Mattila Takes 6th in the 400 Hurdles

Whitworth Track and Field at NCAA Division III Championships May 28 at Ohio Wesleyan Univ. Host Website/Results

Carter Comito

Elizabeth Mattila

DELAWARE, Ohio -- Carter Comito helped Whitworth close out the 2011 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships in dramatic fashion by winning the discus while Elizabeth Mattila broke her own school record in the 400 hurdles on Saturday at Ohio Wesleyan University.

After fouling his first two attempts, Comito (So., Spokane, Wash.) needed a strong throw just to make it into the finals. His throw of 50.73 meters thrust him into third place heading into the last three throws. He improved his mark with each succeeding throw and hurled the discus 55.52 meters (182'-2") on his final attempt, more than ten feet further than the second place throw of 172'-0" from Wisconsin-Whitewater's Ben Stringer.

Sam Wright (Fr., Spokane, Wash.) finished in 11th place in the discus with a throw 157'-6".

Alex Hymel (Sr., Damascus, Ore.) and John McCormack (So., Princeton, N.J.) both competed in the javelin, but neither advanced to the finals. Hymel finished 10th with a mark of 201'-3", while McCormack was 15th with a mark of 187'-6".

Whitworth's men finished tied for 21st place in the final standings with 12 points. North Central (Ill.) edged Wisconsin-La Crosse 58-56 to win the national title.

Mattila (Sr., Ferndale, Wash.) went after the 400 meter hurdles with an intent to win. Running out of lane seven she was in second place with 80 meters to go, but had minor trouble on the final hurdle. That was enough for other runners to overtake her at the end. She still broke her own school record in a time of 1:01.09 and finished in sixth place to earn the second All-America honor of her career.

Tonya Turner (Sr., Spokane, Wash.), perhaps worn out by school record performances in the 1,500 meter prelims on Thursday and the 3,000 meter steeplechase (third place) on Friday, struggled in the finals of the 1,500 on Saturday. She finished in 10th place with a time of 4:39.40.

Erica Cox (Sr., Parma, Idaho) competed in the discus throw and took 16th place with a toss of 131'-8". She fouled on her first two attempts, just as she had done in the hammer throw on Friday.

Jheri Gates (Fr., Cedaredge, Colo.) looked like she was on her way to a strong showing in the high jump after clearing 1.57 meters and 1.62 meters (5'-3.75") on her first attempt at each. But she missed all three attempts at 1.67 meters (5'-5.75") and finished tied for 10th place.

The Pirate women finished in 28th place with nine points. Wisconsin-Oshkosh rolled to an easy team championship with 80 points, easily outdistancing runner-up Wartburg's 59 points.

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