Wojciechowksi Wins NAIA National Pole Vault; Escobedo Takes Second in Men’s Hammer
Winning the women’s program’s first NAIA outdoor national championship was sophomore Danielle Wojciechowski in the pole vault. The title is Wojciechowski’s second NAIA top honor of the 2016-17 school year as the standout nabbed the indoor title as well back in early March. Wojciechowski’s leap of 4.0 meters on Thursday bested the field of 26 total vaulters and was just narrowly behind her best mark of the season at 4.1 meters. Also competing for the BC women on opening day was Melanie Nellis and Keryn Lumpkin who took 26th and 27th respectively in the women’s hammer with marks of 43.49 and 42.86.
On the men’s side, Erik Escobedo saved his best for last by launching a new school record of 62.27 meters in the hammer throw. His record-setting toss garnered him NAIA national runner-up honors and his second straight NAIA All-American nod in the event. In the same event, BC’s Elias Micozzi took 20th place in his final appearance in the hammer with a mark of 50.74 meters.
While no other Pilots finished competition on Thursday, the men’s 4×100 relay team of Jamique Mitchell, Conner Sowders, Brett Baumgartner and Alex Moses punched their ticket to the finals with a preliminary time of 41.41 seconds. In addition, multi-event specialist Philip Fox worked his way into fourth place in the decathlon standings with 3,419 points after the 100-meter dash (11.31), long jump (6.87), shot put (10.2), high jump (1.75) and 400-meter dash (51.21).
Day two kicks off tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. with the decathlon events while traditional field events start at 1:00 p.m. and track events ensue at 1:30 p.m.
Men’s Results
Hammer
2nd Erik Escobedo – 62.27 – National Runner-up & All-American
20th Elias Micozzi – 50.74
Women’s Results
Pole Vault
1st Danielle Wojciechowski – 4.0 – National Champion & All-American
Hammer
26th Melanie Nellis – 43.49
27th Keryn Lumpkin – 42.86