Mount Hood

Men’s soccer gets first win of season

Riley Buerk | Freelance Writer

The men’s soccer game on Oct. 13, ended with Western Oregon University getting their first win of the year, 2-1, over Portland State University. The first half was a defensive battle, and both teams went into halftime with zeroes on the scoreboard.  

Western has been working on defending more as a unit, according to head coach Mark Jorgenson.

“We’ve been working on our shape, and just defending as a unit rather than individually and there weren’t, maybe a couple dodgy moments, but much better than last week. We didn’t really have too much panic tonight, which was nice to see,” said Jorgenson.

The game got off to a late start after only a few of the PSU players showed up before 6 p.m. and most of them arriving shortly after six. This caused a 15 minute delay in start time.

The scoring opened up 15 minutes into the second half with number Tatsuya Koba for Western scoring off a deep pass from first-year left back Brent Walsh. In the 27th minute, Portland State tied the game up off a mistake by Western’s defense. The Wolves kicked the ball into an open middle field and the goalie had to run up to try and get the ball, which left the goal wide open for Portland State to score. This was the only major mistake the defense made.

However, this was the best game for the defense this year.

“We really worked well as a team. It’s a lot less stressful when we’re compact and moving as a unit instead of leaving a bunch of windows and open gaps,” said Walsh.

Western took the lead for good with 12 minutes left after striker Brandon Cortez managed to put a goal in past the goalie.

“It feels awesome to finally get a win, finally get a goal, been struggling with that all year and I feel like our team is finally coming together,” said Cortez.

Western Oregon travels to Corvallis on Oct. 21 to take on the Oregon State Beavers, and try and get a winning streak going.

Contact the author at rbuerk17@wou.edu

Thorns bring home second trophy, Timbers punch ticket to playoffs

Ben Bergerson | Freelance Writer

It was a good weekend for soccer in Portland.

On Oct. 14, the Thorns were victorious in their hunt for a second National Women’s Soccer League Championship win, with a 1-0 result over the North Carolina Courage.

In a very physical game where defense was crucial, the Thorns were up to the task. Goalkeeper Adrianna Franch and the center back pair Emily Menges and Emily Sonnett were threatened at several points during the match, but were able to come away with yet another clean sheet. They came into the match with a league leading 11 shutouts during the regular season.

The match proved to be catharsis for the Thorns, as they had lost in a critical semifinal match in 2016 to the Western New York Flash — now called the North Carolina Courage. When the final whistle blew, the team came streaking across the field to celebrate and Franch ran over to the traveling Rose City Riveters supporters to wave the Thorns crest.

While the women celebrated their victory, the men continued their fight for a second championship trophy, as well.

The Timbers romped to a 4-0 win over D.C. United on Oct. 15. Midfielder Diego Valeri, a strong contender for league MVP, notched another goal, this time from the penalty spot just before halftime.

Just five minutes after the play had resumed from halftime, defender Alvas Powell calmly dribbled up the corner of the 18-yard box and hit a long, sweeping ball that landed in the back of the net for the second goal of the game.

The Timbers continued to dominate the game, as midfielder Sebastian Blanco rounded out the score with two goals in the second half.

While the Timbers’s win guarantees their spot in the playoffs for the MLS cup, they will face a massively important last game this weekend at Providence Park. They will play the Western Conference leaders and Cascadian rivals, the Vancouver Whitecaps.

If the Timbers are able to pull off a win against the tough ‘Caps on Oct. 22, they will sit on top of the Western Conference standings, giving them a first round bye in the playoffs. It will also crown the Timbers with the Cascadia Cup for the first time since 2012.

Contact the author at bebergerson13@wou.edu

Ribich takes the lead

Zoë Strickland | Managing Editor

David Ribich has had a good year. So good, in fact, that he was promoted from his position as a tent assistant at Steens Mountain Running Camp.

“I would be allowed to be a tent assistant last year but the camp founder said ‘you are on the verge of a professional career. We’re going to pull you out of the tent, you’re now a tent coach,’” explained Ribich. “Now, I’m up at camp as an agent for the kids to talk to.”

The camp’s founder wasn’t exaggerating Ribich’s accolades. In the past year, the track and cross country star has been named the 2016-17 GNAC Male Athlete of the Year, won the 1500-meter title at the 2017 NCAA Division II Championships and travelled to Sacramento, California to compete in the U.S.A. Track and Field Outdoor National Championships.

The latter is an honor few collegiate athletes receive. Described by Ribich as “the Olympic trials in an off-year,” the experience was one to behold.

“I raced against pro and top division athletes,” said Ribich. “I beat a lot of professional athletes signed by companies with contracts. So, this last summer really opened the door for me next year as a professional athlete.”

Ribich went into the event as the 33rd man in the nation and ultimately placed ninth in the final.  Solid stats for someone who started running for a no-frills team on a dirt track in Enterprise, Oregon.

“I didn’t come from the stellar program,” said Ribich. “I just had a good coach, a dedicated coach.”

His coach, Dan Moody, is still working after 42 years, and is currently in possession of the track star’s 1500-meter NCAA trophy — he put it on his mantle.

Ribich’s coach isn’t the only one from Enterprise rooting for him; Ribich gets letters and messages of support from citizens throughout the 2,000-person town. The letters are placed near his door in his room, serving as a constant reminder of both how he got to where he is, and what keeps him going.

“I came from such a small town that I constantly get messages and letters from people. I have them pinned up on my wall in my room right by my door, so everytime I open a door I look at a letter and read it, and that’s why I’m doing it … I’m doing this, and I’m doing it for them. Keeping me motivated is everyone counting on me back home that said ‘you’re going to be a professional athlete some day’ and putting that pressure on me, but it’s like a challenge to me. Having them support me still when I haven’t been home much is incredible.”

For Ribich, the decision to start running was made out of practicality. There were only two sports offered for men in Enterprise: football and cross country.

“I was just that super tiny skinny kid that had a big mouth,” he said. “(Cross country was) what I pretty much was only able to do and because, in cross country, it’s pretty much the only sport a 4-foot-10-inch freshman could beat a 6-foot, fully-matured man.”

Like every graduating senior on campus, Ribich’s future is on the horizon. With a major in communications and a minor in sports leadership and development, he’s paving the way for himself to continue on the path that he’s been running.

First up on his life plan: finishing out his athletic career, regardless of how long it may be. Then, the field is wide open.

“My major and minor are so broad that I know for a fact I want to be in the running community or running field,” said Ribich. “I just don’t know if it’s collegiate coaching, pro-coaching … I really enjoy public speaking. I’m actually writing a journal.”

The journal is a recent project of his — the first entry was written the night before the U.S.A. Track and Field prelims. Ribich is writing the currently untitled journal with the hope of using it in the future as a way of encouraging high school runners.

“I just want to focus on my athletic and running career and … try to travel to high schools, public speak and just say like, ‘guys, you can do whatever you set your mind to. I was an 86-pound freshman from a small school, I went to a division two school, and now — hopefully — I’m a professional athlete.’”

In the immediate future, he still has to finish out the school year. He’ll be running the Wes Cook Collegiate meet on Oct. 14, followed by the GNAC Championships on Oct. 21.

Regardless of the path that Ribich chooses, it’s bound to be great.

“You don’t do college athletics because your friends are doing it, you do it because it’s something you find fun and it’s your passion.”

 

Contact the author at journalmanaging@wou.edu

Football redeems itself

Zoë Strickland | Managing Editor

After a two-week dry spell, Wolves’ football got back into the action with an 82-21 road win against Simon Fraser University.

On Oct. 7, the team travelled north to Burnaby, B.C. to face off against Simon Fraser and along the way ended up setting a new school record for the Wolves and tying an old one.

The team racked up a record-breaking 82-points — the highest amount to scored since a 2012 game between the Wolves and Dixie State, which set the record at 66-points.

Senior quarterback Nick Duckworth’s six touchdown passes led him to tie the record for most touchdown passes, previously set in 2013.

The team gained 604 offensive yards for the day, against Simon Fraser’s 248-yards.

“It all started with our week of practice. We focused on pushing the ball down the field in practice which resulted in big plays throughout the game,” said Duckworth.

Throughout the game, Western consistently sat above Simon Fraser on the scoreboard.

The Wolves started out strong in the first quarter, with senior Paul Revis scoring a 59-yard, eight-play touchdown. Simon Fraser scored one touchdown in the first quarter, opening up the field to the Wolves. At the end of the first quarter, the board read 24-7.

A similar scoring pattern continued throughout the game, with the Wolves scoring three touchdowns in the second quarter and Simon Fraser inching behind them with their second touchdown of the game.

The score was a promising 44-14 going into the third, and continued to look-up from there.

“Early in the third quarter I threw a touchdown to Paul Revis, and after that I knew our defense would be able to hold on from then on,” said Duckworth.

The Wolves finished out the game with an additional four touchdowns and a field goal.

This game continues Western’s winning streak against Simon Fraser — a streak that began in 2010.

The Wolves are back home on Oct. 14 to go against currently undefeated Central Washington University. Kickoff is slated for 1 p.m.

Contact the author at journalmanaging@wou.edu

Volleyball wins one, loses one

Zoë Strickland | Managing Editor

Wolves’ volleyball headed to Portland on Oct. 3 to face off against Concordia University. After a series of tight sets, the final score read 0-3, with the Wolves’ giving up the win.

Junior Mariella Vandenkooy scored the most kills for Western, tallying up 19.

Throughout the first set, Concordia held a consistent lead above Western. The Wolves finally began to redeem themselves with a series of kills and attack errors, but not before Concordia beat them to the 25. The final score read 21-25.

The team kicked it into gear for the second set, leading the way for the majority of the remaining time. Their steady lead was halted with repeated kills from Concordia sophomore Jessica Wheeler and Concordia senior Colby Barnette. The repeated attack led the Wolves to a close second set at 24-26.

The third set was a slow-build in favor of Concordia; kills and errors were the name of the game. The final score was 17-25, rounding out a loss for the Wolves.

The team headed back home to play the Montana State Billings on Oct. 7.

After losing to Concordia, the Wolves made a comeback with a 3-0 win against the Billings.

Vandenkooy was the kill leader in this game, as well, racking up 20.

Vandenkooy started the Wolves off with a kill at the top of the game. This put the Wolves on a path of steady points ahead of the Billings. The end of the first ended with a gutting 25-9 in favor of Western.

The Billings made the first kill of the second set, but Western came back with eight consecutive points. The rest of the set played out in a similar way; Montana State getting a kill in, followed by Western coming in and scoring multiple consecutive points.

The third set mimicked the one before it, with both the second and third sets ending 25-18.

This win makes Western 2-6 in GNAC. Their only other win of the season so far was against Saint Martin’s in September.

The Wolves face two Alaska teams at home this week; University of Alaska on Oct. 12 and University of Alaska Anchorage on Oct. 14.

 

Contact the author at journalmanaging@wou.edu

Western’s campus is home to a variety of different sports

Zoë Strickland | Managing Editor

It’s difficult to go to college without being aware of the myriad of different NCAA sports teams on campus. For students who aren’t inclined to go the NCAA route, Western is also home to intramural programs and club sports, both of which are open to students across campus.

Both IM and club sports are a way for members of the Western community to participate in recreational sports at varying levels of intensity.

Club Sports are run by students and go through the university’s campus recreation department. Some of the clubs offered include rugby, wrestling and rock climbing. Club Sports are a way for students to participate in structured games and practices, as well as travel and compete with other college students throughout the Pacific Northwest.

“Playing club sports here has opened so many doors that I never even thought it would,” said Lake Larsen, senior Lacrosse player and Club Sports Supervisor. “On the field I’ve been able to travel all over the west coast ranging from Las Vegas and San Francisco to Seattle and Boise.”

In addition to being part of a team, participating in club sports can also come with various responsibilities. Larsen, who was elected president of the Lacrosse team, can attest to this; “The biggest impact of club sports has come from my time off the field and behind the scenes … with this title I learned how to manage an annual budget of approximately $50K, hired a new coaching staff and have developed great relationships with people around the school.”

IM programs are less structured; they’re less likely to have a coach, and take on a more freeform nature. Unlike club sports, they are also open to Western faculty and staff.

“IM teams are usually a group of friends comprised of WOU students competing to have fun and try to win an Intramural championship T-Shirt,” said Andy Main, the Assistant Director of Campus Recreation Intramural and Club Sports.

Some of the intramural sports programs, such as Flag Football and Basketball, cost students a registration fee of $50. The money paid by students goes back into the program to help pay for court and field maintenance, as well as to pay student workers.

“The largest portion of the Intramural budget goes to pay for Intramural student-employees,” said Main. “The intramural program requires about 30 student-employees to ensure that all competitions are officiated by referees and/or monitored by Intramural supervisors.”

What isn’t covered by the intramural fee is provided to the program by the Incidental Fee Committee.

Those interested in finding out more about IM programs or club sports, can do so by heading to wou.edu/campusrec or by looking up @wou_imsports and @wouclubsports on Instagram.

Students who are more interested in watching the sports than playing them, can view the schedules for both Intramural and club sports at IMLeagues.com/wou.

 

Contact the author at journalmanaging@wou.edu

Wolves surrender win to Azusa

Zoë Strickland | Managing Editor

On Sept. 30, the Wolves travelled to Glendora, California and surrendered yet another win to Azusa Pacific University. The final score was 48-17 in favor of Azusa. This is their first time heading against Azusa this season, but their third consecutive loss against the team.

The Wolves’ only lead during the game was 7-3 in the first quarter. Wolves’ junior tight end Caleb Tingstad scored the first touchdown of the game, completing a 72-yard, five-play run. By the end of the first, junior kicker Jacob Hill had put three points on the board for APU with a 38-yard field goal.

Azusa gained control of the second quarter, scoring two touchdowns. The Wolves were determined to stay close behind their competitors, and gained a 49-yard field goal from junior kicker Adrian Saldana. The second quarter closed out at 10-17.

The game tied 17-17 early on in the third quarter when senior quarterback Phillip Fenumiai scored Western’s second and last touchdown of the day. The tie was broken by APU junior running back Kurt Scoby before the end of the third.

The score at the top of the fourth read 17-24, and continued to weigh in favor of Azusa Pacific. The remainder of the game was rounded out with three more touchdowns and one field goal on behalf of APU.

This loss places Western Oregon at the bottom of the GNAC leaderboard, just above Simon Fraser University. The Wolves will be heading to Burnaby, B.C. on Oct. 7 to face Simon Fraser; kickoff is slated for 1 p.m.

Contact the author at journalmanaging@wou.edu

Wolves hungry for win

Stephanie Blair | Editor-in-Chief

On Sept. 26 and 30, Wolves’ soccer played their last two home games before heading out on the road for three weeks.

Concordia, Western’s opponent on Sept. 26, came into the game with a 355-minute shut out. They left with that record extended by 90 minutes.

Though sophomore goalkeeper Caitlin Kastelic made five saves throughout the game, she was unable to stop three of Concordia’s shots over the course of the 90-minute game. The Wolves fell against Concordia, 0-3.

The Wolves started out strong on Sept. 30 in their match against Seattle Pacific; junior forward Amber Whitmore scored the first point of the game in minute 22, with an assist from first-year midfielder Alexie Morris. They held a 1-0 lead going into the second half.

It looked as though the Wolves would taste victory and end their 20-day drought, until the Falcons’ Kasey Reeve scored in the 83rd minute of the game. After seven more minutes of back and forth with no goals made, the game launched into overtime. However, there was no resolution in the additional 10-minutes of game play provided, forcing the game into double-overtime.

After 102 minutes of play, the game was decided by a goal for Seattle Pacific, making the final score of 1-2 in favor of the Falcons.

Post-match on Sept. 30, the Wolves have a conference record of 0-4-1.

The Wolves return to Western’s soccer field on Oct. 21 to face Saint Martin’s University.

 

Contact the author at journaleditor@wou.edu

Volleyball moves north

Zoë Strickland | Managing Editor

Wolves volleyball garnered a dual loss while on the road.

On Sept. 28, the Wolves headed to Burnaby, B.C. to face-off against Simon Fraser University. The game was a series of close scores and inevitable misses. Junior Alisha Bettinson scored the first kill of the game, putting the Wolves on the board. The first set was close, but had the Wolves leading by a marginal 25-22.

The Wolves lost momentum as the sets progressed, surrendering the win to Simon Fraser. The remaining three sets totaled 22-25, 17-25 and 16-25, respectively.

Bettinson was the star attacker of the game against Simon Fraser, racking up 19 kills.

On Sept. 30, the Wolves continued their tour to Bellingham, Washington to face off against No. 10-ranked Western Washington University. The game ended in a 0-3 loss for the Wolves.

From the beginning of the first set, Washington held the lead against the Wolves. This culminated in a 25-11 lead for Washington at the end of the first. The two remaining sets saw similar fates, with the Wolves coming in short at 17-25 and 14-25.

Against Washington, the team saw a season-low hitting percentage of 0.032.

Wolves volleyball is currently ranked last in GNAC. The team has a chance to redeem themselves at home on Oct. 7, where they will face the Montana State Billings. The Wolves beat the Billings 3-1 in their 2016 game.

Contact the author at journalmanaging@wou.edu

Tracking the Wolves

Stephanie Blair | Editor-in-Chief

Soccer

The women’s soccer team holds a record of 0-2-1 in the conference, after a tied game on their home turf against Montana State Billings with a score of 1-1. Results of the Sept. 26 match against Concordia were not available as of press time.

Wolves soccer will return to Western Oregon’s soccer field on Sept. 30 to face Seattle Pacific.

 

Cross Country

The men’s cross country team has taken every spot on the podium over the course of their first three meets for the season — first, then third, then second. The team is being led primarily by senior, national record holder in the distance medley relay and last year’s GNAC Male Athlete of the Year David Ribich.

The women’s team has had more trouble finding their footing this season, having taken fourth, ninth and then fifth as a team in their first three meets.

The next time students can catch the Wolves cross country teams competing in Monmouth will be on Nov. 4 for the NCAA Division II West regional meet — the last meet before nationals, hosted in Indiana this year. However, the next meet is only a short drive away, in Salem at Bush Park for the Charles Bowles Invite.

 

Football 

Western’s football team has had two near-victories in conference thus far, losing their first game by a single touchdown and their most recent game by a single point in overtime. See our coverage by Zoe Strickland. Overall, the team’s current record is 1-3.

Students will have their next chance to support the Wolves at home on Oct. 14, when they’ll be facing the Wildcats from Central Washington University.

 

Volleyball

Wolves Volleyball team, led this year by new coach Tommy Gott, is very young this year, with only six upperclassmen on the roster. They currently hold a record of 1-3 in conference play, with a 5-6 record overall. They fell to Central Washington University on Sept. 23 after falling short of points in all three sets: 17-25, 21-25, 22-25.

Senior outside hitter Alisha Bettinson led the team in game stats for the Spet. 23 game, with 16 kills on 42 swings. Junior and outside hitter Mariella Vandenkooy followed in second position for game stats, with 6 kills.

Western fans will be able to cheer for the Wolves at home next when the team faces Montana State Billings on Oct. 7 in the New PE building.

 

GNAC Student Athletes of the Week

Each week, the Great Northwest Athletic Conference recognizes athletes who have excelled in their sport. Over the first four weeks of selection, seven Wolves have received this award.

 

Aug. 28 – Defensive Volleyball Player: Mackenzie Bowen, junior

Sept. 4 – Women’s Soccer Player: Alyssa Tomasini, first-year

  Defensive Football Player: Bo Highburger, junior

Sept. 11 – Defensive Football Player: Curtis Anderson, redshirt first-year

    Special Teams Football Player: Adrian Saldana, junior

Sept. 18 – Defensive Football Player: Tyler Johnson, senior

    Men’s Cross Country Runner: David Ribich, senior

Wolves see overtime loss

Zoe Strickland | Managing Editor

The Wolves spent Oct. 23 in a deadlock against the No. 22-ranked Humboldt State University Lumberjacks — eventually succumbing to a 48-49 loss in overtime. This was the first home game of the season for Western.

Ultimately, the Wolves would get 517 offensive yards for the day. The players to watch included senior Paul Revis, who accumulated a whopping 176-yards and two touchdowns, and sophomore Torreahno Sweet, whose 111-yards gained the Wolves three touchdowns throughout the course of the game.

HSU obtained the majority of their points by taking advantage of long plays and holes in Western’s defensive line. Western’s path to points involved more plays and ultimately more time in possession of the ball.

Fans saw a continuous back-and-forth between the two teams, with the Lumberjacks leading 7-14 after the first quarter. The second quarter saw three touchdowns at the hands of senior Kenny Portara, Revis and Sweet, raising the score to 28-14 at the half.

Though the third quarter began to even out the score, the Wolves held the lead with 35-28. What began to look promising in the third quarter ultimately came to a halt in the fourth.

A 42-42 tie at the end of the fourth led the game into overtime. The overtime caused both teams to kick it into gear; the Lumberjack’s Ja’Quan Gardner and Wolves’ Sweet both scored touchdowns at the top. Lumberjack Jose Morales completed the kick, bringing HSU to a combined 49 points.

The roughest moment of the day came when Wolves junior Adrian Saldana missed the kick that would’ve once again tied the game 49-49. Instead, the Wolves surrendered the win to the Lumberjacks. This was the third consecutive home loss for the Wolves against HSU. They face the team again on the road in October.

The loss results in the Wolves falling 1-3 overall. On Sep. 30 the Wolves head to Glendora, CA to head off against Azusa Pacific. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m.

Contact the author at journalmanaging@wou.edu.

The Motown Throwdown

By: Burke De Boer
Sports Editor

In the far-out year of 1975, a motley pack of punks set upon the Old PE Building to beat one another bloody. Hundreds of Western students, then called the Oregon College of Education students, came together to dig on the wild fist dishing and watch Tim Hundley reign supreme.

This was the TKB Smoker: an annual boxing tournament, hosted in May or June of each year. A trip to the archives at Hamersly Library unpacked the details of this event that has long since disappeared from the campus.

The host of these spring season rumbles was a fraternity, of sorts. They called themselves TKB and were neither affiliated with a national Greek organization nor sanctioned as a club by the university.

In the 1962 intramural football tournament, their team was billed as Theta Kappa Beta. In the days of short haircuts and picket fences, there was still an attempt to be respectable.

But by the 1970s, after a decade of political protests and the advent of heavy metal, the era of renegades was upon the nation. When the campus newspaper covered the Smoker in 1971, they proudly went by the name they were truly known as: Tappa Kegga Beer.

Tappa Kegga membership consisted primarily of players on the Wolves football team. Players such as the 1972 offensive captain and running back, Doug Trice. Trice’s 5,416-career all-purpose yards is a school record nobody’s come close to touching. And Terry Watkins, the defensive line captain.

And Tim Hundley, who played at safety and linebacker as an All-American.

In addition to playing intercollegiate ball, TKB would organize a team for the intramural football tournament every year. In all the archived intramural coverage, TKB’s teams never lost.

The gridiron gang did not fare as well in the boxing ring though. The set up, advertised to entice any and all challengers, was that a TKB member would be matched up in weight class with any non-member. Hundley, Trice, Watkins: you, too, have a chance to flatten their noses.

Every year, Tappa Kegga brawlers wound up on the losing side of the overall head-to-head records. In 1973, they won five of the 12 fights, which was a pretty good year.

They could scrap together a few wins and Tim Hundley would lead the charge. He boasted five wins in a six-year span, as he transitioned from a football player and began his coaching career as a graduate program assistant.

One of Hundley’s most reliable defensive teammates was a player named Jack Flitcraft. From 1969 to 1973, Flitcraft was a Wolves icon. In his time, he set the school record for interceptions in a career. His record still stands at 21. For perspective, the career interceptions leader among the currently active roster is redshirt senior linebacker Tyler Johnson, who has four.

Flitcraft also played baseball, leading the team in runs, hits and RBIs. He was known as an all-around athlete, affectionately called “Flit.” He was not a member of Tappa Kegga Beer.

In June of 1971, Hundley drew Flit. Hundley had 10 pounds on his teammate, and was considered the favorite.

The bout opened as expected, with Hundley landing heavy hits. But Flit was more formidable than expected. A quicker, fleet-footed fighter, Flitcraft showed the speed that would lead to his school interceptions record.

When the final bell rang, it was Flit’s glove that was raised. By decision, the upset was complete.

Mike Haglund, a campus reporter who was in attendance, described the aftermath; “Tim just smiled and gave his congrats to Jack and they left the ring together.”

Tim Hundley fought for six years through annual matches with only one loss. And Jack Flitcraft would go down as the man who delivered it.

By the end of the ‘70s, the event had grown to being, by the account of the 1978 newspapers, “the most popular campus activity of the year.”

And, by this time, a new Tappa Kegga brother had risen from his ranks to lead his fraternity of fighters; Lee Reed, who in ‘78 was called “The Muhammad Ali of TKB,” strung together his own streak of smashing victories.

Gill Boardman, a campus newspaper staff writer, covered the ‘77 Smoker by saying, “The highlight of the evening had to be whether Lee Reed would put his opponent down in the first or second round.”

Then, in 1979, it all came crashing down. Or, at least, the boxing ring did. Before a crowd of 900, the floor of the ring collapsed.
It was repaired, and the bouts continued. Mark Smith, as a spokesman from the fraternity, later explained that they didn’t have the time to check the safety of the ring.

But in the 1980 intramural football tournament, no TKB team competed.
No mention of Tappa Kegga was found in the Reagan era papers. With no clue as to how it happened, the club disappeared. Perhaps the spirit of the ‘70s simply kept them bound to that happenin’ decade.

So who exactly was the best TKB boxer? As they were fraternity brothers, Hundley and Reed never duked it out. But if they had, the overlap would have landed right when one was a graduate student and the other fresh out of high school.

Hundley may have been one tough dude during his tenure as a pugilist, but something worth noting is Reed’s accomplishments after the fall of the Smokers. The Wolves Taekwondo club competed in Portland in 1980 and 1981, and Reed took the Northwest heavyweight black belt championship both times.

Taekwondo and boxing are, admittedly, different beasts, but it’s no wonder that Reed was so accomplished in the ring. For as long as his time lasted, at least, then he was off to prove his mettle in other arenas.

The ‘70s ended, so did the Smokers. And so did Tappa Kegga Beer.

Contact the author at journalsports@wou.edu

Wolves’ top five

By: Burke De Boer
Sports Editor

Indoor track team sets a Division II record
The indoor track season was a dominant one for Western Oregon track and field, capped off by a record-setting national title for the men’s distance medley relay.

Sophomore Dustin Nading, juniors AJ Holmberg and Josh Dempsey and junior David Ribich at anchor made up the team. They traveled to Birmingham, Alabama as part of the Wolves team that competed in the NCAA Division II national championships.

They ran a photo finish race, beating reigning relay champions Adams State by .001 second to win the national trophy.

Their finishing time was 9:40.144, which set a new Division II indoor track national record.

Baseball crowned conference champs
After a two year title drought, Wolves baseball reclaimed their place on top of the conference.

The baseball team only played a total of four games at home this year, as the baseball field didn’t dry out until the final week of the regular season. But the team used those few games to secure the GNAC regular season title in front of home fans.

They then went on to play in the conference playoffs and swept their way to the championship victory.

Road Warriors softball makes a late-season stand
While baseball got to play four games at home, softball was not so lucky.

They adopted the nickname the Road Warriors, as weather kept softball out of Monmouth. They also battled injuries early on, and after their first two months of play they were dead last in the conference.

But at the start of April the Wolves flipped a switch. Thirteen wins in April secured the final spot in the GNAC tournament.

The fourth-seeded Wolves were able to knock off top-seeded Central Washington, who had entered the tournament as the reigning champions. They ultimately finished second in the tournament, falling to Western Washington.

Football’s underdog upset
The football team finished 4-6, the first losing record since head coach Arne Ferguson first took over the program in 2005. The first game of the year, however, set the standard for competition from the team, as they toppled Division I Sacramento State, 38-30.

On offense, the game enshrined what could be accomplished by the dual-quarterback system of juniors Nick Duckworth and Phillip Fenumiai. Junior wide receiver Paul Revis amassed 175 all-purpose yards.

The winning touchdown came from first-year student Torreahno Sweet, a two-sport athlete who played both baseball and football this year. After starting from their own 20 late in the fourth quarter, the Wolves drove down the field and Sweet broke tackles to pic up the touchdown on a 30-yard run.

Men’s basketball makes a playoff run
The men’s basketball team took a 16-12 record into the GNAC playoffs for a third-place seed. They rode the playoff bracket all the way to the conference championship game.

The 2016 team had won the GNAC, won the NCAA west regional playoff and advanced to the national elite eight. 2017 was not as successful of a year, but the Wolves proved themselves a legitimate threat to the conference title yet again.

The Wolves came in as a three seed, and junior Tanner Omlid had two consecutive double-doubles to help lead the team to the championship final, where the Wolves surprised number one seed Western Washington and took an eight point lead into halftime.

Western Washington regrouped and went on a late scoring spree. The Wolves fell in the final seconds, 69-71, as sophomore Malik Leaks’ three-pointer missed and time ran out.

Contact the author at journalsports@wou.edu

Incoming recruits look to make the cut

By: Burke De Boer
Sports Editor

Every season in student athletics, players graduate and the next season sees new players join the team in their place. Next year’s crop of first-year students features some players who could make impacts on their teams sooner rather than later.
Taisha Thomas is a center transferring to the women’s basketball team from Peninsula College. She was named to her conference’s all-defensive team, averaging 8.8 PPG and 6.8 RPG last season. Jessie Brown is another center, coming from Castle Rock, Colorado where was a three-year letterwinner in basketball.

Olivia Denton is a guard from Auburn, Washington, bringing three point skills with a 9.8 PPG average last year.

Joining the baseball team is Zach Griffin, a right handed pitcher from Phoenix, Arizona.

Two local catcher recruits are coming in, looking to help replace senior catcher Boog Leach; Anthony Zellner is a left handed batter from West Salem High School and James Anderson was named to the all-state team playing for Crescent Valley High School in Corvallis and is a utility player who also plays first base.

The football team will be reinforcing its numbers with a large incoming class, as 31 student athletes declared their intention to become Wolves.

Tyler Sweet, younger brother of first-year dual-sport standout Torreahno Sweet, will be playing wide receiver. He recorded 26 receptions for 366 yards and a touchdown as a senior in Upland, California.

Jash Allen is a running back recruit from Tigard High School. He ran for 1,501 yards and 28 touchdowns in his career, notching 7.6 yards per rush attempt for the Tigers. His breakaway speed helped him pick up many big runs last year, including a 74-yard touchdown against Tualatin.

On defense, Jonah Land will be coming to the defensive line from Waldport High School. Over his career for the Irish he made a total of 244 tackles, including 97 solo and forced four fumbles.

Joining the sturdy linebacker core is Kyle Otis from Toledo. Otis recorded 239 total tackles in his career and was named the all-league defensive MVP.

Ryan Worthley is one of the quarterback recruits, and played ball with Jash Allen at Tigard. Worthley threw for 2,137 yards and 20 touchdowns as a senior to become MaxPreps’s fourth-ranked quarterback in the state. He has a calm presence in the pocket, and threw a 47-yard touchdown pass while he was getting hit against Newberg.

Contact the author at journalsports@wou.edu

Outdoor track has national success

By: Burke De Boer
Sports Editor

For the second time this year, junior David Ribich is a national champion.

After anchoring the indoor distance medley relay team that won the indoor national championship, Ribich added more hardware to the trophy room with an outdoor 1,500-meter title.

It was the first outdoor track title in Western Oregon history.
On May 27, the finals were held at the NCAA Division II outdoor track and field championships IMG Academy in Bradentown, Florida. Ribich ran the race alongside sophomore Dustin Nading. Sophomore Olivia Woods also ran the championship race of the women’s 800-meter.

All three earned All-American honors.

The first day of competition was Thursday May 25. Nading and Ribich qualified for the championship race with times of 3:50.76 and 3:51.85, respectively.

The second day featured the final contest of the triple jump, with senior Wesley Gray taking his last leap for the Wolves. His distance of 14.93 meters earned him 17th place.

The middle distance trio of sophomore Olivia Woods and juniors Megan Rose and Suzanne Van De Grift have represented Western Oregon consistently in the 800-meter this season. The 800-meter preliminary was also held on the second day of the meet.

Woods broke her own school record, as she finished in first place of the third heat with a time of 2:07.82. Her previous record was 2:08.46.

Rose and Van De Grift ran the first heat of the race but failed to qualify for the championship race. Rose’s time of 2:09.94 took her to 13th place. Van De Grift soon followed her across the finish line with a time of 2:10.64 for 16th place.

Sophomore Sheila Limas De La Cruz was the first of the Wolves team to compete on championship Saturday, representing in the javelin contest. She threw for a distance of 38.4 meters, coming in 21st place.

Olivia Woods came in third to make it to the podium for the 800-meter race.

She had fallen to seventh place at the 400-meter mark, but after passing the halfway point she dialed up the intensity and passed four runners in front of her.

Her final time was 2:07.38, and for the second day in a row she broke her own school record.

Ribich and Nading then competed in the men’s 1,500-meter.

Ribich took the lead halfway through and held on to finish 0.22 of a second ahead of the second-place runner. To seal the victory, Ribich finished in 3:49.64.

Nading came in sixth place with a 3:51.50 finish.

The only two runners competing for the Wolves men’s team on title day, Ribich and Nading picked up a total of 13 total points to earn Western Oregon men the 17th place finish on the day. Woods’ solo effort earned 6 points for the women’s team to earn 37th place overall.

Contact the author at journalsports@wou.edu

Crunk at the crossroads

By: Burke De Boer
Sports Editor

“It takes you forever to find a good walk-up song,” said the designated hitter. “It’s a very big deal. I actually didn’t decide until like the last week before our first spring games, when I had to make a decision.”

The man who agonized over his soundtrack is Joey Crunkilton, who played his final season in 2017. He walked up to the stadium country song “People Back Home” by Florida Georgia Line.
His music in 2016 was a hard reggae track: “Vampire” by Tribal Seeds.

It’s easy to understand why Crunkilton would pay special attention to his music. In addition to playing Wolves baseball, he has played cymbals for the Western drumline.

“I saw a poster, ‘Western Oregon drumline: If you know how to read music call this number, we need people.’ And I was like, ‘Well, s—, I play the drums,’” he laughs. “So I called them and ended up playing football games and stuff. That was kicka–.”

This is the can-do spirit that Crunkilton brings to his game. His positive attitude reverberated through the team this year.

“Crunk is a great guy to be around,” said Nyles Nygaard, junior third baseman. “He always has the biggest smile on his face and is a guy people can go to for anything.”

Roll back the clock a year and we would be talking about a different Crunk.

Western Oregon is his third college team, after a successful run at Western Nevada College and a less successful run at UC Santa Barbara.

“Baseball was the thing, and my ticket to get my way through school,” he says. “Because I’m a good student, but not a great student.”

Western Nevada was happy to punch the not-great-student’s ticket. For two years, Crunkilton took a scholarship to play ball in the desert mountains. Both years he earned all-conference honors. But a junior college is only a launching pad.

“I had offers from random schools,” said Crunkilton. “And I wasn’t sure, I wasn’t getting a gut feeling on where I wanted to go. So I ended up sending my own info out to WOU, and they were like ‘Yeah, we want you.’”

Then UC Santa Barbara called. “I wanted to go to a Division I school more than anything.”

Santa Barbara, however, did not go according to plan.

“Division I was much more cutthroat. I kind of got chewed up and spit out by the team. It was an eye-opening year. It’s very competitive, and if you don’t stand up and prove yourself then you get forgotten about quickly. Then they redshirted me.”
After a year of practicing and not playing, Joey Crunkilton was in a funk.

“I was talking to the coach and he was like ‘You’re probably gonna be a backup if you come back. Probably in a similar spot to where you are right now. Not a ton of playing time.’”

So he packed his bags. He had left Western waiting, but the howling of the Wolves would wait no longer.

Crunk announced himself with a home run in his debut game, a two-run smash that would prove the game winner over Azusa Pacific on Feb. 4, 2016.

Unfortunately, it would be his only homer all season. In the 13 games he played in April, he went hitless in nine. He finished the season with a .245 average, one of the worst on the team.

“I didn’t play much towards the end,” he took a pause. “I got a little nihilistic last year. It was kind of a ‘Whatever’ attitude as I stopped playing.”

As a fifth-year senior, that all changed.

“I had the thought, this is my last year. If I only play one game I’m still gonna go for it and do my best.”

For his efforts, he helped the team earn a conference championship and sweep the playoffs.

The semi-final rally against Central Washington is what Crunkilton says he’ll take away most from the season.

He recalls watching the Wildcats bat from the dugout. “I was freakin’ out. They go base hit, score a run. ‘All right, 1-1.’ Home run, 3-1. ‘S—.’ Another home run, 5-1, hit, hit, 7-1. I just got this sense of calm. We were like, ‘Screw it, let’s break some hearts.’”

Which is what they did, scoring 12 runs in the final three innings. Crunkilton scored two and added an RBI.

“And you could see Central was like ‘What the hell just happened?’” He laughed. “That game was the coolest. That was the best way to cap off the season.”

With the season done and graduation imminent, Joey faces uncertainty once more.

“I want to get out of the house, dude. Just quick as possible. Find a job first and then you can get a career later.”

What would this career be? He spitballs a few ideal career paths, from a fitness business to an online marketing company.
“I want to do something more with music. I want to really learn how to play the drumset well, and then I want to join a band. Absolute dream job: being in a rock band. That would be very fun, I think,” he nodded as he thought it over. “I also really want to learn how to fight, like boxing or jiu jitsu. I was a wrestler growing up and that was always fun. It was so much just brute effort.”

Maybe one day, Joey Crunkilton will be picking music to come out of the tunnel for a fight. Or maybe some future baseball player will walk up to the batter’s box while a Crunkilton drum solo plays.

Or maybe neither of these things. Whatever happens, you get the sense when you talk to Crunk, it’s going to be fun.

“I guess my dream would be to just make something, create a business or a product or something, that just makes people’s lives better and makes me money. Pretty simple,” and he laughed again.

Contact the author at journalsports@wou.edu

Turbulence and triumph

By: Burke De Boer
Sports Editor

In 1982, Wolves volleyball won only one game.

For their final home game, they hosted the Hawaii-Hilo Vulcans, who had won the 1981 national championship. The Vulcans trashed the Wolves 2-15, 2-15, 1-15.

Despite the margins, head coach Joe Caligure said after the game, “They didn’t impress me as being number one.”

1983 saw the program hire its third new coach in three years. The team needed a solution, and Gene Krieger was chosen to solve it.
He brought in a number of high profile recruits and transfer students.

His high rate of recruitment helped the Wolves boom from a 1-22 record in 1982 to 20-15.

Joining the ranks in 1984 was all-state high school recruit setter Jody Sunde.

To test their mettle, the Wolves traveled to Hawaii to open the season. Foremost among their competitors were third-time national champions Hawaii-Hilo. The Wolves held their own and split matches, and Krieger said they should be considered among the top 10 in the nation.

Such notoriety was slow to come. To get the attention of the NAIA polls, they had to earn it. And so they did.

By Oct. 11 they had strung together a series of blowouts: 17 wins, including an eight game streak where they didn’t lose a single set.

At the end of the year they won the conference title. Krieger was voted coach of the year and the Wolves were ranked eighth in the nation.

They opened the District 2 playoffs with finesse, taking down Pacific University, 15-8, 15-7, 15-1. They further bullied their second opponents, beating George Fox 15-7, 15-10, 15-4. For the semi-final they beat second-seed Portland 15-5, 15-12, 15-7.

The playoffs were double elimination, and Portland was still alive to face the Wolves again. This time Western fell, 6-15, 11-15, 10-15.

A sudden-death final match would decide the district title.

The Wolves pulled out a tight win, 15-13, to become champions. The road to their first ever national tournament now lay in front of them: a tri-district regional playoff.

First they faced Gonzaga, and the Wolves were easily favorited over the unranked Bulldogs. The real test would be Hawaii-Hilo, who awaited the Western Oregon-Gonzaga winner.

That test would never come. The Wolves dropped the game to Gonzaga over five sets, 14-16, 15-10, 8-15, 15-3, 8-15.

There was still great pride in what the program had accomplished in such a short amount of time: from heavy underdogs to heavy favorites in two years.

In Feb. 1985, it was revealed that coach Krieger had given money to recruits. The Wolfpack Athletic Club was forming as a way to give athletes financial aid. The money its sponsors were donating had been an important part of Krieger’s recruiting, but the club was not yet active.

“I told the kids there would be money,” Krieger said in a statement. “What was I to do? Wait for the club to get together and not give the kids the money I had promised, or give it out myself? Everything was documented. I didn’t try to hide anything.”

Above board or not, the NAIA forbade “the provision of money to players by coaches.” Krieger resigned.

He was tapped by Nevada Reno to take over their coaching job, and Jody Sunde and the all-league Sue Denison intended to transfer to Reno with him. Ultimately, Reno passed on Krieger and Sunde stayed in Monmouth. Denison still left.

The 1985 Wolves, under new head coach Jim Callender, repeated their district championship and again faced Gonzaga. This time it was a bi-district playoff. This time the Wolves only had to win once to make nationals.

This time they did.

They traveled to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the first Western Oregon volleyball team to play in the national tournament.

Come 1987, Jim Callender took a new job at Division I Memphis and the Western Oregon coaching door continued to revolve. A local was selected this time: Judy Lovre, who had coached Corvallis High to four state titles.

Lovre inherited an experienced team. Only one player was lost to graduation, and she was replaced by Washington Huskies transfer Lori Sappington.

At the end of the 1987 regular season, Judy Lovre’s Wolves were ranked fourth in the nation, the first Western team to crack the top five. They won the conference and district tournaments. And they went all the way to the national championship game.

Though they lost to BYU-Hawaii, who picked up their second consecutive national title, the Wolves returned to Monmouth with another kind of victory. At second in the nation, no Western Oregon team in any sport had ever accomplished so much.

Jody Sunde and Lori Sappington were named All-Americans. They returned, for their senior year, the veterans on a team that lost many to graduation.
Despite a high turnover in players, the Wolves didn’t backslide. In fact, when they made it to the national tournament in 1988, they did even better, and won every single set in their group stage.

They advanced through the double-elimination bracket with ease until they faced Hawaii-Hilo. The Wolves lost to the Vulcans, 7-15, 11-15. They rebounded with a three-set win over Hawaii Pacific and met Hawaii-Hilo for the national title.

For the second year in a row, the Wolves earned second place. Jody Sunde was even named the Reebok player of the year.

Lovre remained head coach of Wolves volleyball until 2004. Over that time she amassed 489 victories, becoming the winningest coach in Western Oregon history. Lovre’s Wolves were the country’s most fearsome mainland team – the 41 NAIA tournament wins that Western Oregon recorded were third only to BYU-Hawaii and Hawaii-Hilo.

Gene Krieger made his coaching rebound at Westmont College in 1987, and since then has helmed many teams. In March, 2017, he landed a new gig. Beginning this fall, he will be the head coach of the Hawaii-Hilo Vulcans.

Contact the author at journal sports@wou.edu

Stealing Victory

By: Burke De Boer
Sports Editor

The Victory Bell rises over the Werner University Center. It hangs dormant in its tower above Allegro Cafe as an audio file plays to announce each hour.

But there was a time when the bell rang regularly. The bell was so named because it was rang in celebration after every home win. Old college newspapers, collected in the archives at Hamersly Library, called it the “Queen of Victory.” On Jan. 16, 1953, the Queen was kidnapped.

The men’s basketball team hosted the Portland State Vikings that night. Portland State was playing their first-ever year of competitive basketball and the Wolves were happy to whip the inaugural Vikings, 77-60. A dance was held in Maple Hall after the game. Maple Hall, where the Victory Bell was then kept.

After the Oregon Collegiate Conference was founded in 1950, the bell rang often.

The 1952-1953 year accounted for the football team’s fourth consecutive conference championship, including a 40-7 victory over Portland State. Wolves volleyball won their third straight title as well.

Evidently, the Portland State kids were sick of it.

While students from the two schools mixed at the Maple Hall dance, a crew of Vikings made the bell their plunder and vanished into the wintery night.

The alumni newspaper reported, “Rumors were many and varied at the dance … But there was no trace of the bell.”

Dr. Roy E. Lieuallen, for whom the administration building is named, was registrar at the time. He received a phone call from Portland State on Monday morning, Jan. 19. It was Dr. Stephen Epler. Both men had served as officers in the Navy in World War II, and the message was passed from one old sailor to the other: we have your bell.

It was returned on Feb. 11. The Portland State students returning it brought with them a small replica to serve as a trophy between the schools, changing hands with every victory.

That night the Wolves beat the Vikings 69-55. On Feb. 24, the Wolves beat them again, 63-61.

After the final game, the Vikings pillaged their hosts once more. This time Portland State upstarts made off with the Victory Bell’s clapper, muting the bell until it too, was returned.

Men’s basketball backslid for a few years. Seasons ranged from mediocre to abysmal. The low point was 1957-1958, when the Wolves went 1-20. The only win, a 58-43 walloping of Portland State.

No matter the results, the Victory Bell remained safe in Monmouth. Today, above the corner of Church Street and Monmouth Avenue, the Queen of Victory still reigns.

Contact the author at journalsports@wou.edu

Baseball crowned GNAC champions

By: Burke De Boer
Sports Editor

After playing a total of four games on home field this year, baseball returned to Monmouth conference champions.

The Wolves swept their way through the GNAC tournament, winning three games to take the trophy. Having earned the title of regular season GNAC champions a week prior, the Wolves used the May 10 through 12 playoffs to reaffirm their dominance. They outscored their opponents by a collective 26-10.

The first game was the tightest of the tournament as the Wolves pulled out the win over Montana State Billings, 4-2.

Junior pitcher Cam Walker threw a complete game for the Wolves, striking out 10 batters to set a new single game record for the GNAC tournament.

Senior Joey Crunkilton scored the first run of the day in the second inning. He was walked at the start of the inning and advanced the bases before being batted in by junior Garrett Anderson.

Then, in the fourth inning, with junior Jacob Martinez on base, Crunkilton hit a home run over right field.

The low-scoring game was the product of clean defensive play and a lethal pitching performance. Eleven straight Billings players were retired to open the game before picking up their first hit.

In a Facebook live interview broadcast by the GNAC after the game, Cam Walker said “I just felt good. Established the strike zone, up and down in and out. Just throwing everything for strikes.”

The second game was against the Central Washington Wildcats, the number two seed in the tournament. The Wolves found themselves in a bind as they trailed 1-7 going into the sixth inning. They mounted a comeback, amassing 12 runs over the last three innings to secure the win and their place in the championship game.

The rally began when Crunkilton was batted in by first-year student Torreahno Sweet with a leadoff double in the sixth inning. Sweet was later batted in for his own run by Garrett Anderson, but after six the Wolves still trailed 3-7.

They picked up two more runs in the eighth, as Sweet crossed home plate again and so did junior Nyles Nygaard. The Wolves were in shouting distance.

“Our team never gives up,” said Nygaard. “We knew what we had to do and what we have worked so hard for.”

The eighth inning would prove the explosive decider, as the Wolves put up eight runs.

Nygaard picked up his second run while Sweet scored a third time and earned a second RBI. Sophomore Justin Wakem hit a two RBI single to bat in Crunkilton’s second run and also score junior Jacob Martinez.
The final score was 13-7, Wolves.

“We took one pitch at a time and started to get big hits when we needed them,” said Nygaard. “Our pitchers did a nice job of minimizing runs late in the game and it gave us a chance to score and have a chance to win the game. It was great to be a part of.”

The championship game was against the Northwest Nazarene Crusaders.

Junior Brady Miller was the starting pitcher and struck out nine in his seven innings, while Wolves bats opened up to power the team to a 9-1 win.

Seven of the runs came in the second inning.

A single from senior Brock Pradere batted in two, as Anderson and senior Boog Leach both crossed home plate. With Pradere on base, junior Jay Leverett hammered the first pitch he faced and they rounded the bases for an inside-the-park home run.

“We had great energy from the dugout and our batters were able to slow the game down and take it one pitch at a time,” said Pradere.

First-year student Connor McCord picked up two RBIs from two singles in the third and seventh inning as the Wolves rolled to victory.

For his 10-strikeout performance, Walker was named tournament MVP.

The Wolves finish the year with a 31-15 record, the best record they’ve posted under coach Kellen Walker’s tenure.

Contact the author at journalsports@wou.edu

Track tournament held in Monmouth

By: Burke De Boer 
Sports Editor

The conference’s best came to Monmouth for the GNAC Outdoor Track and Field Championship.

The two days of competition on May 12 and 13 featured many Wolves wins, and a conference record was broken.

Senior Wesley Gray set a conference record in the triple jump competition, when he hopped, stepped and jumped to a distance of 15.5 meters, or 50’10.25”. No one had cleared 50 feet in conference history, and a new tape had to be fetched from the storage area to record the distance.

The event win earned the men’s team 10 points and replaced a 13-year-old conference record.

Senior Aaron Whitaker won his 400-meter race, crossing the finish line in 47.59 seconds, breaking his own school record time of 47.96 seconds that he had set earlier this year.

Junior David Ribich earned 20 points for the men’s team on his own, winning two events.

Ribich won the men’s 800-meter with a time of 1:52.71. He was soon followed by senior Michael Chin, whose 1:54.94 finish earned him fourth place.

Ribich also claimed the title for the 1500-meter race, finishing in 3:47.37. Sophomore Dustin Nading came in second in this event, with a time of 3:47.63, while junior Thomas Normandeau completed the race in 3:58.04 for eighth place to grab the final available point. Wolves men picked up 19 points from the 1500-meter, alone.

Nading also scored a fifth place finish in the 5000-meter, with a time of 15:34.79.

First-year student Alani Troutman won the long jump contest, leaping to a distance of 7.08 meters, or 23’2.75”. The first conference championship of Troutman’s career, it speaks to a promising future for the Western Oregon competitor.

The men’s team picked up another ten points when it won the 4×100-meter relay. Seniors Gray, Devonte Woods and Whitaker and junior Codi Blodgett made up the victory team. They finished the event in 41.62 seconds.

In the sprints, junior Cody Warner took second in the 200-meter with a time of 22.33. Blodgett finished behind him, taking fifth place in 22.81 seconds. Blodgett also claimed fifth in the 100-meter with a time of 11.15.

The women’s throwing team did well, as senior Rachael Huffman earned a second place distance in the discus, with a throw of 42.92 meters, or 140’10”. First-year student Halie Korff came in eighth in the contest, with a throw of 38.67 meters, or 124’8.25”. First-year Mariah Gronbach came in 10th with a 38-meter throw, or 124’8.25”.

Huffman claimed a fourth place finish in the shot put, throwing it a distance of 13.16, or 43’2.5,” which advances her place in the school record book from fourth to fifth.

Korff also placed eighth in the javelin, with a throw of 41.01 meters, or 134’6.75”.

The women’s team picked up a total of 12 points on the 800-meter race, with fourth, fifth and sixth place finishers. Junior Megan Rose came in fourth place with a time of 2:11.65. Junior Suzanne Van De Grift placed fifth with a time of 2:12.53 and sophomore Olivia Woods rounded out the Wolves finishers with a sixth-place time of 2:13.14.

The men’s team amassed a total of 107 points, finishing fourth overall in the two days of competition. The women’s team picked up 36 points to finish ninth out of the 10 teams. Alaska Anchorage took the conference championships, both men’s and women’s teams.

The NCAA Division II Outdoor National Championship will be held in Bradenton, Florida May 25 through 27. Multiple Wolves have posted qualifying and provisional marks over the season and now await the announcement of official selections.

Contact the author at journalsports@wou.edu

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