Weiler Claims 10,000 For Pirates

Holly Weiler won the 10,000-meter run and Whitworth’s women were tucked in second place Friday after the first day of the Northwest Conference track championships in Newberg, Ore.

The Pirates trailed Linfield 52-50 after seven finals. On the men’s side, the Bucs - one of the pre-meet picks - were a distant sixth with 21 points, 40 behind leader Willamette. But the bulk of Whitworth’s potential points are in the sprints, relays and hurdles, the finals of which will be contested today.

Weiler, a junior transfer from Community Colleges of Spokane, slashed 45 seconds off her season’s best in the 10,000 and won by more than 17 seconds. Other top efforts by the Pirates women included thirds in the long jump by Jamie Rydbom (16 feet, 8-3/4 inches) and in the hammer by Elysia Hanna (144-2).

Takashi Atkins had fourth-place finishes in the discus (143-0) and hammer (150-1) to pace the men.

Tim Archer and Julie Nielson were among the five Eastern Washington University athletes who won events at the Sacramento Spring Festival .

Archer narrowly missed becoming EWU’s second 50-foot triple jumper of the spring, upping his lifetime best to 49-10-1/4. Nielson won the hammer at 167-7, and took second in the discus with a 154-7 toss that was within 6 inches of the school record.

Other Eagles winners were Mandi Fish in the women’s shot put (45-10-1/2), Steve Carey in the men’s 400 (48.86) and Ryan Cole in the men’s javelin (212-7).

Baseball

Billy Traber (7-4) tied a career high with 14 strikeouts and Loyola Marymount (33-15, 19-6) defeated Gonzaga 5-1 to move four games ahead of the Bulldogs (25-20, 15-10) in the West Coast Conference’s Coast Division.

Scott Walter and Anthony Angel hit solo homers to support Traber, who allowed no earned runs and walked one. Traber moved up to No. 3 on the school’s all-time strikeout list, with 305.

GU tied the game at 1 in the second on Danny Evans’ RBI infield single. But Kris Zacuto tripled to lead off Loyola’s second inning and scored on Jeff Walker’s sacrifice fly.

The teams play a doubleheader on Sunday. The Lions need to win one game to clinch a tie for the division title.

Aarin Hare pitched a six-hitter and Josh Turrell had four hits to lead CCS to a 5-1 victory over Wenatchee Valley in a matchup for first place at Spokane Falls CC.

CCS improved to 16-7 in the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges, one game ahead of the Knights (16-9). The teams play a doubleheader today. CCS completes its conference schedule with five games next week.

Kevin Richardson’s double for CCS was the only extra-base hit of the game.

Softball

Kylee Curry pitched a four-hit shutout in the opener and had a game-winning, two-run single in the second game as CCS (25-3) swept Columbia Basin 4-0, 4-3 in the NWAACC.

CCS plays a doubleheader at Walla Walla (26-2) today, with the Northeast Division title at stake. The Sasquatch must sweep to take the title.

Jenny Lytle had three RBIs in the opener. Rebecca Triplett pitched a four-hitter in the second game.