MARIETTA, Ohio - In a fitting ending to a storybook track and field season, Linfield brothers Josh Lovell and Jeremy Lovell finished 1-2 in the men's decathlon at the 2009 NCAA Division III Championships at Don Drumm Stadium.
 
The twins are part of a seven-person Linfield delegation at this week's NCAA Championships hosted by Marietta College.
 
Scoring 7,080 points, Josh Lovell captured the program's first NCAA championship since Amber Larson won the 400-meter hurdles in 2001. He exceeded his previous career-best point total of 7,003 but fell just short of the Linfield record of 7,113 held by former Wildcats All-American Ken Weinberg.
 
In a field of 18 competitors, Josh earned top-10 finishes in each of Friday's five events. His highest marks came in the javelin, where he placed third with a toss of 170-4, and the pole vault, where he recorded a third-place effort of 13-11.
 
"I was feeling pretty confident throughout the whole thing. You really have to have confidence in a competition like the decathlon," said Josh. "I didn't perform as well as I would have liked in (Thursday's) long jump and that kind of kick-started me."
 
Staking himself to a first-day lead in the points standings, Josh won Thursday's 400-meter race with a half-second improvement.
 
"To do that in 94-degree heat on this stage was just awesome," he said. "Everyone was just exhausted afterwards."
 
Jeremy sat in fourth place entering Thursday's final event - the 1,500 run - but blazed to a nine-second PR and a sixth-place showing in that event to finish second in the points standings with a personal best of 6,857. That topped his previous high of 6,737 set this season at the NWC multi-event championships.
 
Jeremy nabbed second place in the javelin with a throw of 172-1. He was also sixth in the discus with a mark of 115-4.
 
"This was definitely the hottest two days I've ever competed in," said Jeremy of Ohio's heat and humidity. "There's no other person I would have rather finished second to than Josh. It's a pretty cool feeling knowing we are now 1-2 in nation.
 
"We are just absolutely ecstatic about the way the competition turned out,” said Wildcats coach Dr. Garry Killgore. "I'm very proud of Josh for the way he handled the pressure of being the No. 1 guy going into the meet. And I was very impressed with Jeremy's composure, especially in the 1,500. I couldn't ask for anything more from these guys. They just went out and did an outstanding job."
 
In other events Friday, Linfield freshman Catherine Street broke her own school record in the women's pole vault. Street soared 12-10 1/4 to capture third place. That eclipsed the school standard of 12-3 1/2 set four weeks ago at the Northwest Conference Championships in Forest Grove. Street also earned All-America recognition at the NCAA Indoor Championships in February.