TACOMA, Wash. – A second-day surge carried Linfield decathlete Ronan Krutzikowsky into third place in the final point standings of the Northwest Conference Multi-Event Championships. The graduate student from Newport, Oregon, sat in sixth place in the standings after the first day of the two-day, 10-event competition, which wrapped up Tuesday afternoon at the University of Puget Sound's Baker Stadium.
 
Krutzikowsky's first-place effort of 15 feet, 5 inches in the pole vault matched the top mark of the day put forth by George Fox's Levi Gibson. He placed second in the day's final event, the 1,500 run (4:50.31), but his final total of 5,979 points wasn't enough to surpass runner-up Grady Lemma of Pacific Lutheran's 6,035 points. Tayler Phillips of George Fox took the decathlon title, winning with 6,672 points.
 
Krutzikowsky remained in contention throughout by placing fourth in four other events: the 100 meter dash (11.42), the shot put (32-5½), the 400 dash (52.41) and the discus (106-8).
 
Linfield's Zach Young, competing in his first NWC decathlon, opted to withdraw from competition after two events as a precaution for what his coaches termed as a "minor injury."
 
The NWC Multi-Events serve as a precursor to the NWC Championship meet, scheduled for April 21-22 at Bush's Pasture Park in Salem. Points earned by athletes at the Multi-Events are included among each team's overall point totals.
 
AHEAD
Linfield is set to complete Friday and Saturday at the Lewis & Clark Invitational.