NWC CHAMPIONSHIP WEEK
It's time for the Northwest Conference Championship meet this weekend at George Fox University in Newberg, Ore. Caitlin McGrane will try to add to her win in the Heptathlon while AJ Middleton will defend his title in the shot put.
The Loggers at Ralph Vernacchia Team Meet
Winning three events on the men's side, the Puget Sound Loggers took 2nd in the men's team scoring at the Ralph Vernacchia Team Meet on Friday afternoon in Bellingham. The Logger women took fifth in their team scoring.
On the women's side, Janece Levien (Beaverton, Ore.) took third in a very close 100 meter dash that saw the top six runners within 35 one-hundreths of a second of each other.
In men's action, senior Pete Van Sant (Santa Cruz, Calif.) won the 200 meter dash with a time of 22.82 to hold off a field of 13. In the shot put, AJ Middleton (Lakewood, Wash./Clover Park) unleashed a throw of 48-0.5 (14.64m) to defeat a mostly DII field. In the hammer, Greg Bailey put up his best throw of the season, getting off a toss of 166-06 (50.74m) to win by 20 feet over second-place Michael Hoffman of Western Washington.
The Coach
Mike Orechia became the Director of Cross Country/Track & Field at the University of Puget Sound in 1997. Orechia had spent the previous ten years as Head Cross Country and Track & Field Coach at the University of Chicago where he led his Women's Cross Country team to the UAA Championships in 1992 & 1993, earning himself the Coaching Staff of the Year award and the Indoor Coaching Staff of the Year award. It was through his leadership that the women's team qualified for the first time in the schools history to compete in a NCAA championship where they placed fourteenth in 1993. During his time at the University of Chicago, Orechia coached ten All-Americans.
His other coaching experience includes coaching Stella Edwinson who participated in the 1984 Olympic trials in the 400m hurdles, Assistant Track & Field/ Cross Country coach at San Francisco State University (1983-1987), and Head Girls Track Coach at Danvers High School (1979-1981). While coaching at Danvers High School in 1979, his team won the Class B Championship, as well as the All-State Championship and the New England championship.
Since joining the Logger staff, Orechia has been selected Men's USTCA Indoor Track West Region Coach of the Year 2004, Men's XC Coach of the Year in 2002 and Women's XC Coach of the Year in 2001, coached three Men's NWC XC Championship teams and three Women's NWC XC Championship teams, and led the Women's Track & Field team to a 9th place NAIA finish in 1998 and a 5th place finish in 1999. As a Logger, he has also helped produce four National Champions (2 XC, 2 track), 17 track All-Americans, 10 XC All-Americans, 16 Individual XC Academic All-Americans, 10 XC Team Academic All-Americans, 13 Individual track Academic All-Americans, and 8 track team Academic All-Americans.
Orechia earned his B.S. degree in Education from Springfield College in 1978 and his M.A. degree in Education from San Francisco State University in 1985.
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