Mattox Breaks Willamette's Record in the 1,500-meter Run at 4:28.11

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

SALEM, ORE. -- Kimber Mattox (Jr., Bend, OR/Bend HS/Cornell Univ.) of Willamette University set a school record in the women's 1,500-meter run with a time of 4:28.11 at the West Coast Invitational on Saturday, May 14 at the Charles Bowles Track. Mattox broke the record of 4:30.58 established by Maddie Coffman '09 at the 2009 NCAA Championships.

Mattox also registered an NCAA Division III automatic qualifying time with her result in the 1,500. She entered the evening with a provisional qualifying time of 4:32.47, but improved by 4.36 seconds to finish more than a second under the automatic standard of 4:29.20.

The winner of the women's 1,500 was Tara Erdmann from Loyola Marymount University. She took first place in a Charles Bowles Track record of 4:20.40, as she broke the old record of 4:24.13, set by Marla Runyan in 1999. Mattox placed fifth in the race.

In the men's 5,000-meter run, Stefan Redfield (Sr., Sisters, OR/Sisters HS) registered an NCAA provisional qualifying time of 14:42.72 for the Bearcats. Redfield finished a bit over two seconds faster than the provisional standard of 14:45.00.

Redfield took eighth place in the race, which featured 14 runners who finished in less than 15 minutes out of 28 runners overall. Leo Castillo (Jr., Parkdale, OR/Hood River Valley HS) of WU was 11th in 14:47.31. Chase Caulkins from the University of Portland claimed first place with a time of 14:09.63.

Mattox and Redfield have recorded NCAA qualifying times in more than one event. Mattox has achieved automatic times in the 1,500 and the 3,000-meter steeplechase (10:23.34) plus a provisional time in the 5,000 (17:10.28). Redfield now owns provisional marks in the 5,000 and the 1,500 (3:50.07).

Julia Lucas, running unattached, set a Charles Bowles Track record in the women's 5,000-meter run with a time of 16:04.61. She broke the existing record of 16:22.62 registered by Kelly Jaske in 2010. Lucas reduced the record by almost exactly 18 seconds.

In the men's 3,000-meter steeplechase, Jared Bassett from the University of Portland won with a time of 8:51.64. He finished the race just 2.49 seconds away from the Charles Bowles Track record of 8:49.15 set by Max King for Team XO in 2006.

Ben Donovan (Sr., Minneapolis, MN/South HS) of WU placed third in the men's steeplechase on Saturday in an NCAA provisional qualifying time of 9:19.25. Donovan recorded his third time below 9:20 this spring, but was unable to reduce his top time of the season, which remained 9:16.48 at the Oregon Twilight on May 6.

Landon Burningham of Physiq Performance won the men's 200-meter dash in 22.40 seconds. He also won the 400-meter dash in 48.60 seconds.

The University of Portland's 4 x 400-meter women's relay team won a very close race with the University of San Francisco. The Pilots won by 0.05 with a time of 3:57.27 compared to San Francisco's time of 3:57.32. Running for Portland were Kiyah Williams, Theresa Hailey, Devon Brown and Cori Moore.

Other results for Willamette in the running events:

Paul Winger (Jr., Bonney Lake, WA/Bonney Lake HS) took second place in the men's 200-meter and 400-meter dashes. He registered a time of 23.44 seconds in the 200 and was timed at 49.22 seconds in the 400.

Evin Colignon (Sr., Poulsbo, WA/Charles Wright Academy) took second place in the men's 110-meter hurdles in a close finish with Nate Dillow of George Fox University. Dillow won the race in 15.48 seconds, just edging out Colignon, who finished in 15.65 seconds.

Ryan McLaughlin (Sr., Milwaukie, OR/Milwaukie HS) placed sixth in the men's 800-meter run in 1:57.36.

Sarah McSweeney (Jr., Petaluma, CA/Casa Grande HS) and Amanda Tamanaha (So., Honolulu, HI/St. Andrews Priory School) competed in the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase. McSweeney finished in 11:52.84 and Tamanaha achieved a time of 11:55.18.

Freshman Kit Kingstad (Beaverton, OR/Beaverton HS) recorded his season-best time in the men's 1,500 at 4:02.62. Also competing in the 1,500 were Nicholas Rebol (Sr., Cottonwood, CA/Red Bluff Union HS) and Kevin Aubol (So., Ellensburg, WA/Ellensburg HS).

The West Coast Invitational was co-hosted by Willamette and the University of Portland.