Titans in early lead at NWAC

GRESHAM — Lane swept the top three places in the pole vault and held a five-point lead over Spokane after the first day of the Northwest Athletic Conference track and field championships at Mount Hood Community College on Monday.

The Titans, who are going for their fourth consecutive NWAC title, also finished 1-2-4 in the 10,000 meters. They have an 84-79 lead over Spokane, and Clackamas is third with 41 points.

On the women’s side, two school records in the pole vault and steeplechase helped put Lane in second place with 66 1/2 points. Spokane leads with 76.

Kavic Belcastro, a freshman out of Central Linn High, cleared 16 feet, 4 3/4 inches to win the men’s pole vault for the Titans.

Grant Shurtliff, a freshman out of Thurston High who had already won the NWAC decathlon, went 15-1 for second place, and sophomore Sean Duncan, a Douglas High graduate, was third at 14-5 1/4 to give Lane 24 points in the event.

In the 10,000, Elmer Shelevy led the way in 32 minutes, 40.74 seconds. He was followed by Sheldon High grad Ben Harter in second in 32:53.01 and Ricardo Castillo in fourth in 33:36.87 for 23 points.

Lane also got a fourth-place finish in the 3,000-meter steeplechase by Jake Littrell, a freshman out of Thurston, in 9:50.08.

In the women’s steeplechase, Madison Schell broke the school record with a winning time of 11:47.03. The previous mark of 11:54 was set by Tara Krempley in 2009.

Kendall Maslen was fifth (12:53.35) and Mitra LeBuhn seventh (13:11.49) to give the Titans 16 points in that event.

In the pole vault, Marissa Taylor cleared 12-4 1/2 to break Tara Carleton’s school record of 12-1/4 set in 2012. Mikena Shay, a freshman from North Bend, tied for third place at 11-4 1/2.

The Lane women are trying to win their third NWAC title in the past four years. Spokane won in 2015.

The meet concludes Tuesday.