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WOU Roundup: Western Oregon men's track team captures fifth-straight indoor title

WOU women's track, men's and women's basketball and baseball roundups

February 22, 2012

IF YOU GO...

Western Oregon Men's Basketball

Thursday: vs. Northwest Nazarene, 7 p.m.

Saturday: vs. Central Washington, 2 p.m.

Where: New Phyiscal Education Building.

Tickets: $5

NAMPA, Idaho -- Matson Hardie and Brett Campbell were just a couple of the highlights of what was a banner day for the Western Oregon University men's indoor track team Saturday, as the Wolves captured their fifth-straight Great Northwest Athletic Conference Indoor Championship in Nampa, Idaho.

"Stunning," WOU track and field coach Mike Johnson said of the effort, which saw his squad score 142.5 points to capture the title away from Central Washington, which finished with 122 points. Western Washington was third with 110 points.

Hardie won a conference championship in the triple jump with his NCAA provisional qualifying leap of 47-3.75 and Campbell was the Wolves' other GNAC champ, running a 8.37 -- the second-best time in WOU history -- to capture the 60-meter hurdles title.

Both Hardie and Campbell are sophomores hailing from Summit High School of Bend.

The 400-meter relay team of Landon Burningham, Eric Gaines, Ryan Hansen and Matt Kaino capped off Western Oregon's first-place finishes, running a NCAA provisional qualifying standard and setting a GNAC indoor meet record time of 3:18.60, the third-best time in WOU history.

Other top finishes for the men's side included Hansen (a sophomore from Dallas, Santiam Christian grad) in the 800-meter run (second, 1:56.54), Tyler Thomas in the 400 (second, 49.36), Anthony Yakovich in the 200 (second, 22.24) and 400 (third, 49.70), Chris Olsen in the 800 (third, 1:56.54) and Dan Sprinkle in the mile (third, 4:14.8).

Katie Pelchar, Ashley Potter and Madison McClung led the women's team to its best finish since 2007 with 92 points, good for third place.

Seattle Pacific won the meet with 182 points and Western Washington was second with 97.5.

Pelchar won the high jump in a big upset over Seattle Pacific's Ali Worthen (second). Pelchar broke the WOU record with a mark of 5-7.25, earning her a NCAA provisional qualifying standard.

Potter was a winner in the triple jump, setting a new GNAC indoor meet record and tying her own school record with a jump of 39-7, and McClung shattered a WOU record in the 200 to finish second in the event with a time of 25.16. That time was .43 seconds faster than her previous time and moved her into a tie for fourth-best in GNAC history.

Janelle Everts added another second-place finish in the 800 with her time of 2:15.95. She was also a member of the 400-meter relay team -- Audrey Hellesto, Lexi Pola (Dallas High grad) and Meryl Butcher were the others -- that snagged second with a time of 3:57.97 to break a WOU record set in 1998 by .24 seconds.

"This was a nice prelude to the outdoor season," Johnson said, nothing the spring season that starts with the Willamette Preview March 3 in Salem.

MEN'S BASKETBALL SPLITS IN ALASKA: The Western Oregon men's basketball team picked up a 60-42 win over Alaska Fairbanks Thursday, but wasn't able to top Division II's No. 21-ranked team, Alaska Anchorage, in an 83-70 loss Saturday.

Blair Wheadon led the Wolves (17-8, 10-6 GNAC, fourth place) with 22 points and Kyle Long added 16 in Saturday's loss, which snapped a three-game win streak.

WOU returns to Monmouth for its final home series of the season, hosting Northwest Nazarene Thursday at 7 p.m. and Central Washington Saturday at 2 p.m.

The Wolves have already clinched a GNAC playoff spot and will finish no worse than fifth in the league standings.

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL SPLITS: Lorrie Clifford scored a career-high 28 points to lead the Western Oregon women's basketball team to a 90-81 win over Alaska Fairbanks Thursday, but No. 11 Alaska Anchorage proved to be too much to handle Saturday, as the Seawolves came away with a 72-42 win in Monmouth.

Jade Haas led the Wolves (7-19, 6-10 GNAC, seventh place) with 12 points in Saturday's loss and Rylee Peterson added eight.

In the Alaska Fairbanks win, four WOU players hit double figures, including Haas (15 points), Dana Goularte (11) and Jacqee Jasinski (10).

Western Oregon closes out its regular season with a trip to Northwest Nazarene Thursday at 6 p.m. and Central Washington Saturday at 7 p.m.

WOU BASEBALL FALLS IN FINAL: Lewis & Clark State College again got the best of the Western Oregon University baseball team, as the Warriors used a five-hit shutout to hand the Wolves a 3-0 loss in Sunday's Inland Cellular Tournament Championship in Lewiston, Idaho.

The loss was the second to Lewis & Clark State (10-2) over the weekend and drops the Wolves to 9-4.

WOU picked up a 6-3 win over Central Washington Saturday to propel them to the rematch with Lewis & Clark, which beat WOU in a wild 14-13 contest Friday. The Wolves defeated Saint Martin's 19-2 in Friday's opener.