -- Senior Torrie Self (Kent/Kent-Meridian HS) won the women's hammer throw, which turned out to be the only event victory for the Central Washington University track and field teams on the final day of the 2011 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships on Saturday at McArthur Field.
Self, who won the women's discus on Friday, unleashed a throw of 53.48 meters (175 feet, 5 inches) in the hammer to win the event by nearly 11 1/2 feet over Lindsay Wells of Western Washington. As a result, she successfully defended her conference title from 2010 in the event.
In team scoring, the Central Washington men finished third, totaling just 57 points in Saturday's events, and finishing with 130 points. Host Western Oregon won the men's team title with 203 points, followed by Western Washington with 173 1/2 and CWU.
On the women's side, Central finished fourth with 97 points, leading a close pack of teams in fourth through seventh places as Northwest Nazarene (88 1/2), Alaska Anchorage (86), and Simon Fraser (79) were close on the Wildcats' heels. Seattle Pacific won the women's team title with a commanding 206 1/2 points, followed by Western Washington (121) and Western Oregon (109).
All told, Central Washington had just seven top-three event finishes on Saturday. All three of the women's top-three finishes were in field events, where sophomore Katharine Lotze (Benton City/Kiona-Benton HS) and senior Shaina Afoa (Anchorage, Alaska/A.J. Dimond HS) took third place in the triple jump and shot put, respectively, to go with Self's win in the hammer. Lotze posted a best mark of 11.74 meters (38 feet, 6 1/4 inches) in the triple jump, while Afoa, who also placed third in the discus on Friday, had a mark of 13.35 meters (43 feet, 9 3/4 inches) in the shot put.
Top three finishes for the men included a tie for second place in the triple jump by Manny Melo (Battle Ground) with a mark of 14.01 meters (45 feet, 11 3/4 inches) and a second-place time of 42.38 seconds in the 4x100-meter relay. Sophomore Scott Morrison (Hoquiam) placed third in the 400-meter dash with a time of 48.61 seconds, while teammate Andrew Venema (Bickleton) was third in the 110-meter hurdles in 15.58 seconds.
In addition to the aforementioned team titles, Most Outstanding Performer honorees were David Registe of Alaska Anchorage for the men, and Helen Crofts of Simon Fraser for the women. Registe set a conference record by winning five events (including relays), winning the 100, 200, long jump, and running on the Seawolves' 4x100- and 4x400-meter relay-winning teams.
Central Washington will now await the selection of participants for the 2011 NCAA Division II National Outdoor Track and Field Championships, which will take place May 26-28 in Turlock, Calif. Several Wildcats have met provisional qualifying standards for nationals, with the announcement of qualifiers expected early next week.
