Two Trojans are NWAC Champs
Trojan Track and Field traveled 11 athletes to the NWAC Championship meet held on the campus of Mt. Hood Community College in Gresham, OR...
May 22, 2024
Gresham, OR - Trojan Track and Field traveled 11 athletes to the NWAC Championship meet held on the campus of Mt. Hood Community College in Gresham, OR. After a solid outdoor season culminating at the Northwest Region Championships, the athletes showed promise heading into the final days of competition.
Jessica Henry led off the two day event for EvCC in the women's 10,000, a grueling 25 laps around the track. Henry held onto the 5th spot for 90% of the race and kept the eventual sixth place finisher at bay by just under 30 seconds. She went on to finish 5th, securing 4 points towards the team total with a time of 44:25.13.
Freshman Anna Camara competed in the shot put, finishing 15th overall, but hit a new PR by over a foot, throwing 34' 8.25". Camara's first throw of the season was 29' 6", over five feet of improvement. Another thrower, Sophomore Sophia Mackenzie battled through injuries all season but managed to qualify in both the hammer and discus, placing 15th and 16th respectively.
Out on the track, two other women found their way to the podium in addition to Henry's performance in the 10,000m. On day two conditions were wet and cold, but Emma Arceo ran 2:34.22, placing 5th in the 800m, earning 4 team points and Alexis Buhman ran 19:17.90 in the 5,000m, placing 4th and earning 5 team points.
Sophomore dual sport athlete, Denna Gibb (who also played on the volleyball team) entered the meet with the 2nd best javelin mark in the NWAC. After the first flight, she led the group with a throw of 126' 9", and led by over 8 feet. She advanced to the finals with the lead, and never gave it up. With the top spot already clinched, Denna took one last throw and cleared her PR by over four feet, throwing 137' 3". The metric conversion was 41.83 meters, falling just shy of the all time EvCC javelin record of 41.85 meters, the difference of less than an inch. The top mark earned Denna NWAC All American honors and 10 points toward the team total which was the high point for the EvCC women's team. All total, the Trojan women tallied 23 points and placed 9th overall, just 2 points behind Green River.
On the men's side, five athletes accumulated 39 points toward the team score and placed 7th overall. Vitalii Shvets ran a personal best 800m at 1:57.56 and placed 6th overall, and also ran the anchor on the 4x400m relay. Jack Mehl hit two new PR's in the 100m and 200m preliminaries, in near perfect race conditions. Day two slowed all the sprinters' times with the wet and cold conditions, however Jack was still able to finish 5th in both final events securing 8 total points. Josh Hodges and Liam Naicker did not make the finals in the 100m, but Josh ran a leg on the 3rd place finishing 4x100m relay team, and Liam ran a leg in both the 4x100m relay and the 4x400m relay. The 4x100m relay team consisted of Khalil Gilbert, Jack Mehl, Josh Hodges, and Liam Naicker, running a time of 43.68. The 4x400m relay team ran a season best 3:25.17 (8th all time at EvCC) and placed 3rd as well. Khalil Gilbert again led off the team, followed by Jack Mehl, Liam Naicker, and anchored by Vitalii Shvets.
Khalil Gilbert, was a 4x All American, after his performances and was the high point leader for the Trojans with 19 total points. Known for his speed on the track, he opened up the meet entering in the long jump competition after having only competed in the event twice this season. His best mark of 22' 5.75" was enough to rank him at number 4 going into the championship meet, and 8" away from the best mark in the conference. After four jumps Khalil was sitting in 4th place, but on his 5th attempt Khalil hit a new PR, jumping 22' 6.25" and moved him into the top spot by two inches. With one jump to go, the previous leader could not top the mark, and the Trojans got their second individual NWAC All American of the event. Khalil went on to place 3rd in the 400m with a new PR of 48.92 (3rd all time at EvCC), and led off both relay teams that finished 3rd.