By: Burke De Boer Sports Editor
Wolves athletes traveled to the conference indoor track championship at Boise State’s Nampa facility. They came home with conference titles, new school records and NCAA qualifiers.
Junior David Ribich won two conference titles, claiming top spot in both the mile race and the 3,000 meters.
“After last year’s finish, I got second by 0.01,” Ribich told GNAC TV. “I just wanted to come out and run my own race. If I was going to come out and get second or third it was going to be because of me.”
Senior Josh Dempsey recorded another Western Oregon championship, winning the 800 meter contest.
Sophomore Dustin Nading was second in the mile, behind teammate Ribich. Ribich crossed at 4:10.01, while Nading finished right behind him at 4:10.93.
Dempsey was joined by two Western Oregon runners on the 800 meter podium. He won the race with a time of 1:52.47, and was followed in short order by Nading at 1:54.32 and sophomore Michael Chin at 1:54.94.
Sophomore thrower Brandon Bowen posted a personal best in shot put with a throw of 14.9 meters.
The points racked up by the Wolves lead the men’s team to a second place finish, pulling 82 points on championship Saturday.
The women’s team also performed well, totaling 25 points on their way to winning ninth place.
First year student Grayson Burke, sophomore Olivia Woods and juniors Megan Rose and Suzanne Van De Grift made up the 4×400 team that came in fifth place and set a new school record time of 3:51.18.
Van De Grift also had an NCAA provisional time in the women’s 800 meter, finishing at 2:13.92 for fifth place.
The Saturday finals came after a Friday of qualifiers, in which Van De Grift set a new school record at the 800. She ran it in 2:10.88, coming in second place, on the first day of competition.
Junior sprinter AJ Holmberg also set a Western Oregon record, running the 400 meter in 48.40.
Contact the author at journalsports@wou.edu
