By Robert McKinney, Athletics Communications Director, (503) 370-6110

SPOKANE, WASH. -- Willamette University senior Evin Colignon (Poulsbo, WA/Charles Wright Academy) was second in the decathlon and Bearcats junior Brandi Miller (Grants Pass, OR/North Valley HS) was third in the heptathlon, as the first day ended at the 2011 Northwest Conference Multi-Event Championships on Monday, April 11.

Colignon built up a score of 3,424 points in the first five events of the decathlon, while Miller tallied 2,445 points in the first four events of the heptathlon.

The leader in the decathlon after Monday's five events was David Dillow of George Fox University with 3,433 points. He held a slim nine-point lead over Colignon. Nate Dillow of George Fox was third with 3,181 points and Luke Mathews from Whitworth University was fourth with 3,146 points. Evan Staley of Whitworth ranked fifth with a score of 3,089 points.

Trevor May (Sr., Florence, OR/Siuslaw HS) of Willamette was eighth at 2,903 points. Brandt Nevin (Sr., Eagle Point, OR/Eagle Point HS) from Willamette was 10th with 2,713 points.

Colignon placed in the top five of each event on Monday. He took first place in the shot put, tied for second in the high jump and finished fifth in the 100-meter dash, the long jump the 400-meter dash.

The winning throw for Colignon in the shot put covered 45'10." David Dillow was second in the shot put at 38'3.25" and Aaron Koford from Pacific University was third at 35'3.25". Nevin took fourth place for the Bearcats with a toss of 34'4." Colignon registered a score of 727 in the event.

In the high jump, Colignon and May tied for second place as both cleared 5'9.25". David Dillow claimed first place by successfully jumping at 5'10.5".

Colignon's top score of the day was in the 100-meter dash. He scored 742 points after completing the race in 11.55 seconds. He finished fifth, but was only one-tenth of a second behind David Dillow, who placed first in 11.45 seconds.

Dillow also won the long jump with a leap of 22'0.75". Mathews from Whitworth was second at 21'4.25". Barrett Bollen from Pacific Lutheran University placed first in the 400-meter dash with a time of 51.24 seconds.

In the heptathlon, Alexis Arnold of George Fox ended the first day with a score of 2,782 points. Beth Stam, also from GFU, was second with 2,488 points. Miller's score of 2,445 was third and Melissa Leighty of GFU was fourth at 2,331 points. GFU's Alyssa Turner was fifth with 2,247 points.

Miller placed second in the 100-meter hurdles and was third in the 200-meter dash and the shot put. She tied for fifth in the high jump.

Arnold won the hurdles with a time of 15.16 seconds for a score of 821 points. Miller crossed the finish line next in 15.89 seconds, edging out Turner, who recorded a time of 15.96 seconds. Miller earned her high score of the day with 728 points.

In the 200-meter dash, Arnold placed first in 26.57 seconds, while Turner was second at 26.83 seconds and Miller was third in 26.93 seconds for 718 points.

Stam won the shot put and the high jump. In the shot put, she registered a throw of 37'2.50". Arnold took second at 36'5.75" and Miller placed third at 32'3". Stam's winning effort in the high jump cleared 5'1."

The remaining events in each competition will be held on Tuesday, April 12. Whitworth is hosting the Multi-Event Championships at Boppell Track.

Athletes placing in the top eight of the final multi-event standings will earn points for their respective teams toward the overall NWC track and field titles. The remainder of the NWC Championships will be held at Maxwell Field on the campus of Linfield College in McMinnville, Ore., on April 22-23.