The Whitworth Track and Field team competed this past weekend at the University of Idaho Vandal Collegiate Track meet in Moscow, Idaho. The meet was held Friday, Feb. 20, and featured many impressive performances by Whitworth athletes.
For the Pirate men, senior Cody Stelzer had an excellent performance in the pentathlon. This weekend was the first time Stelzer had competed in the event, but he still finished third with 3,470 points, well above the provisional NCAA mark.
Senior Jeff Kintner contributed with another strong showing in the shot put, winning the event and coming within an inch of the automatic NCAA cut. Kintner’s throw of 54 ft. 10.5 in. cleared the nearest competitor, sophomore Joe Bartlett of Washington State, by over four inches.
“We didn’t have a meet last week so it gave me some time to work on some things that I needed to and also rest up,” Kintner said regarding his good performance. “The meet also had a really good atmosphere with good competition. That always just drives you to step up and throw farther.”
Kintner’s goal is to reach the automatic NCAA qualifying mark, and says that he hopes to also break 17 meters in the process.
In addition to Kintner, Whitworth senior Emmanuel Bofa also came very close to making the automatic NCAA cut in the 800. Bofa finished in third place with a time of 1:52.13.
For the Whitworth women, junior Tonya Turner placed well in the mile run, finishing second in 5:17.40. Turner also finished third in the 3,000 meter run later on in the day, with a time of 10:40.29.
The Vandal Collegiate meet was the final major meet of the indoor track season for the Pirates. Any athletes who are close to the NCAA qualifying cut are scheduled to compete in two weeks at the University of Washington.
Contact Peter Landgren at peter.landgren@whitworthian.com.
Pirates post NCAA qualifying marks
Published: Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Updated: Tuesday, February 23, 2010
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