Dinsmore Wins 400-Meter Dash at John Knight Twilight, Moves Up to #14 in Nation

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

SALEM, ORE. -- Jaela Dinsmore (Sr., Hines, OR/Burns HS) from Willamette University won the women's 400-meter dash at the John Knight Twilight, hosted by Western Oregon University on Friday, April 13. She won the event with a time of 57.54 seconds, as she moved into 14th on the NCAA Division III performance list for 2012. She barely missed her personal record of 57.50 seconds.

The Bearcats put together a strong showing throughout the meet, including Dinsmore's victory, a second place finish and three third place finishes, along with several personal-best results.

Michaela Freeby (Fr., Milwaukie, OR/Rex Putnam HS) achieved second place in the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase. Lauren Moran from Concordia University (Ore.) won the steeplechase in a time of 10:43.23. Freeby followed in 11:06.32. Freeby's top time of 11:03.17, set on March 15, is ranked #5 in the nation in NCAA Division III this spring.

Freeby held off a challenge from Sora Klopfenstein from the College of Idaho, who took third place in 11:07.65. Sally Venable (Sr., Ventura, CA/Foothill Technology HS) of Willamette placed fourth with a personal-record time of 11:15.66, as she took over 13th on the national list.

Dinsmore was joined by Samantha Nhim (Sr., Tigard, OR/Southridge HS) among the top finishers in the women's 400-meter dash. Nhim finished in third place in 59.56 seconds. NyEma Sims of Concordia took second place in 58.05 seconds.

Nhim's time in the 400 set a new personal record for the WU sprinter. She reduced her previous top time of 59.96 by a solid four-tenths of a second. She set her old career best last season at the Northwest Conference Championships.

Paul Winger (Sr., Bonney Lake, WA/Bonney Lake HS) led Willamette in the men's 400-meter dash by taking third place in 49.54 seconds.

Nathan Swanson of Corban University won the event in 49.16 seconds, while Andrew Washington from Concordia was second at 49.50. Winger's time was just 0.04 out of second place and 0.38 out of first place.

Willamette earned third place in the men's 4 x 100-meter relay. The Bearcats finished the race in 42.80 seconds to claim the second-fastest time by a Northwest Conference team this spring. Concordia, from the Cascade Collegiate Conference, won the relay with a time of 42.44 seconds.

Theresa Edwards (Jr., Lake Tapps, WA/Bonney Lake HS) of WU attained fifth place in the 1,500-meter run with a time of 4:37.24, as she reduced her personal record by 6.07 seconds. Her new record advanced her into eighth on the national performance list. She also moved into a tie for eighth on Willamette's all-time list with Jena Winger, who was timed at 4:37.24 in 2009.

Other top performances by the Bearcat men's team:

Neal Howard (Seattle, WA/Ballard HS) finished sixth out of 22 runners in the 100-meter dash. His time was 11.19 seconds, as he narrowly missed fifth place by 0.01. Winning the event was Justin Oliveri form Concordia in 10.97 seconds.

Jeff Schreiner-McGraw (Fr., Philmath, OR/Philomath HS) was seventh in the 800-meter run in 1:58.00. The freshman made a nice reduction of 2.03 seconds on his fastest time this season.

Kit Kingstad (So., Beaverton, OR/Beaverton HS) registered a time of 3:58.53 to take 10th place out of 32 runners in the men's 1,500-meter run.

In the 3,000-meter steeplechase, Ben Donovan (Sr., Minneapolis, MN/South HS) placed fifth in 9:26.48. He was less than a second away from his season-best time of 9:25.62.

Ray White (So., Corona, CA/Centennial HS) took fourth place in the triple jump with a distance of 44' 2" and claimed fifth place in the long jump with a personal-record leap of 21' 4". His previous best long jump was 21' 1" earlier this season.

Wyatt Briggs (Jr., Scio, OR/Scio HS) placed in the top 10 in three events. He earned eighth place in the shot put at 43' 8.50", finished ninth in the discus at 137' 11.75" and was eighth in the hammer at 159' 5.25". Max Faulhaber (So., Eugene, OR/Sheldon HS) was ninth in the hammer with a toss of 155' 5.25".

Jordan Loos (So., Springfield, OR/Thurston HS) added 18' 4.50" to his personal record in the javelin throw. His new top mark is 162' 9.50".

Additional top results for the Willamette women's team included:

Kaitlin Greene (Jr., Pullman, WA/Pullman HS) lowered her personal record in the 1,500-meter run, changing her top time to 4:41.98 from 4:45.31. Greene placed ninth at the John Knight Twilight.

In the 100-meter hurdles, Katie Kalugin (Fr., Woodburn, OR/Woodburn HS) placed seventh at 17.47 seconds and Molly Bond (Fr., Clarkston, WA/Asotin HS) was eighth at 17.58 seconds.

Katie Mariman (So., Sherwood, OR/Sherwood HS) took fourth in the pole vault. She cleared a top height of 10' 2".

Kelsey Engstrom (Fr., Clinton, WA/South Whidbey HS) was ninth in the hammer throw. Her top distance during the competition was 124' 10".