Willamette Hosts West Coast Invitational in Track and Field

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

SALEM, ORE. -- Willamette University is hosting the West Coast Invitational track and field meet, starting on Friday, May 11 with the first day of the heptathlon and the decathlon and continuing on Saturday, May 12 with the remaining heptathlon and decathlon events, plus all of the field events and running events. Entries in the meet were filled primarily by Willamette and all nine West Coast Conference teams.

The meet will be held at the Charles Bowles Track, located at McCulloch Stadium in Bush's Pasture Park. The only exceptions are the men's and women's hammer throw events, which will be held at the ring behind the Math Learning Center at 1850 Oxford Street.

Teams entered in the meet include Willamette and WCC teams from the University of Portland, Brigham Young University, University of San Diego, University of San Francisco, University of Santa Clara, Gonzaga University, St. Mary's College, Loyola Marymount University.

Also competing are athletes from Chico State, George Fox University, University of Great Falls, Humboldt State University, Lewis & Clark College, Linfield College and Midwestern State University (Texas). In addition, several athletes from running clubs and a handful of unattached athletes are set to compete.

The heptathlon and the decathlon will begin at 11 a.m. (PDT) on Friday and Saturday. The first four heptathlon events and the first five decathlon events will be held on Friday.

Field events will get underway at 12 p.m. on Saturday and will continue into the early evening. Events on the track will begin at 5 p.m. with the women's 800-meter run, with the men's 10,000-meter run completing the schedule at 9:25 p.m.

The West Coast Invitational is a chance for several Willamette athletes to improve their marks with the NCAA Championships just two weeks away.

Willamette Athletes on the NCAA Performance List

Several Bearcats are listed among the top 32 athletes in their respective events on the national performance list for NCAA Division III. The top 20 men's athletes and the top 22 women's athletes in each event will qualify for the NCAA Championships, set for May 24-26 at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges in Claremont, Calif.

Jaela Dinsmore (Sr., Hines, OR/Burns HS) is ranked 16th in the women's 200-meter dash at 24.93 seconds and is 19th in the 100-meter dash at 12.17 seconds. Michaela Freeby (Fr., Milwaukie, OR/Rex Putnam HS) is listed 19th in the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase with a top time of 11:03.17.

Also for the WU women's team, Brandi Miller (Sr., Grants Pass, OR/North Valley HS) is ranked 26th in the heptathlon and Theresa Edwards (Jr., Lake Tapps, WA/Bonney Lake HS) is ranked 31st in the 1,500-meter run. Miller achieved a score of 4,141 points in the heptathlon at the NWC Multi-Event Championships on April 9-10. Edwards earned a time of 4:37.24 in the 1,500 at the John Knight Twilight on April 13.

For the Bearcat men's team, Max Faulhaber (So., Eugene, OR/Sheldon HS) is listed 24th in the hammer throw, Ben Donovan (Sr., Minneapolis, MN/South HS) is ranked 26th in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and Wyatt Briggs (Jr., Scio, OR/Scio HS) is ranked 31st in the hammer throw.

Faulhaber's top throw so far this season covered 181' 2" on the second day of the NWC Championships on April 21. Briggs recorded his best throw on the same day, earning a distance of 177' 9". Donovan registered a time of 9:19.51 in the steeplechase one day earlier at the NWC Championships.