COMING UP: Idle until San Francisco State Distance Carnival, April 3.
LAST WEEK: at Eastern Oregon Team Challenge (Hermiston, Ore.), Saturday, 10 a.m. (PDT)
DEGRANGE LEADS LADY YOTES: After a record-setting indoor season, sprinter
Nichole DeGrange (Boise, Idaho / Mountain View HS) started off the outdoor campaign with a huge effort on Saturday at the Eastern Oregon Team Challenge, establishing a school record and clocking a pair of national qualifying times. The junior, who competed at the NAIA Indoor Championships in the 200-meters, 4x100 and 4x400-meter relays, jumpstarted the outdoor season by winning the 100-meter dash in a school record time of 12.20 seconds – breaking her own school record and hitting the NAIA "B" cut. She followed it up with a win in the 200-meters (25.39 seconds), while helping the 4x100 relay team earn a head-to-head victory over Northwest Nazarene with a solid opening mark of 48.47 seconds. DeGrange also ran a leg on the victorious 4x400 relay team that hit the "B" standard with a time of 3:56.40.
PFAFF DOUBLES UP IN OUTDOOR DEBUT: Competing in less-than-ideal conditions, true freshman
Amy Pfaff (Pasco, Wash. / Hanford HS) earned a pair of victories in the middle-distance events in her collegiate outdoor debut. Pfaff earned a one-second victory in the 800-meters with a time of 2:21.58, while cruising to a two-second win in the 1,500-meters (4:43.91), narrowly missing the NAIA "B" standard.
THROWERS OPEN SEASON WITH BIG MEET: Both the men's and women's throwers opened up 2015 with quality marks – sweeping the shot put titles.
Andrew Galloway (Payette, Idaho / Payette HS) and
Taylor Oppedyk (Buhl, Idaho / Buhl HS) took the top-two podium positions – with Galloway heaving the shot 13.98 meters and Oppedyk 13.75 meters, while Galloway broke the school record in the hammer throw with a mark of 37.75 meters.
Hayley Morse (Boise, Idaho / Borah HS) earned gold in the women's shot put with a mark of 12.49 meters, with
Claire Otero (Caldwell, Idaho / Vallivue HS) breaking the school record in both the discus (39.08 meters) and the hammer (36.10 meters).
NORRIS DEBUTS WITH FAST TIMES: On the track, the Coyote men were led by two-sport athlete
Garrett Norris (Spokane, Wash. / Mead HS), who logged impressive times in the sprints. The freshman ran the fastest 200-meter time (22.82 seconds) by a Coyote since the track program was reinstated in 2005, while winning the 400-meters (50.31 seconds). Norris also ran an anchor leg in the winning 4x400-meter relay team (3:24.37).
C OF I SWEEPS 10,000-METER RACES: The C of I distance crew got off to a solid start on Saturday, as both the men and women took the top two spots in their respective races.
Max Hampton (Eagle, Idaho / Eagle HS) earned the win for the Coyotes (33:09.57) with
Dan Williams (Boise, Idaho / Bishop Kelly HS) in second (33:12.38) ; while on the women's side,
Ruth Lewinski (McCall, Idaho / McCall-Donnelly HS) earned top billing (40:04.71), just ahead of teammate
Rachel Hamre (Colorado Springs, Colo. / Doherty HS) (41.14.80).
WEEKEND OFF: The Yotes will take a week off for Spring Break, but return next weekend competing at two venues – at the San Francisco State Distance Carnival in California, and the Boyman Invitational in McMinnville, Ore. CONFERENCE/NATIONAL QUALIFIERS: NAIA "A" – None. NAIA "B" – Nichole DeGrange (100),
Tiana Thomas (Middleton, Idaho / Middleton HS) 100-hurdles, Women's 4x400. CCC –
Malik Whitfield (Baltimore, Md. / Mountain Home HS) (100),
Kevin Wang (Sacramento, Calif. / Mountain View HS) (100), Garrett Norris (200, 400), Max Hampton (10,000), Dan Williams (10,000),
Joe Bolin (Payette, Idaho /Payette HS) (110-hurdles, 400-hurdles, pole vault),
Camden DeBruler (Boise, Idaho / Timberline HS) (3,000-steeplechase),
Tyler Amrhein (Upland, Calif. / Orange Coast CC) (pole vault),
Isaac Gonzalez (La Habra, Calif. / Sonora HS) (long jump, triple jump),
John Fronk (McCall, Idaho / McCall-Donnelly HS) (long jump), Andrew Galloway (shot put, discus, hammer), Taylor Oppedyk (shot put, discus),
Talon Sudbeck (Newport Beach, Calif. / Orange Coast CC) (javelin), Nichole DeGrange (100, 200),
Brittany Beame (Middleton, Idaho / Middleton HS) (100, 200),
Hannah Lentz (Kimberly, Idaho / Kimberly HS) (400, long jump, triple jump), Amy Pfaff (800, 1,500),
Jocelyn Allen (Ashton, Idaho / North Fremont HS) (1,500), Ruth Lewinski (10,000), Rachel Hamre (10,000), Thomas (400-hurdles, high jump),
Ellie Packham (Twin Falls, Idaho /Canyon Ridge HS) (400-hurdles),
Angeline Getty (Challis, Idaho /Challis HS) (3,000-steeplechase),
McKenzie Bell (Bend, Ore. / Bend HS) (3,000-steeplechase), Hayley Morse (shot put, discus, hammer),
Jessica Aguilar (Caldwell, Idaho / Caldwell HS) (shot put, discus, hammer), Claire Otero (discus, hammer).
ABOUT THE COACH: Pat McCurry enters his 11th year at the helm of the cross country and track & field programs at the C of I. In 11 seasons (after the Coyote running programs were dormant for nearly 30 years), McCurry has built the Coyote men and women into perennial NAIA Cross Country Top-25 programs - with the men's team earning nine berths to the NAIA Championships; the Lady Yotes advancing to seven-straight NAIA meets, winning the 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, and 2013 CCC titles; with the Lady Yotes coming off back-to-back national runner-up finishes in 2012 and 2013. For his efforts, McCurry was named 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, and 2013 CCC women's cross country Coach of the Year. Student-athletes have won 13 NAIA individual titles in cross country and track; claimed 49 individual CCC titles on the track; earned 69 NAIA All-America awards in cross country and track & field; earned seven All-NAIA Region I awards in cross country; 56 All-CCC awards in cross country - along with 107 NAIA All-America Scholar-Athlete awards. His 2013 and 2014 Lady Yote track teams won the CCC title, earning him Coach of the Year honors, with the squad placing third at the 2014 and fifth at the 2014 NAIA Indoor Championships, and sixth at the 2014 and seventh at the 2013 NAIA Outdoor Championships.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: For more information on the Coyote track programs, head to the official home page of the C of I men's (
http://yoteathletics.com/index.aspx?path=mtrack) and women's
(
http://yoteathletics.com/index.aspx?path=wtrack) programs.
