Simson Garcia | Sports Editor
The NCAA DII Track and Field championships from May 24-26 was the last meet for the Wolves, as 10 of their athletes competed.
David Ribich, senior, paced the field until he found victory in the end of the 1500-meter. In a timed finish of 3 minutes, 45.34 seconds, Ribich earned his second consecutive national title in the event.
Teammate Dustin Nading, junior, led all 1500 runners for the first half of the race. Ribich soon crept into the lead in the back half and stayed ahead for the remainder of the run. Nading followed right behind him into the finish and crossed .2 seconds ahead of Adams State’s Elias Gedyon.
Kennedy Rufener, senior, was the first wolf member to finish her event and ran in the 10,000-meter. Alaska-Anchorage’s Caroline Kurgat went on to title in the event, but Rufener ran the fastest lap time in the race. Moving to as high as the seventh position for most of the 10k, she soon kicked harder and faster in the final lap, passing four runners to finish in fourth with a time of 35:06.02, earning an All-American honor in the process.
Suzanne Van De Grift, senior, also notched another All-American fourth place performance for a run in the 1500. The run time of 4:23.87 lowered the school mark and her personal record.
Olivia Woods, junior, and Darian Wilson, first-year, were All-Americans number five and six in the 800-meter and women’s javelin, respectively.
Woods finished in eighth position while Wilson threw to seventh with a measurement of 147-09 (45.04m). Teammate and sophomore, Halie Korff’s throw measured at 134-10 (41.10m). Alani Troutman, sophomore, was the lone field competitor for the men’s team and finished in 16th place in the long jump. Troutman’s first jump was his best of the event, at 23-8 ¾ (7.23m).
Two of the final All-American honors, Megan Rose, senior, and Grayson Burke, sophomore, merged with Woods and Van De Grift for the team relay. The team concluded their 4×400 relay in eighth place.
Contact the author at journalsports@wou.edu
Photo courtesy of: wouwolves.com
