Results

Day 1 Recap

SALEM, Ore. - Masum Real and the 4x400-meter relay team won titles on Saturday, powering the Pacific Lutheran University men's track & field squad to a third place showing at the 2023 Northwest Conference Championships at Willamette University.

"Definitely happy with the performance of the Lutes this weekend," said Head Coach Trey Henderson.

"I thought we showed a great competitive mindset across the board and battled in each of our events. There are so many emotional swings during a championship meet and we always stayed positive and supportive of each other."

Real successfully defended his title in the shot put, winning the event by over four feet. The junior reclaimed the crown with a winning toss of 52 feet, 0 3/4 inches with Wyatt Tayon placing third with a heave of 47' 6 1/4".

PLU's second victory of the day and third of the meet came in the final event of the afternoon with Grady Lemma, Keola Sanchez, Steele Swinton, and Kellen Meade edging George Fox University by two hundredths of a second to win the 4x400-meter relay in three minutes, 21.91 seconds.

In addition to being on the winning 4x4, Lemma was runner-up in the 110-meter hurdles, crossing the tape in personal best time of 15.39 before placing third in the 400-meter hurdles in 55.52.  

In the sprints, Sanchez was third overall in the 100-meter dash, shaving off two hundredths of a second off his previous personal best, crossing the finish in 10.84. Meade was sixth with a personal record time of 10.89 while also placing fourth in the 200-meter dash in 22.47.

Ryan Stracke won the 10,000-meters on Friday and was back at it on Saturday, finishing fourth in the 5,000-meters in 15:10.00 and eighth in the 1,500-meters after circling the oval in 3:58.46. Owen Ladinig was fifth in the 5K, finishing a split second behind Stracke in 15:10.59.

In the relays, the Lute quartet of Lucio Penaloza, Sanchez, Swinton, and Meade finished third overall in the 4x100-meter relay, clocking a time of 42.44.

Darius Chaffin was sixth in the javelin throw, uncorking a throw of 185' 10".

"People stepped up in each event group over the two days and that's all you can hope for. The men winning the 4 x 4 in epic fashion demonstrated what these student-athletes and this team is all about."

Pacific Lutheran racked up 133.5 points in the team standings to place third overall, finishing just 9.5 points shy of runner-up Whitworth University. George Fox took the title, scoring 221 points.

Pacific University was 29 points behind the Lutes in fourth (104.5 points) with Linfield University in fifth place with 83 points. Lewis & Clark College was sixth with 77.5 points with host Willamette University in seventh with 31 points. Crosstown rival University of Puget Sound was eighth with 23.5 points.

PLU is back in action next Saturday, trekking to Bellingham, Washington for the Ralph Vernacchia Invitational.