NEWBERG, Ore. — It’s been a week of banners and big wins for George Fox University, as three Bruins teams capped off their seasons with major statements. From the track to the diamond to the lacrosse field, the Bruins showed up and showed out.
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Track & Field: Eighth Straight Conference Title for Bruins
The George Fox men’s and women’s track teams kept their dynasty alive over the weekend, clinching their eighth consecutive Northwest Conference Championship in dominant fashion. The Bruins racked up 215 points on the men’s side and 219 for the women — both finishing more than 45 points ahead of second-place Whitworth.
Key performances helped power the Bruins to the top. Aidan Arthur and Ellie Rising both won their respective 1500-meter races, with Rising later adding a first-place finish in the 800. Blake Smith took gold in the 110-meter hurdles, while Ayahna Bahati and Jenna Huntsmen finished 1-2 in the women’s 100 hurdles, each posting personal bests.
On the field side, James King took first in the high jump, and Brecken VandenHoek earned a third-place finish in the women’s event. The men’s 4×400 relay team capped the meet with a thrilling win, edging out Willamette by two-tenths of a second.
The Bruins’ continued excellence places them once again atop the NWC. Select athletes will now head to Corvallis for the Oregon State High Performance meet on May 2.
Softball: Walk-Off Homer Lifts Bruins in Power-Packed Split
After a rough opening loss to No. 4-ranked Linfield, the George Fox softball team stormed back to earn a dramatic walk-off win and split the series on Sunday, thanks to a fireworks-filled performance.
The opener saw Linfield unleash a flurry of offense in a 17-5 win, but not before Sharon Tomei launched a grand slam — the 50th home run of her career. In game two, Tomei hit her fifth homer of the weekend on the very first pitch she saw, and the Bruins kept swinging from there.
Pitcher Nicole Ledendecker kept Fox in it with seven gritty innings and four strikeouts, setting the stage for late-game heroics. After tying the game on a Makayla Noone double and a defensive error, the Bruins handed the bat to Kiley Harris in the bottom of the seventh. Harris delivered in a big way, sending the final pitch of the series over the scoreboard for a walk-off homer and a 6-5 win.
With the win, the Bruins improved to 23-13 on the season and secured a spot in the NWC Tournament.
Lacrosse: Seniors Shine in Season Finale
The Bruins women’s lacrosse team closed out a perfect 12-0 NWC season on Senior Day, downing Lewis & Clark 17-12 behind a flurry of goals and a commanding midfield effort.
Morgan Maxfield led the way with four goals and an assist, while Ava Bluhm added four goals of her own, along with two assists and four draw controls. Claire Abraham finished with a hat trick and five draw controls, and Lana Davis tallied two goals and five assists.
The Bruins led 6-2 after the first quarter and never looked back, pulling away in the second half despite a late push from the Pioneers.
The game marked the final home conference matchup for seniors Cipriana Flores, Gabriella Muzquiz, Shae Katagi, and Maxfield, each of whom contributed to the Bruins’ undefeated run.
GFU Athletics’s Simon Luedtke, Alyssa Watson, and Sam Erickson contributed to reporting for this article.
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