SPOKANE, Wash. -- Three Loggers earn medalist honors at the Northwest Conference Championships hosted by Whitworth, taking home hardware after a great weekend.

How it Happened
Noah Larsen got the first top-8 finish of the weekend in the men's 10k, as the freshman placed seventh with a time of 32:29.94. Emily Moore also had a fantastic finish in the women's 3k steeplechase, running to a time of 11:27.59 to place second. The sophomore raced really well for the Loggers, earning the top distance finish of the weekend. Ian Cook also ran in the men's 3k steeplechase, placing seventh with a personal-best time of 9:46.84. 

Lucky number seven was the theme of Saturday for the Loggers, as Thomas Goeglein also placed seventh in the men's Shot Put. After throwing 15m for the first time at the Larry Byerly Invitational, he couldn't quite reach that mark this weekend, throwing a 14.41m mark on his third attempt. On day two, he finished with a mark of 43.92 in men's discus, placing fifth to round out his championships. . 

The story of day one of the NWC Championships was freshman Cody Gardanier in the men's high jump. After missing his first attempt of the weekend, he got into a groove, clearing 1.81m, 1.86m, and 1.91m in consecutive attempts. He needed two attempts to clear 1.96m, but those two attempts were enough, as he reached a personal best and a Northwest Conference title. Despite clearing the same height as two other opponents, he used the fewest attempts at 1.96m, granting him the victory. 

Lizzie Beiswanger defended her NWC title in the women's 400m, finishing under 56 seconds for the first time all season. Her season-best of 55.88 was good enough for the title, as she moved up in the NCAA rankings to No. 17 overall. 

Avery Keith also defended his NWC title in the men's 400m, breaking the meet record in the process. After running just under 50 seconds in the prelims, Keith went all-out and ran an impressive 47.11 second time to win the title. He was so quick that he finished over 1.5 seconds faster than the nearest competitor, setting a new DIII No. 9 time - his first top-10 appearance of the season. Keith also ran the 200m, placing second with a time of 21.51. 

Kyrstin Wilson got barely edged out in the women's 100m and 200m, picking up second-place finishes in both finals. She ran a 12.15 in the 100m final, and a season-best 24.61 in the 200 to cap off her championship meet. Freshman Jack Joyce also made the finals in the men's 100m and 200m for the Loggers. He ran a 11.17 to place seventh in the 100m, and a personal best 22.04 in the 200m to place fifth. 


Whitney Nelson qualified for the finals in the women's 400m hurdles, running a fantastic time of 1:03.58 to place fourth. She now has a top-40 time nationally, and capped off her season with a near two-second Personal Best. Mercer Stauch also made the 400m finals, running a 56.61 to place seventh.

Porter Freitag and Tdohasan Sunray capped off the Logger individual finalists in the men's 800m. The two were only separated by 0.05 seconds, with Sunray running a 1:56.09 and Freitag a 1:56.14. They placed sixth and seventh, respectively, both running personal bests. 

As is tradition, the final race of the meet were the men's and women's 4x400m relays. The women's team kicked things off first, as Nelson, Alana Lim, Wilson, and Beiswanger ran a time of 3:52.49. This was five seconds faster than second-placed Whitworth, marking a new school record time as the Loggers secured the victory. Wilson and Beiswanger came in clutch, both running sub-56 to blow out the rest of the competition. 

The men's team followed suit, also winning the 4x400m relay. A team of Joyce, Stauch, Sunray, and Keith tied the Logger school record, running a time of 3.17.09. Keith ran an incredible time of 46.59 as the anchor, hawking down two runners en route to an impressive one-second victory. 

The Loggers finish their season on a high note, taking home three NWC Champions and two relay medals. 

What Happens Next
A number of Loggers will continue trying to improve their times to earn an individual NCAA bid. Wilson. Beiswanger, and Keith all have NCAA qualifying times at the moment, but look to improve to better secure their spots at nationals.