George Fox University junior Charity Arn garnered All-America recognition with a fifth-place finish in the women’s pentathlon at the NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field National Championships on Friday in Lincoln, Neb.
The Woodland High School graduate broke her own Bruins record in the event with 3,589 points. That topped her previous best of 3,547 points, which she set Feb. 1 for the No. 6 seed entering nationals.
Arn accounted for all four of the Bruins’ points in the meet as George Fox finished in a nine-team tie for 40th place.
She started her day with a seventh-place finish in the 60 meter hurdles in 9.16 seconds, followed by a tie for second in the high jump at 5 feet, 3 inches. She tied for ninth in the shot put with a mark of 33-6, then took fourth in the long jump at 17-71/2 and seventh in the 800 meter run with a time of 2:23.97.
Arn’s teammate Maria Green finished 12th with 3,287 points, after entering as the No. 18 seed.
“Both Charity and Maria competed well in their first indoor national appearances,” GFU head coach John Smith told the school website athletics.georgefox.edu.
“Any time you move up spots from where you were seeded coming in, that is a great day. Charity was solid in all of her events, with the exception of the shot put, but even throwing at her (personal record) would have still put her in fifth. Her 800 meter effort was exceptional. …
“I couldn’t have been more proud of the way the Bruins were represented by these women. We miss our team and are ready to get back to that support group, and get back to business.”
Amelia Campbell of Carleton College won the title with 3,884 points.
Men’s basketball
Idaho’s Madison garners honors
University of Idaho senior Stephen Madison capped his collegiate career Saturday as the Vandals concluded their season with a 77-75 loss to New Mexico state in the Western Athletic Conference championship game in Las Vegas.
Madison, a 6-foot-6 forward who played for Prairie High School through his junior year before transferring to Portland’s Jefferson High school, led Idaho with 17 points in the title game.
The Vandals (16-18)were the surprise of the bracket, the Associated Press reported, describing the team as “the plucky underdogs with the losing record who had won one WAC tournament game in eight years before this season.”
Entering the conference tournament at 14-17 after a 7-9 WAC regular season, Idaho opened the conference tournament by rallying in the second half to beat Missouri-Kansas City and followed that in the semifinals by knocking off top-seeded and regular-season champion Utah Valley.
Madison was named to the All-WAC First Team after leading the conference in scoring during the regular season at 19.9 points a game, and was selected to the U.S. Basketball Writers Association’s All-District VIII Team last week.
He added All-WAC tournament honors, and concluded his collegiate career as the second-leading scorer in program history.
For the season, Madison led the Vandals with averages of 20.1 points, 7.6 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.0 assists and 0.5 blocks a game.
Indoor track and field
SPU’s Decker sets P.R. in 800 at D-II nationals
Seattle Pacific University sophomore Lynelle Decker did not advance to the finals of the 800 meters at the NCAA Division II Indoor Track and Field Nationals in Winston-Salem, N.C., but improved on her seeding time with a personal record in her preliminary race.
The Mountain View High School graduate finished 11th overall in a time of 2 minutes, 11.86 seconds. Her previous best for an indoor 800 was 2:11.97.
Decker placed 15th in the event at indoor nationals as a freshman. She has competed at nationals in each of her cross country and indoor and outdoor track seasons at SPU.
“I think the amount of nerves is about the same,” Decker told the school website spufalcons.com before the meet about returning to nationals. “It’s still a big meet and still a big competition. It was a little bit harder to get in this year, so I know it’s going to be faster. I’m more excited because I know what to expect and I know the atmosphere of a national indoor meet.”
Gymnastics
Gassaway posts best career mark on floor
Brigham Young University junior KayCee Gassaway scored a career-best 9.850 on floor exercise Saturday to help the Cougars finish second in a four-team meet hosted by nationally ranked Arizona.
A Vancouver resident and graduate of CAM High School in Battle Ground, Gassaway helped BYU set a season-high score of 49.375 in the event. The Cougars totaled 196.025 points in the meet, surpassing 196 points for the third time this season — the first time since 2005.
• Southern Utah University senior Alyssa Click claimed an event title in her final regular season collegiate meet. The Skyview High School graduate scored 9.875 on bars Friday in a road loss to Utah State.
Softball
Sac State’s Martin takes many for team
Sacramento State junior right fielder Paige Martin ranks among the NCAA Division I softball national statistics leaders.
The Mountain View High School graduate is 10th in being hit by pitch for games through Sunday, according to ncaa.org/stats, getting plunked an average of 0.48 times a game. She has been hit 11 times in 23 games for the Hornets (10-13).
This led Martin’s teammate Kaitlyn Yerby, a sophomore pitcher, to tweet: “Shoutout to (Martin) for being 10th in the nation for being hit by pitches per game” — prompting Martin’s reply: “Bahahaha this can’t be really life — I don’t even know what to say….hahaha”
Suggestions for College Notebook? Contact Kurt Zimmer at 360-735-4563 or kurt.zimmer@columbian.com
