Pacific names associate athletics director

Pacific University Director of Athletics Ken Schumann has announced the hiring of Lauren Esbensen as the department’s associate athletics director and senior women’s administrator.

Esbensen comes to Forest Grove after five years as the director of compliance and student services at the University of Portland. She begins her full-time duties on Aug. 31. Her duties at Pacific will include serving as the department’s compliance officer, oversight of the department’s club sports programs, scheduling and game management operations; and will serve as advisor to Pacific’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. She will also assist Schumann in the day-to-day oversight of Pacific’s 21 intercollegiate sports programs.

“I am thrilled and honored to have been chosen to be part of the Pacific athletics family,” Esbensen said. “Pacific has such a strong tradition of excellence, and that was such a draw for me.”

A four-year varsity athlete at the University of Kansas, Esbensen earned four letters as part of the Jayhawks’ nationally recognized cross country and track and field programs.

Esbensen graduated from Kansas in 2005 with a degree in sports management. She earned her master’s in intercollegiate leadership from University of Washington in 2007. She and her husband, Thor, reside in southeast Portland.

Forest Grove runners dominate Tillamook run

In what has become a late-summer tradition, young runners from Forest Grove dominated Saturday’s Tillamook Bay Run.

The 5K and 10K races take place during the same weekend when many local high school cross country runners are participating in a pre-season distance camp at nearby Cape Mears. And once again, several of them came home with medals, including first-place honors in three of the four divisions.

Seth Berdahl won the 5K men’s race with a time of 20:18, followed by Connor Pitt (20:58) and Ian Dehner (21:15). Matthew Johnson was fifth (23:19).

On the women’s side, Julia Khoury took first with a time of 27:21, followed by Emilia Anderson (27:38). Joelle Bruckert-Frisk (29:24) was fourth while Karimi Nyamu (29:37) was the fourth Forest Grove runner in the top five.

In the women’s 10K, Forest Grove runners again swept the top three spots. Rubi Vergara-Grindell finished first with a time of 47:23, followed by Elena Torry-Schrag (49:01) and Kimberly Heesacker (49:03)

In the men’s 10K, Adrian Shipley, the assistant high school cross country coach and a FGHS alum, came in fourth with a time of 40:15. High school runners Brayan Cruz (42:04) and Eric Alcaraz (43:49) also finished in the top 10 of a competitive field.

The event, sponsored by Stimson Lumber, is a fundraiser for the Tillamook Chamber of Commerce.