Oregon Tech's Joelle Swanson (Photo by Kelly Caleb)  |
MARION, Ind. – Oregon Tech’s Joelle Swanson opened up the 2013 NAIA National Track & Field Championships with a 5th place overall finish in the javelin to give Oregon Tech their first points at the national meet.
Complete Results
On Thursday, Swanson hit a throw of 43.78 m 143-08, which gave her All-American status for the second year in a row.
Seeded in the first flight with the top javelin throwers in the country, Swanson unleashed a throw of 42.83 meters in her first try. Swanson’s best effort of the day however came in the finals, with her first throw as she reached 43.78m.
Swanson finished fifteen feet ahead of the 6th place finisher, Brianna Norby, of Siena Heights, in the event won by Mount Mercy Senior Jenna Higgins with a toss of 165-05 beating last year’s champion Stephanie Nelson of Baker by more than 11 feet. Eastern Oregon’s Brooke Randall rounded out the top 3 with a throw of 44.43m 145-09 edging Swanson by two feet -2 inches.
In day 1 of the Heptathlon after four events Oregon Tech Katey Choukalos sits in 15th place. Choukalos had a 4th place finish in the shot put with a throw of 35-03 and she had a 9th place finish in high jump with a leap of 4-11.75. Friday’s Heptathlon competition will start at 7:30 am (PST) with the long jump followed by the Javelin, and wrapping up with the 800m.
Oregon Tech’s Scott Minor finished 15th in the men’s 10,000 meter with a Cascade Confernce best of 32:10.40.
Oregon Tech freshman Paul Adams finished 19th in the men's 1500 meter run missing the finals by just 8 seconds.
Besides Choukalos, other Hustlin' Owls in action on Friday include Kassi Conditt in the shot put at 10:00 am (PST) and Katie Waugh in the women's 800 meter at 11:00 am (PST).
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MARION, Ind. – The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) has announced Friday that 204 men’s and 313 women’s track and field student-athletes have been named 2013 Daktronics-NAIA Scholar-Athletes including Oregon Tech’s Scott Minor, a junior from Hyampto, California and Katie Waugh, a junior from Klamath Falls, Oregon, both are two-time recipients of the award in track and field.
In order to be nominated by an institution’s head coach or sports information director, a student-athlete must maintain a minimum grade point average of 3.5 on a 4.0 scale and must have achieved a junior academic status.
MARION, Ind. –Oregon Tech senior Katey Choukalos started day 2 of the Heptathlon in 15th place with three events to go. She moved up to 12th place after finishing 2nd in the long jump with a leap of 5.52 meters (18-01.50) giving her 706 points. Choukalos then grabbed 544 points as she finished 6th in javelin with her best throw of 33.57 meters (110-02). She then wrapped up her day shaving 3 full seconds off her seed time in the 800 meter finishing in 2:38.94 as she finished with a total of 4249 points now 4th on the Oregon Tech All-time list.
Tech junior Kassi Conditt hit her best mark in the shot put on her second try this afternoon at the 2013 NAIA National Track & Field Championships, but it wasn’t quite enough to get her into the Finals
Conditt placed 16th out of the field of 29 participants with a distance of 13.03 meters or 42-09 far off her season high of 44-08.75 in the competition won by Gabriella Dixon of Concordia, Ore. with a mark of 51-02.75. The top 8 in the competition earn NAIA All-American status.
Oregon Tech junior Katey Waugh broke her own school record in the 800 with a time of 2:14.60 as she just missed running in the finals by less than one second.
Oregon Tech distance runner Kirby Garlitz, is the last Oregon Tech athlete to compete this weekend, he will begin the marathon competition at 6 a.m. (3:00 am PST) on Saturday morning.