NEWBERG, Ore. – Paced by teammate and best friend Kaelia Neal for the first 1,200 meters, Linfield College senior Emma Knudson broke Neal's school record in the 1,500 at the George Fox Last Chance Meet staged Thursday at Stoffer Family Stadium on the George Fox University campus.
 
Neal took the lead from start with Knudson tucking in behind to pace her friend over the first 1,200 meters. The goal for Knudson was a national qualifying mark. Linfield distance coach Mike Blackmore was pleased with how the two executed the plan perfectly. Knudson easily won the race in school-record time of 4:31.54, breaking Neal's three-week-old mark of 4:31.77.
 
Knudson later returned the favor by pacing Neal over the first 300 of the 800 meters race that Neal won in a personal-best time of 2:14.37. That surpassed Neal's own personal best of 2:15.62 set earlier this season. Neal's time remained third on the Linfield all-time list behind school record holder Merry Irwin (2:12.83, 1995) and Emily Baker (2:13.31, 1998).
 
Keaton Wood recorded personal bests in the shot put and discus in preparation to compete in the decathlon at the NCAA Championships. In the shot put, he posted a best of 11.19 meters (36 feet 8½ inches) on his second attempt. Linfield senior Jeff Lieder was the winner of the competition with a toss of 14.80m (48-6¾). Wood returned to heave the discus in another personal record of 35.41m (116-2) for third place. Wood's previous bests were a 10.58m in the shot and 30.60m in the discus.
 
In other events, Dana Brooks won the javelin with a mark of 37.25m (122-2). Kailey Wright tossed the hammer 43.17m (141-8) while Mehana Sabado-Halpern doubled in the long and triple jump. Sabado-Halpern leaped 5.16m (16-11½) in the long jump and 11.28m (37-0¼) in the triple jump.
 
Joanna Galli and Meg Angier both competed in the pole vault with Galli clearing 3.57m (11-8½) while Angier cleared 3.42m (11-2½).
 
Baylie Cameron was the final Wildcat participating in the competition, finishing third in the 400 hurdles in a time of 1:05.87.
 
Next
The NCAA Division III Outdoor Championships are scheduled for May 24-26 at Roger Herring Stadium in La Crosse, Wisconsin.