GRESHAM, Ore. — A small contingent of Geoducks traveled down to the Mount Hood Community College track facility this weekend to compete in the Cascade Collegiate Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships. The end of the meet found the Evergreen track team to be small, yet effective.
Junior Darren Woods broke his own school record on Friday in the 400m sprint by a huge margin, shaving over .6 seconds off his season’s best. Woods literally dove across the finish line and collapsed on the track right into a second place finish. His mark of 49.38 put him on the podium and secured him a spot on the All Cascade Conference team. His final time was just off the National Championships provisional qualifying standard of 48.9. Afterwards Woods was heard to say, “I went into this race with low expectations for myself. I ran just to score a few points for the team, not really expecting more than two or three, and I ended up with eight points and a season best. I’m flyin’ right now. I couldn’t be more happy.” Woods’s progression through this season has been immense. In his first race of the season he marked 51.1 seconds in the 400m. Since that day in March he has dropped his season’s best time by nearly three full seconds, a nearly unheard of feat in the 400m.
Senior Brian Rakestraw ran tactical in the 10,000m on Thursday night, and lead for a good portion of the race. The field sauntered through 5 miles on the track trading the lead, and staying relaxed in a controlled pace. Then, with a mile to go, the gauntlet was thrown down and the pace exploded into a mad dash to the finish. Rakestraw held on to the leaders as best as possible, picking of stragglers and kicking madly to the end where he was rewarded with 5th place overall, earning 4 points for the team. His time of 31:39.29 marked the second time he set am NAIA National automatic qualifying mark in the 10,000. The time was just off his personal best and school record of 31:38.12, set last month at Willamette University. Head coach Jason McConnell commented on Rakestraw’s performance, saying “Brian ran a 4:52 last mile, and a 65 second last lap, both his fastest in the race, and finished only six seconds behind the leaders. Brian has more heart than most runners on the track, and he showed it here. There isn’t anything more we could’ve asked of him in that race.” Rakestraw returned to double in the 5000m on Saturday, running a 15:45.37 making this his most successful 10k/5k double to date.
Freshman Connor Abdelnoor set a season’s best in the 110m high hurdles with a 16.38, running eighth place overall and earning himself a point. The talented freshman came back to run the 400m hurdles in 58.74, just a tick off his best. His performance garnered a 5th overall placing
Another freshman talent, Emma Loftis, competed in the 400m as well as the 800m, marking a 1:02.90 and a 2:26.82 respectively. Loftis’s mark in the 800m was a personal best by nearly two full seconds. Her progression in the 800m this year has been consistent, beginning in March with a 2:36 and ending with her new PR at these championships. Emma also competes on Evergreen’s Women’s Soccer team.
Sophomore Jasmine Horton PR’ed in the triple jump with a leap of 9.75m / 32′ 0″. Horton also competed in the high jump where she marked a 1.40m / 4′ 7″ jump. Horton placed 9th overall in both events.
Freshman Sebastian Lasbo, the former Washington state high school small school champion in the 800m, also competed for Evergreen in the 800m where he marked a season’s best of 2:06.14. Lasbo will return to compete in the fall for Evergreen’s Cross Country team.
Senior Alex Combs-Bachmann ran his last collegiate races this weekend in the 100m and the 200m, marking a 12.21 and a 24.20 respectively. The three-time NAIA Academic All-American will graduate this season after three seasons of competition for Evergreen’s Track and Cross Country programs.
Look for Evergreen next in two weeks at the NAIA Outdoor Track and Field National Championships where senior Brian Rakestraw will compete in the Marathon.
