Pacific University Athletics

Fire On The Track: Boxers Come Alive In 2013

6/11/2013 8:29:00 AM

Track & Field 2013 Season Review

PACIFIC'S FRESHMAN DISTANCE PHENOM: At the 2012 Northwest Conference Championships, Pacific scored just one point in the distance the events.  In 2013, the Boxers had a freshman put 20 points on the board with two conference title runs.
 
Forest Grove native Tyler Shipley opened his first conference meet with a victory in the men's 10,000 meters, turning in a season best time of 31:58.63.  On the second day, Shipley returned to win the 5,000 meters in 15:10.26.  Thanks to the two titles, Shipley was named the Men's Track Athlete of the Meet.
 
The conference meet was a high water mark for the freshman, who stands poised to challenge for a spot at the national meet and the record over the next three seasons.  Shipley finished the season by running a season-best 14:57.06 at the Gregory Invitational in Illinois on May 16.  The time ranks as the second best in school history, behind the 14:36.8 run by Roger Hansen in 1976, and makes Shipley just the second Pacific athlete to run under 15 minutes in the event.  Shipley's time in the 10,000 meters is the third best in school, trailing record holder Russ Rodriguez (31:21.20, 1978) and his brother, Adrian Shipley (31:40.69, 2009).
 
Shipley's strong track season began with a great performance in Pacific's first official indoor season.  Shipley ran a season best of 8:42.68 for 3,000 meters at the Univ. of Washington Indoor Open on Feb. 2, which bettered his high school outdoor personal best in the event.
 
 
Kawai cleared the record height of 6 feet, 8 inches, at the Univ. of Puget Sound's Peyton Scoring Meet on Mar. 29.   He became the fourth Pacific athlete to clear the mark, joining Mike Gordon (1976), Kelly LaClaire (1993) and Carson Bartlett (2008).  Kawai went on to tie teammate Budweiser Hawkins for second place in the event at the NWC Championships, with both men clearing 6 feet, 6.75 inches.
 
Kawai spent the entire season on the bubble for qualification to the NCAA Championships.  When the field was selected, he proved to be the first man left out of the field by all of one centimeter.
 
With as good as he was in the high jump, Kawai won his NWC title for the Boxers in the triple jump.  Kawai leaped 44 feet, 6.25 inches to capture the Boxers' third title of the meet and greatly helped Pacific's best men's team finish in over three decades.  The performance was not only a personal best, but ranks Kawai No. 8 on Pacific's all-time list.
 
Kawai also began the year with a strong indoor season.  He claimed the Boxers' inaugural record marks in the high jump, clearing 6 feet, 4.75 inches, at the Pilot Indoor on Feb. 17, and the triple jump mark of 41 feet, 5 inches at the Univ. of Idaho Vandal Open on Feb. 2.
 
 
Aken-Pagdilao succeeded in bettering her own school record in the 100 meters, running 12.59 seconds in the preliminaries at the NWC Championships.  She went on to finish second in the finals, clocking 12.68 seconds.  She was the only Pacific women's athlete to secure a top-three finish at the conference meet.  Aken-Pagdilao also played key roles in both of Pacific's relay teams.  She ran the anchor leg on the 1,600-meter relay team that ran a school record 4:05.10 at the NWC Championships and was also the anchor on the 400-meter relay team that ran the second fastest time in school history in 50.23 seconds.
 
While not changing her spot on the record board in the 200 meters, Aken-Pagdilao was fast enough to remain competitive.  She qualified for the NWC Championships with a Pacific season-best of 26.27 seconds, but just missed advancing to the finals with her ninth place time of 26.68 seconds.
 
A STANDOUT SEASON FOR THE MEN: After seasons of growing both in terms of quality and quantity, Head Coach Tim Boyce finally realized a significant step in his effort to grow the Pacific track and field programs into competitive teams.
 
The Pacific men finished in third place at the Northwest Conference Championships on Apr. 26 and 27, which proved to be the team's best finish since 1977.  The Boxers' 122 points are the second most scored by a men's team in school history, eclipsed only by the 158 points scored by the 1976 team.  To put the Boxers growth in even better perspective, the team finished just 10 points behind perennial NWC power Willamette.
 
Pacific's finish was bolstered by three conference champions and eight other All-NWC performances (top-three finishes).  Tyler Shipley claimed titles in the 5,000 and 10,000 meters while Kelson Kawai won the triple jump.  In addition to his title, Kawai tied for second in the high jump with Budweiser Hawkins as both jumped 6 feet, 6.75 inches to earn All-NWC distinction.
 
Michael Zane claimed second place in the 200 meters (22.43 seconds) and Sean Valente placed third in the 400 meters (50.06 seconds).  In the hurdles, Michael Hunker closed his Pacific career with a third place finish in the 110-meter hurdles (15.57 seconds) while sophomore Daniel Wagner was third in the 400-meter hurdles (56.64 seconds).  The 1,600-meter relay team of Stefan Lemak, Trey Oshiro-Atabay, Hunker and Valente rounded out All-NWC honors in the men's running events, placing third in 3:23.40.  Hawkins became a two-time All-NWC performer by placing second in the long jump with a leap of 22 feet, 11.25 inches.
 
CONTINUED IMPROVEMENT FOR THE WOMEN: While their team finish at the NWC Championships is not what they wanted, the Pacific women's track and field showed signs on continuing to improve and build for the future.  Pacific finished eighth with a score of 33 points, just eight points behind seventh place Puget Sound.
 
While Kelli Aken-Pagdilao was the only Pacific woman to garner All-NWC honors, five individuals and both relays secured top-eight places.  Sarah Tuffey placed fourth in her only NWC Championship when she ran 1:00.33.  Rachel Schreiber finished fourth in the 1,500 meters in 4:43.28 while Dannika Sullivan captured eighth place in the 400-meter hurdles in a time of 1:10.26.  Freshman Britta LaVoie was the Boxers' only field event placer, taking fifth in the pole vault with a mark of 10 feet, 2.5 inches.
 
Both women's relay teams also took fourth place.  The 400-meter relay team of Alexis Damo, Sarah Tuffey, Emily Tuffey and Aken-Pagdilao clocked in with 50.23 seconds, the second fastest time in school history.  The four then teamed to set a school record in the 1,600-meter relay team with a time of 4:05.10.  The effort smashed the previous record from the 2012 NWC Championships by seven seconds.
 
 
Hallyburton was also a winner in the classroom.  She was selected as the valedictorian of Pacific's College of Arts & Sciences, compiling a 4.0 grade point average while majoring in exercise science and minoring in Spanish.  She also earned awards as the Outstanding Graduate in Exercise Science, Outstanding Senior Instrumentalist in the music department and the American Association of University Women award.  In addition, Hallyburton was one of 10 women selected to the Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-District VIII Division III Women's Track & Field/Cross Country Team.
 
GOING THE DISTANCE: Building off of her outstanding performance during the cross country, sophomore Rachel Schreiber rebounded from freshman year injuries to set the stage for what could be an impressive final two years in the distances.
 
Schreiber placed fourth at the NWC Championships in the women's 1,500 meters, scoring five points for the Boxers.  Her time of 4:43.28 was not only a personal best, but ranks No. 2 on the Pacific all-time list at the distance.  She trails the record of 4:36.96 set in 2008 by Kelsey Owens by only seven seconds.  In her only 800-meter race this season, Schreiber clocked a time of 2:22.41 at the L&C Spring Break Open on Mar. 23.  That time ranks No. 4 on the all-time list.
 
Schreiber set the foundation for her track success during cross country.  An All-West Region selection thanks to a 18th place finish at the NCAA West Regional Meet, Schreiber earned an invitation to the NCAA Division III Championships.  Her season best of 22:03.06 over 6,000 meters is the third best time in school history.
 
 
Zane became the team's fastest 200-meter runner since 1976 when he ran a wind-aided 22.33 seconds at the Pacific Luau Meet on Apr. 13.  He earned his official spot on the Pacific all-time list with his time of 22.06 seconds in the preliminaries at the NWC Championships.  The time ranks No. 5 on the all-time list and is the first adjustment to the list since 1983.  Zane went on to earn All-NWC honors with his second place finish in the finals in 22.43 seconds.
 
While Zane ran a best of 11.03 seconds in the 100 meters as a freshman (seventh fastest in school history), he did not compete in the event during 2013.  He did contribute on the Boxer's short relay team and ran anchor in the season-best performance of 42.77 seconds run at the Apr. 19 L&C Pioneer Open.
 
 
Freshman Dawne Yamamoto complemented Kelli Aken-Pagdilao's record in the 100 meters by claiming the No. 8 spot on the all-time list, clocking 13.38 seconds during the preliminary heats of the NWC Championships.  Sophomore Emily Tuffey claimed spots on both the 200 and 400-meter lists.  Tuffey ran a season best of 27.39 seconds in the 200 meters at the Pacific Luau Meet and clocked 1:01.72 in the 40 meters at the NWC Championships.  Both times rank No. 6 on Pacific's all-time lists.  Sophomore Mariah Ariola had her season best of 27.53 seconds in the 200 meters at the L&C Pioneer Open, ranking No. 8 on the all-time list.
 
In her one and only season in a Pacific singlet, Sarah Tuffey proved a solid point scorer.  She placed fourth in the 400 meters at the NWC Championships with a time of 1:00.33 and then dropped her best to 59.87 seconds at the Pacific Twilight the next week.  The time is second best is school history behind the 57.66 seconds run by Brooke Barker in 2005.  Sarah also ran 27.39 seconds in the 200 meters at the Pacific Luau Meet, claiming No. 7 on the all-time list.
 
THIS BUD'S FOR YOU: After finishing up the men's basketball season late in February, Budweiser Hawkins made a last-minute decision to revive a track career that had been dormant since high school.  As it worked out, the decision could not have worked out any better as Hawkins claimed All-NWC honors in both the high jump and long jump.
 
Hawkins tied with teammate Kelson Kawai for second place at the NWC Championships in the high jump as he cleared a season best 6 feet, 6.25 inches.  The performance ranks Hawkins No. 6 on the Pacific all-time list.  In the long jump, Hawkins fell just short of a conference title in the long jump with his season best mark of 22 feet, 11.25 inches.  He led the competition until being surpassed by eight centimeters on the final attempt by Whitworth's Tyler Guinn.  The mark ranks No. 5 on the Pacific all-time list.