Whitworth’s Bofa blazes in 800 prelim

Whitworth’s Emmanuel Bofa set a Don Drumm Stadium record in the 800 meters during the NCAA Division III Track and Field Championships Friday at Marietta (Ohio) College.

The defending national champion timed 1:50.71 in his heat and will be in lane four, next to Division III indoor champion Jimmy O’Brien in the final.

Last year Bofa won in 1:51.01.

The Pirates have six competitors remaining in four events for today’s conclusion of the meet. Cody Stelzer will defend his high jump title, Jeff Kintner, Danjuma Quarless and Mike Nahl are all in the shot put. Elizabeth Mattila will run the final of the 400 meter hurdles.

Former Colville star Caitlin McGrane finished ninth in the heptathlon for Puget Sound. She finished fifth in her final event, the 800 meters, giving her a total of 4,367 points. Ashley Huston of Hardin-Simmons won with 5,242 points, including three individual firsts and two seconds.

Baseball

Lewis-Clark State opened defense of its NAIA championship with a 5-0 victory over Fresno Pacific in the nightcap of the 53rd Avista-NAIA World Series at Harris Field in Lewiston.

The victory advances the tourney’s seventh-seeded team against No. 2 Oklahoma City today at 7 p.m., the winner advancing against Point Loma Nazarene.

LCSC (40-13) got shutout pitching from Colby Hawk (71/3 innings, six hits, six strikeouts, three walks) and Nick Masters (12/3 innings, one hit and three strikeouts) to lift the three-time defending national champions to victory. The win meant the tournament featured back-to-back shutouts for the first time since 1995.

Matt Allen and Bernard Pena each drove in two runs apiece.

The Sunbirds grounded into three double plays and stranded eight runners on base. The Warriors’ Todd Muecklish was 3 for 3 and drove in a run in the second inning. Allen doubled in a pair. Pena homered for two runs in the eighth.

In other first-day games, No. 3 Point Loma Nazarene blanked Embry-Riddle (Fla.) 10-0. No. 9 Lee (Tennessee) used three home runs to beat No. 8 Campbellsville (Ky.) 5-2; No. 4 Berry (Ga.) topped No. 5 Southern Poly State (Ga. 10-5) with a 16-hit attack that featured Eric Wiess’ three-run home run; and Berry (46-14) got a three-run homer from Jono Waugh, his 15th, that dropped Southern Poly to 51-9. Berry awaits the winner of Lee vs. No. 1 Lubbock Christian (Texas).

Soccer

The Cascade Surge blanked the Spokane Spiders 4-0 in a USL Premier Development league match in Salem, Ore. The Spiders fell to 1-5 in the Northwest Division. The Surge improved to 2-1.