Track

Press Release

5/26 - NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS: Three Decathletes, Blankenship in Hammer Earn All-America Honors for Bruins

NCAA National Championships

LISLE, Ill. - All three George Fox University athletes in the decathlon - Seth Harris, Josh Priester, and Ryan Forbes - finished in the top eight, and Lindsey Blankenship placed eighth in the women's hammer throw, earning four All-America honors and scoring points for the George Fox University Bruins on the second day of competition in the NCAA Division III Track and Field National Championships Friday here at the Village of Lisle-Benedictine University Sports Complex.

Harris, a junior who was sixth entering the second day of the decathlon, made his move early in the day, taking second in the 110 meter hurdles in a personal-record time of 15.45, and closed with a rush, taking third in the 1,500 meter run in 4:36.45, another best. In between, he was seventh in the discus with a throw of 119-1 (36.31m), ninth in the pole vault at 12-9.5 (3.90m), and ninth in the javelin with an all-time high of 149-2 (45.47m). His point total was 6,743, the fourth-best score in Bruin history.

Bruin senior Priester, who was seventh as the day began and stayed there, came in 14th in the hurdles at 17.45 but bounced back with a third in the discus at 126-1 (38.44 meters). He then placed eighth in the pole vault at 13-1.5 (4.00m), fifth in the javelin at 168-0 (51.22m), and ninth in the 1,500 in 4:43.97. He scored 6,471 points, and is fifth on the all-time Bruin list with 6,690 points which he achieved last year.

Freshman Forbes climbed from ninth after Thursday to eighth after placing sixth in the hurdles (15.90m) and eighth in the discus (115-9 (35.29m). He remained there with a seventh in the pole vault of 13-5.25 (4.10m), 15th in the javelin at 121-10 (37.14m), and seventh in the 1,500 in 4:42.01. He totaled 6,317 points, just missing his personal high of 6,340 which he reached a week ago and which ranks seventh all-time at George Fox.

The decathletes earned seven points for the Bruin men, with four going to Harris, two to Priester, and one to Forbes.

Blankenship, a junior who was tied for sixth nationally at 172-4 entering the weekend, threw the hammer 164-3 (50.06) during her first round to qualify for the finals, but was unable to improve upon it in the next round. Her eighth-place finish earned one point for George Fox. The winner was Keelin Godsey of Bates College with a throw of 206-5 (62.92m), the best throw in the nation this season and setting both a stadium and an NCAA Championships record.

The Bruins' Zeb Udell, a freshman, missed All-America by one place in the men's pole vault, finishing ninth at a height of 15-5.5 (4.71m). Udell and three others actually tied for eighth at that height but were awarded places based of the number of vaults needed to clear the bar, with Jake Owens of Richard Stockton College getting the eighth spot. The winner was Matt Novak of the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse at 16-11 (5.16m), 7.5 inches above runner-up Kevin Clark of Elizabethtown College.

Sophomore Joel Krebs will be the final Bruin to compete when he throws the javelin Saturday at 2 p.m. He is 15th in the nation with a distance of 192-7 (58.71m) entering the meet. The Bruins' first NCAA national champion was a javelin thrower, Matt Gassaway, when he fired a George Fox record 215-10 (65.80m) to win it in 2004.