Bearcats Succeed in Hammer Throw on First Day of Willamette Invitational
SALEM, ORE. -- Willamette University received a series of quality performances from its athletes in the hammer throw on Friday, March 30 during the first day of the Willamette Invitational at the Charles Bowles Track. The successful efforts in the hammer throw were part of a strong day for the Bearcats.
WU Achieves a Strong Start to Big Weekend at Charles Bowles Track
SALEM, ORE. -- Willamette University received a series of quality performances from its athletes in the hammer throw on Friday, March 30 during the first day of the Willamette Invitational at the Charles Bowles Track. The successful efforts in the hammer throw were part of a strong day for the Bearcats.
Max Faulhaber (So., Eugene, OR/Sheldon HS), Wyatt Briggs (Jr., Scio, OR/Scio HS) and Kelsey Engstrom (Fr., Clinton, WA/South Whidbey HS) each recorded personal records in the hammer on their way to Top 6 finishes.
Faulhaber placed third in the men's hammer as he registered a top distance of 173' 9". He improved by five feet over his previous best throw of 168' 9", set earlier this year at the Willamette Opener. Briggs finished in sixth place with a top toss of 169' 8", as he upped his career-best distance by more than 11 feet. His previous best was 158' 1" just over two weeks ago at the Willamette vs. Corban Dual.
Engstrom was fourth in the women's hammer. Her best throw covered 129' 6", improving her personal record by about 10 feet. Her top throw prior to Friday was 119' 9" in the dual meet with Corban.
Matthew Webster from Concordia University (Ore.) won the men's hammer with a toss of 190' 4". Sharayah Kenady from Concordia took first place in the women's hammer at 174' 2".
Willamette's Katie Mariman (So., Sherwood, OR/Sherwood HS) won the women's pole vault as she cleared 10' 10". Tara Carlton from Lane Community College was second after succeeding at 10' 6". Kevin Ellingson of Oregon Institute of Technology placed first in the men's pole vault with a successful attempt at 14' 6".
The hammer throw and the pole vault were the only field events on Friday. The remaining field events will take place on Saturday starting at 10 a.m. (PDT).
Distance events were emphasized on the track on Friday. The first events were a combined race in the 10,000-meter run, plus several "B" heats in the 1,500-meter run and the 5,000-meter run.
Emily Painter of Concordia won the women's 10,000-meter run in 36:38.41. Erik Barkhaus from Seattle University prevailed in the men's 10,000-meter run with a time of 30:32.30.
Charles Bowles Celebration of Distance
The 5th Annual Charles Bowles Celebration of Distance concluded the evening with single heats in the men's and women's steeplechase, plus the "A" sections in the men's and women's 1,500-meter run and the men's and women's 5,000-meter run.
Bearcats athletes Theresa Edwards (Jr., Lake Tapps, WA/Bonney Lake HS) and Kaitlin Greene (Jr., Pullman, WA/Pullman HS) each moved into Willamette's Top 10 with their results in the "A" section of the women's 5,000.
Edwards recorded a personal-best time of 17:43.24 to move into ninth on WU's all-time list. Her time was the seventh-fastest time so far this year in NCAA Division III. Greene achieved a new personal record of 18:13.73 and took over 10th place on the Willamette list while moving into 22nd on the Division III performance list.
Jeannette Faber from Boston Athletic, who took 21st at the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials in the marathon on Jan. 14, won the women's 5,000 with a time of 16:47.23. Edwards finished 13th in the "A" section of the 5,000 and Greene was 21st.
Michael Freeby (Fr., Milwaukie, OR/Rex Putnam HS) of Willamette placed ninth in the "A" section of the women's 1,500-meter run. Her time of 4:42.94 ranks ninth in Division III this season. The "A" section in the 1,500 was won by Ivy O'Quinn from the University of Alaska-Anchorage in 4:31.93.
Sally Venable (Sr., Ventura, CA/Foothill Technology HS) of WU was sixth among runners in the "B" heats in the 1,500. She was timed at 4:49.02, which ranks 21st in Division III.
In the "A" section of the men's 1,500-meter run, Kit Kingstad (So., Beaverton, OR/Beaverton HS) of Willamette placed third with a time of 3:54.40. Kingstad remained third on the national performance list and first in the Northwest Conference, but improved his time by 1.46 seconds. Kingstad is now 10th on the WU all-time list. Alfred Kangogo of Alaska-Anchorage won the "A" section in 3:53.61.
Ben Donovan (Sr., Minneapolis, MN/South HS) provided Willamette with a solid run in the men's 3,000-meter steeplechase. He placed third in 9:25.62, while moving into third in Division III and first in the NWC this year. Brian Gnerre (Jr., Torrance, CA/Torrance HS) placed 11th in the steeplechase at 9:56.63, which ranks third in the NWC this season.
Jared Bassett of the University of Portland won the men's steeplechase, as he completed the race in 8:56.43.
For Willamette in the "A" section of the men's 5,000-meter run, Parker Bennett (So., Sisters, OR/Sisters HS) placed 10th in 15:03.59 and Kevin Aubol (Jr., Ellensburg, WA/Ellensburg HS) was 15th in 15:14.71. Bennett's time ranks sixth in Division III and tops the NWC performance list. Michael Nicks of Run Portland took first place in the 5,000 with a time of 14:23.75.
Running events will resume on the Charles Bowles Track at 12 p.m. (PDT) on Saturday. Included on the track will be the relay races, sprints, hurdles and 800-meter events.
Max Faulhaber took third place in the hammer throw and set a personal record with a distance of 173' 9".