The RiverHawk Track and Field teams competed at the NWAC Championships on Monday and Tuesday, May 20th-21st. The men brought home a trophy in 3rd place with 136 points. This is the first NWAC trophy the men have received since the program was reinstated in the 2018-19 season, and it's the second NWAC trophy in school history for the men, as they brought home a 3rd place trophy in 1993 at the NWAC Championships. The women scored 54 points for a 5th place finish. Combined, the two teams finished in 3rd of all 12 teams. Coach King was named Men's Track and Field Coach of the Year voted by other NWAC track and field coaches after dominate performances by the RiverHawk men's team. Day one was a nice, sunny day, and day two brought constant rain and clouds, typical of the Pacific Northwest. Note that athletes who placed 1st-3rd earn All-American honors and 4th-8th earn All-Conference honors.

James Kelly was the high points scorer amongst all athletes in the meet with 31.5 points, earning him Men's Track and Field Athlete of the Year. James won the pole vault with a clearance of 4.88m/16ft, anchored the 4x100m relay team to 1st place in a time of 42.25, he took 2nd in the decathlon with 6,000 points, 3rd in long jump going 6.79m/22-3.25ft, and 4th in the 110m hurdles with a time of 15.95 (in the prelims he ran a personal best of 15.06). Xavier Hills had the second most points amongst men's field athletes as he scored 22.5, which also ranked him 3rd overall in points amongst men. Xavier won high jump with a clearance of 1.95m/6-4.75ft, ran the third leg for the winning 4x100m relay, placed 3rd in triple jump with 13.97m/45-10ft, and placed 5th in long jump with 6.62m/21-8.75ft. Will Hills won triple jump with 14.04m/46-0.75ft, ran the 2nd leg of the winning 4x100m relay, and he also ran the 3rd leg of the 4x400m relay that placed 4th in a school record time of 3:26.33. The men's javelin crew secured the 1st and 2nd places for the third year in a row, as well as 4th and 5th place finishes. Leikel Cabrera-Gay won the event with 70.44m/231-1ft, Ismayil Abdoulaye took 2nd with 60.28m/197-9ft, Isaac Heard threw a personal best of 57.93m/190ft, and Ethan Sumpter threw 54.37m/178-4ft. Daniel Gee won the decathlon with a school record 6,084 points, ran the second leg for the 4x400m relay team in 4th, placed 5th in pole vault with 4.63m/15-2.25ft, and 7th in high jump with a clearance of 1.84m/6-0.5ft. Oluwatomiwa Olubisi put the wheels on for his events as he was the starter for the winning 4x100m relay, finished 3rd in the 200m with 22.55 (he ran 22.37 in the prelims, both times faster than his previous best), 4th in the 400m with 49.54 in the finals for a personal best and first time sub-50, and he was the starter for the 4x400m relay that finished 4th. Ezekiel Wright, missed out on the 400m hurdle finals after taking a hard fall in the prelims but still finished 7th in the 110m hurdles in a time of 16.21, and anchored the 4x400m relay team to 4th. Tarron Metz placed 7th in pole vault, clearing 4.53m/14-10.25ft. Okenoko Pascall also had a 7th place finish as he threw 44.02m/144-5ft in discus. Connor Deveny moved from 9th to 8th in the final lap of the 10,000m with a huge kick to finish in 36:01.6. Unfortunately, top sprinter, Travis Tyler, sustained a quad injury while leading the 100m prelims, but still took 8th place in the finals with a jog down the home stretch to help secure a point for the Hawks and boost the chances for the team podium finish.

The women had a slightly smaller team competing, but still found success in several events. Rachel Noyce, the reigning NWAC Champion, won the high jump with 1.54m/5-0.5ft. Rachel also took 5th in the heptathlon with a school record of 3,260 points and anchored the 4x400m relay to a 6th place finish of 4:24.64. Kylie Anderson had a huge performance in shot put as she threw a personal best of 12.35m/40-6.25ft for 3rd place, she also finished 7th in hammer with a throw of 40.96m/134-4ft. Kylie Rubrecht also had a 3rd place finish with the second farthest throw of her career in the javelin going 37.13m/121-10ft in her final attempt, she bumped from 8th to 3rd. The lone discus qualifier for the women was Male'ata Snuka Polamalu, who finished in 4th with a big personal best of 35.01m/114-10ft. Taylor Heie, in just her second year ever competing in track and field, finished in 4th with a clearance of 3.08m/10-1.25ft. Amy Barnwell had a big third throw in the hammer as she threw 41.81m/137-2ft for a new personal best and 5th place finish (Amy is completely new to the event as of October). Gabrielle Hrdlicka finished out quite the career as she placed 5th in high jump with a personal best of 1.41m/4-7.5ft with the scissor kick, she also ran leg two of the 4x400m relay, and finished in 8th in the 400m hurdles with a time of 1:12.97. Mia McCormack was the third leg for the 4x400m relay team and she placed 7th in the 800m with a time of 2:40.67. Kasemsri Miele was the starter for the 4x400m relay. Rounding out the Hawks with an 8th place finish was Lexi McWilliam as she took on her second ever 3000m steeplechase with a huge personal best of 12:35.24 in a very competitive field (7 of the top 8 all ran personal bests on the day). 

The RiverHawks have ended their season! The summer will be spent getting in recovery, getting healthy, and then getting right back after it in preparation for next season! The coaches are incredibly proud of this RiverHawk squad, and are looking forward to what the crew can achieve next year. Most of the sophomore RiverHawks will be moving on to 4-years to continue their academic and athletic careers. Okenoko Pascall will be looking to compete at the Guyana National Seniors Championships, representing UCC and his country on June 15th for shot put and 16th for discus. He will potentially have 1-2 other competitions representing his country this summer and fall. 

2024 All-American and All-Conference Honors:

Ismayil Abdoulaye: All-American Javelin
Kylie Anderson: All-American Shot Put, All-Conference Hammer
Amy Barnwell: All-Conference Hammer
Leikel Cabrera-Gay: NWAC Champion Javelin
Connor Deveny: All-Conference 10,000m
Daniel Gee: NWAC Champion Decathlon, All-Conference 4x400m Relay, Pole Vault, and High Jump
Isaac Heard: All-Conference Javelin
Taylor Heie: All-Conference Pole Vault
Will Hills: NWAC Champion Triple Jump and 4x100m Relay, All-Conference 4x400m Relay
Xavier Hills: NWAC Champion High Jump and 4x100m Relay, All-American Triple Jump, All-Conference Long Jump
Gabrielle Hrdlicka: All-Conference High Jump, 400m Hurdles, and 4x400m Relay
James Kelly: Athlete of the Year, High Points Scorer, NWAC Champion Pole Vault and 4x100m Relay, All-American Decathlon and Long Jump, All-Conference 110m Hurdles
Mia McCormack: All-Conference 800m and 4x400m Relay
Lexi McWilliam: All-Conference 3000m Steeplechase
Tarron Metz: All-Conference Pole Vault
Kasemsri Miele: All-Conference 4x400m Relay
Rachel Noyce: NWAC Champion High Jump, All-Conference 4x400m Relay
Oluwatomiwa Olubisi: NWAC Champion 4x100m Relay, All-American 200m and 400m, All-Conference 4x400m Relay
Okenoko Pascall: All-Conference Discus
Kylie Rubrecht: All-American Javelin
Madelyn Sharp: All-Conference Javelin
Ethan Sumpter: All-Conference Javelin
Travis Tyler: All-Conference 100m
Ezekiel Wright: All-Conference 110m hurdles and 4x400m Relay

Roll Hawks!!