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--> --> May 24: Raiders off to fast start at nationals Ashland Daily Tidings OLATHE, Kan. - Southern Oregon University senior hammer thrower Justin Bennett nailed down All-American honors and senior sprinter Tiwana Merritt began her quest for a 400-meter national title in impressive fashion Thursday at the 51st annual NAIA Track and Field Championships. Bennett earned three team points and became SOU's first men's All-American in two seasons with a 164-5 toss, good for sixth place among 18 competitors. The Seaside native entered the fracas eighth nationally based on a season-best 165-10 heave. Merritt, an NAIA All-American the past two seasons, won her 400-meter heat and finished with the top clip of the preliminary round (56.04). The Valdez, Alaska product and Raider two-sport standout - who now competes in today's 16-runner semifinal round - was the NAIA runner-up last season and top American-born finisher with a school-record 55.11. "Tiwana felt like she died coming down the home stretch," Raider head coach Michael Jones said. "If that was the case, she was still passing people. It was windy and I thought she looked very good. She'll need to run the second 200 faster tomorrow, but she's very capable of winning the whole thing." Former North Medford star Nick Dunn advanced to the national intermediate hurdles semifinals for the second consecutive year as a result of clocking a season-best 53.46, one hundredth of a second better than his previous season best that ranked eighth in the NAIA entering the day. "Nick stuttered a bit on the first hurdle, but he minimized his errors and I think he was pleased with the result," Jones said. In other action, senior Rachael Childers of Springfield capped her collegiate career with a ninth-place finish in the hammer (151-10), and sophomore Sean Peterson of Clackamas moved into Saturday's 1,500-meter finals with an 11th-place effort in the prelims (4:01.96). Senior All-American Kena Page of Cave Junction (long jump) and junior Jeff Bentley of Chiloquin (javelin) were slated to compete in the long jump Thursday, but the meet was suspended due to inclement weather. Email your... Technical questions & comments to: WebMaster Daily Tidings editorial comments & questions to: Editor Visit our other Oregon Newspapers... | Albany Democrat-Herald | Ashland Daily Tidings | Corvallis Gazette-Times | | Lebanon Express | Newport News-Times | Springfield News | Cottage Grove Sentinel | Ashland Daily Tidings 1661 Siskiyou Blvd. Ashland, OR 97520 Telephone 541-482-3456 © Copyright 2001 Lee Northwest Publishing