HERMISTON, Ore. – With freshman Jason Bracken (Battleground, Wash.) setting a new school record in the Decathlon and leading the way, the Corban University track & field teams experienced great success at the Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) Championships on Thursday and Friday. On top of Bracken's school-record performance of 5,650 points, every Warrior competing scored points for Corban, with the men finishing in second place overall (12 points) as a team and the women tied for fifth (4 points).
Results
Finishing in fourth place individually, Bracken excelled in a number of events in the Decathlon, winning all of the throwing events. Not only did he win the Discus (118' 2") and the Javelin (159' 6"), but he dominated in the Shot Put (39' 7.25"), as his throw went nearly seven feet further than all other competitors. His distance in the Javelin was a new career-best mark. He also performed well in the High Jump, taking second overall in the event with a clearing height of 6' 1.5".
Junior Caleb Wilkins (Milwaukie, Ore.) put together a career-best performance as well for the Navy and Gold, taking fifth overall with a point total of 5,395 points. He shined in the final event of the Decathlon, winning the 1500 Meters by over three seconds with a season-best time of 4:37.03. He also showed well for Corban in the Javelin, launching a career-best throw of 157' 9" to take second place in the event, just behind Bracken. Additionally, Wilkins placed fifth in the 400 Meters, clocking a solid time of 55.17 seconds.
Sophomore Luke Jackson (Milwaukie, Ore.) placed sixth overall at the meet, registering another career-best performance for the Warriors with 5,089 points. Jackson set a new school record in the Pole Vault for Corban, clearing a height of 13' 3.5" to take second place overall. Jackson also performed well in the Shot Put for the Navy and Gold, launching a throw of 31' 4.5" to take fourth in the event. Elsewhere in the 100 Meters, Jackson performed best of all of the Warriors, finishing in fifth place with a career-best time of 11.89 seconds.
"We scored 12 points with the guys and those points go straight into the CCC Championships. We had several PR's on the day with Jason Bracken setting the new school record in the Decathlon, and Luke Jackson registering a new school record in the Pole Vault," said head coach Norm Berney. "Caleb Wilkins was also solid all-around both days for us which was huge!"
For the Warrior women, sophomore Emma Berg (Port Orchard, Wash.) registered a new career-best mark in the Heptathlon and almost set a program record, scoring 3,817 points in a fifth-place performance for Corban. Berg out-performed all other competitors in the Long Jump, winning the event with a distance of 16' 8.5". Elsewhere in the 800 Meters, Berg uncorked a career-best time of 2:27.66, placing third overall in the event. Additionally, Berg clocked a career-best time in the 200 Meters of 27.76 seconds to take third in the event.
Junior Alli Ehrhardt (Rogue River, Ore.) showed well for Corban as well, finishing in eighth place overall with a career-best score in the Heptathlon of 3,378 points. The eighth-place finish was key, as it nabbed the final point from the meet to go towards Corban's overall score at the CCC Championships. She followed up Berg's first-place performance in the Long Jump with a second-place mark (16' 6.5"), helping the Navy and Gold sweep the event. Ehrhardt also showed well in the High Jump, clearing a height of 4' 10.25" to take third in the event.
"We are really excited about the meet today because of the fact that we scored five points with two of our girls who are getting better every day in the Heptathlon," said Berney. "We are really happy with the results considering we will have the majority of our dec/hep athletes back next year. It is really hard to learn seven or ten events, so it is really impressive to see how well our Warrior athletes performed these last couple of days."
Corban's track & field team competes again tomorrow with a select group of runners taking part in the Ralph Vernacchia Track & Field Meet in Bellingham, Washington.
