VANCOUVER, Wash. – In his first try of the season, sophomore Aaron Jones (San Bruno, Calif./Capuchino HS) met the NAIA provisional qualifying mark in the marathon, taking eighth at the Vancouver Lake Half Marathon on Sunday in Vancouver, Wash.

Jones posted a time of 1:14:50 to finished eight out of 217 men running the race.  His time was ten seconds under the provisional qualifying mark of 1:15:00, though the sophomore had to wait until later in the week for the NAIA to release the official qualifying standards for the event.

The race was won by Kevin McHahon of Portland, who covered the 13.1 miles in 1:10:41.

Official Results

PORTLAND, Ore. – Competing for just the second time this season, the Evergreen Geoducks put up some strong performances at the Portland/USATF Tuesday Night at the Races at the Chiles Center in Portland, Ore.

Zephyr Forest (Fairfax, Calif./Sir Francis Drake HS) took third in the 300m dash, posting a time of 38.64 to win the third heat. Sophomore Les Jones (Tacoma, Wash./Mt. Tahoma HS) took second in the 800m run, posting a time of 2:06.07.

The Geoducks will next be in action on February 5 when they travel back down to Portland for the Portland/USATF Tuesday Night at the Races at the Chiles Center in Portland, Ore.

Results

KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. – It was a small squad that made the trek to Klamath Falls, Ore. for the 2012 Cascade Conference Championships but it was the youth that shined as the Evergreen Geoducks wrapped up 2011-12 on Saturday at Oregon Institute of Technology. In their first race of the day, sophomore Zephyr Forest (Fairfax, Calif./Drake HS) finished just outside the points, taking 10th in the 400m hurdles with a time of 59.01. Concordia’s Jordan Reeher took the conference title with an NAIA automatic qualifying time of 53.09. In their final event of the season, freshman Aaron Jones (San Bruno, Calif./Capuchino HS) finished 19th in the 5000m run in his conference championship debut with a mark of 18:13.22. Junior Greg Montgomery of College of Idaho took the title with a time of 15:25.63. In the team standings, it was the Cavaliers of Concordia sweeping the CCC titles once again. The men won the title with 237 points, 56 points over second place Southern Oregon. On the women’s side, the Cavs put up 228 points to win by 63.5 points over College of Idaho.

KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. – Making the long trek to Klamath Falls on Friday morning, the Evergreen Geoducks got right down to business Friday evening as two runners took to the track at the 2012 Cascade Conference Championships, hosted by Oregon Institute of Technology in Klamath Falls, Ore. In the first event of the meet for the Geoducks, freshman Les Jones (Tacoma, Wash./Mt. Tahoma HS) made his championship debut in the 1500m run. Jones took 14th place while representing Evergreen in a race won by Eric Avila of Southern Oregon with a time of 4:01.35. Sophomore Zephyr Forest (Fairfax, Calif./Drake HS) competed in his first event of the weekend on Friday night, placing 12th in the 110m Hurdles. Forest took fifth in the first section with a time of 17.28. Sophomore Sullivan Stevens of Southern Oregon won the conference championship with a blazing time of 14.94. The action continues on Saturday afternoon as Forest competes in his best event of the meet, the 400m hurdles, at approximately 1:10p.m. Freshman Aaron Jones (San Bruno, Calif./Capuchino HS) closes things out for the Geoducks in the 5000m run, set to begin at approximately 2:30 p.m.

McMINNVILLE, Ore. – Shaving nearly a half-second off his seed time, Evergreen sophomore Zephyr Forest (Fairfax, Calif./Drake HS) earned his first collegiate win, outrunning the field in the 400m Hurdles on Friday at the Linfield Twilight Meet in McMinnville, Ore. Forest held off George Fox’s Clayton Pugsley, a finalist in the event at the 2012 Northwest Conference Championships, by 21 one-hundredths of a second with a time of 57.92, despite having a seed time of a full second slower. With the win, the sophomore moves up the seventh on the Cascade Conference outdoor performance list. A pair of freshman also competed for the Geoducks on Friday. Les Jones (Tacoma, Wash./Mt. Tahoma HS) took fifth in the 5000m run with a time of 17:16.46 while Alec Messman (Lacey, Wash./River Ridge HS) took ninth in the 1500m run with a mark of 4:53.60. The Geoducks will join the rest of the Cascade Conference next week when they make the long trek to Klamath Falls, Ore. for the 2012 CCC Championships, hosted by Oregon Tech.