McMINNVILLE, Ore. – Linfield College's Kaelia Neal blazed to an individual championship in the 800 meters and broke a 20-year-old school record in the 1,500 to highlight a busy day of action Saturday at the Northwest Conference Track & Field Championships at Maxwell Field.
 
Neal dueled Whitworth All-American Kayla Leland in the 1,500 as the two ran side-by-side the entire race. The outcome hinged on the pair's breath-taking sprint to the finish line. Neal took the lead at one point during the final 100 meters but Leland managed to dig in the last few strides to win by .10 of a second. Leland clocked 4:33.25, just nipping Neal's new record time of 4:33.35, which eclipsed the standing Linfield record of 4:35.47 set by Hall of Fame inductee Emily Baker in 1998.
 
Neal returned to race in the 800, settling back in the pack and waiting until the final home stretch before taking the lead and outdistancing George Fox's Rachel Gibbs by a little more than a second in 2:16.86.
 
Taylor Vicknair placed in both hurdle events and ran on both of relay teams to pace the Wildcat men at the eight-team championship meet.
 
Wildcats coach Travis Olson said that he "couldn't have been more proud of our team these last two days. We had some unbelievable performances that will send some of our athletes to nationals."
 
Men
Vicknair finished third in the 110 hurdles in a personal record time of 15.18, tying him for 10th place on the Linfield leader board with Ed Geist who ran the same time in 1971. Vicknair returned to take fourth place in the 400 hurdles in 58.28.
 
Vicknair teamed with Brian Douglas, Travis Crockett and Keaton Wood to capture fifth place in both the 4x100 relay (43.97) and the 4x400 relay (3:29.15).
 
Wood also scored points in the javelin, taking fifth place with a best effort of 56.87 meters (186-7) on his final attempt.
 
Freshman Jonathan Sedy made his last jump count, securing seventh place in the triple jump with a leap of 12.45 (43-8).
 
The Linfield men finished eighth in the team standings with 46.5 points. Defending champion George Fox ran away with the team title with 240.5 points, well ahead of runner-up PLU with 132 points.
 
Women
Linfield registered a third-place finish in the team standings for the third straight year. George Fox defended its title, amassing 226 points. Whitworth was runner-up with 175 points. Linfield finished with 140 points.

Joining Neal in the 800, senior Jamie Rodden finished sixth in a time of 2:20.56. Emma Knudson returned from her second place 10,000 performance on Friday to take third in the 5,000 with a time of 17:42.71.
 
Junior distance specialist Courtney Beard also doubled for the 'Cats, finishing third in the 1,500 (4:37.45) and second in the 5,000 in 17:40.20. Beard's time in the 1,500 was a personal best and ranks fifth all-time at Linfield. Freshman Nicole Bissey recorded a lifetime best in the 1,500 with her seventh-place effort of 4:53.38.
 
Junior Kycie Richwine secured second place in the 100 hurdles in 15.40. Fellow hurdler Baylie Cameron made it to the podium in the 400 hurdles, locking up third place in a time of 1:05.63.
 
In the relays, the Linfield quartet of Madeline Shirley, Mehana Sabado-Halpen, Kristen Burke and Desirae DesRosiers finished fourth in the 4x100 relay in a time of 49.81. Shirley, Sabado-Halpen, Cameron and Taylor Petersen finished seventh in the 4x400 in 4:10.84.
 
Petersen cleared 1.51m (4-11 1/2) in the high jump, good for seventh place. Sabado-Halpern finished third in the triple jump with her best effort coming on her second attempt of 11.41m (37-5
 
MaKenzie Mize had her best effort of the day in the discus with her first throw of the competition. Mize threw 36.08 (118-4), good enough for fifth place.
 
Dana Brooks was the final Linfield athlete to add team points for the 'Cats with her second-place and personal best effort of 41.08m (134-9¼). Brooks' mark stands sixth all-time on the Linfield top-10 list.
 
Next
With the conference meet complete, Linfield turns its attention to securing additional national qualifying marks. A pared-down squad is set to compete at the Pacific Luau Meet, Friday and Saturday in Forest Grove.