Colignon Finishes Second in NWC Decathlon

By Robert McKinney, Athletics Communications Director, (503) 370-6110 and Sara Brooks, Assistant Athletics Communications Director, (503) 370-6219

FOREST GROVE, ORE. -- Willamette University track and field athlete Evin Colignon (Jr., Poulsbo, WA/Charles Wright Academy) finished second in the decathlon with 6,472 points, a 196-point career best, as the NWC Multi-Event Championships ended at Lincoln Park Stadium on Tuesday, April 13. Brandi Miller (So., Grants Pass, OR/North Valley HS) of Willamette finished sixth in the heptathlon with 3,926 points.Colignon won the discus throw on the second day with a toss of 128'0". He won the shot put on the first day with a distance of at 46'2.5" . Colignon's overall score surpassed his previous provisional qualifying score of 6,276 points, set earlier this season at the Charles Bowles Spring Break Classic.

Jeremy Lovell of Linfield College took first place in the decathlon with 6,868 points. Lovell won the 100-meter dash in 11.36 seconds, the long jump at 22'0.25" and the pole vault at 14'10.75". He recorded his top event score of 815 with a second place finish in the 400-yard dash in 49.99 seconds.

Third place in the decathlon went to David Dillow of George Fox University. He registered an overall score of 6,278 points. Cody Stelzer of Whitworth placed fourth at 5,714 and Barrett Bollen of Pacific Lutheran University was fifth at 5,650.

In addition to the three events won by Lovell and the two won by Colignon, other event winners were Stelzer in the high jump at 6'9.5", Bollen in the 1,500-meter run with a time of 4:23.87, Nate Dillow of GFU in the 110-meter high hurdles at 15.52 seconds, Colin Alexander of Pacific Lutheran in the 400-meter dash at 49.93 seconds and Brandt Nevin (Jr., Eagle Point, OR/Eagle Point HS) of Willamette in the javelin with a throw of 177'3".

Trevor May (Jr., Florence, OR/Siuslaw HS) of WU placed seventh overall with a score of 5,389 points. Nevin was ninth at 5,305.

Caitlin McGrane from the University of Puget Sound won the NWC heptathlon title, as she accumulated an overall score of 4,509 points. McGrane's score was well past the NCAA Division III provisional qualifying standard of 4,100.

McGrane's score ranks first in the nation so far this season in NCAA Division III. She broke her own Puget Sound school record of 4,409 points, which she set during the 2009 NWC Multi-Event Championships. This week, McGrane won the 100-meter hurdles in 15.21 seconds and took first in the 800-meter run in 2:18.70.

Beth Stam of George Fox was second overall with 4,236 points. Stam won the shot put with a toss of 34'7.75", tied for first in the high jump at 5'0.5", and also won the long jump (16'11.25") and the javelin throw (129'4").

Liska Havel from Lewis & Clark College won the 200-meter dash in 25.94 seconds. Melissa Leighty of GFU tied Stam for first place in the high jump.

Havel took third place in the final standings with 4,066 points. Leighty was fourth at 4,004, while Misty Corwin of Linfield placed fifth with 3,969 points.

Miller was sixth with 3,926 points. She scored over 700 points in three events -- the 100-meter hurdles, 200-meter dash and 800-meter run. Ginny Hodges (Fr., San Francisco, CA/St. Ignatius College Prep) of WU finished 10th with 3,422 points.

Results from the Multi-Events will be included in the overall team scoring at the Northwest Conference Championships, set for April 23-24 in Spokane, Wash.

The Willamette and Linfield men's teams will each bring 10 points into the NWC Championships, while the George Fox men will have nine points. In the women's competition, George Fox will have 13 points and Puget Sound will follow with 10 points.

Up next for the Bearcat track and field teams is the WU/WOU Mini Meet on Thursday, April 15. Willamette will host the meet against nearby rival Western Oregon University. Action is set to get underway at 3 p.m. (PDT) at the Charles Bowles Track.