Grant Places Second in Three Throwing Events at Willamette vs. Corban Dual

By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications

SALEM, Ore. -- Tenley Grant (Jr, Longview, WA/Kelso HS) from the Willamette University women's track and field team took second place in three throwing events during the Willamette vs. Corban Dual at Charles Bowles Track on Thursday, March 21. Nearly all of the events were held at the track on Thursday, except for the hammer throw, which was held on Wednesday, March 20 at Corban University.

Grant placed second in the shot put, discus throw, and hammer throw. In addition, five Willamette student-athletes on the women's team won individual events against the Warriors.

Abigail House (Sr., Oakland, OR/Oakland HS) won the shot put with a top distance of 34' 4.75". Grant was second after earning a mark of 33' 10". Grant also placed second in the discus at 99' 8" and in the hammer throw at 132' 3". In the hammer throw, Grant finished just one foot behind the winner, Gabrielle Tata-Rodriguez of Corban, who registered a toss of 133' 3". Tata Rodriguez also won the discus with a throw of 120' 3".

In addition to House, other individual event winners for the Bearcats were Mashani Coleman Toliver (So., Bellevue, WA/Sammamish HS) in the 200-meter dash, Anna Bikle (So., Woodside, CA/Half Moon Bay HS) in the 800-meter run, Katie Briggs (Fy., Las Vegas, NV/Faith Lutheran HS in the 400-meter hurdles, and Kaiona Apio (Sr., Edmonds, WA/Edmonds-Woodway HS) in the javelin throw.

Apio's winning distance in the javelin was 128' 11", as she moved into seventh place on Willmette's all-time list. The winning throw was nine inches away from sixth on the all-time list, set by Brooke Smith at 129' 8" in 2008. The school record is 147' 5" by Monica Scott in 2001.

Coleman Toliver won the 200-meter dash with a time of 26.70 seconds. She was followed by teammate Kenzie Lee (So., Kaneohe, HI/Mid-Pacific Institute) along with Kirsten Kuenzi of Corban, who both reached the finish line in 27.05 seconds. Lee took second place when the time went out to thousandths of a second at 27.044 and Kuenzi was third at 27.049.

Bikle prevailed in the 800-meter run at 2:25.54, as she held off Shaelee Killorn from Corban. Killorn placed second in 2:26.56.

Zoe Heino (So., Portland, OR/Mountainside HS) of Willamette took second place in the 1,500-meter run. Heino's time was 5:01.51. Samantha Dara won the event for the Warriors in 4:54.84. In the 100-meter hurdles, Lavender Bel (Fy., Puyallup, WA/Graham-Kapowsin HS) of the Bearcats was second with a time of 16.34 seconds. Erica Snyder (So., Longview, WA/Mark Morris HS), also from WU, placed third in 16.44 seconds. Kayla Morgan of Corban won the 100 hurdles in 16.14.

Corban edged out the Bearcats in the 4 x 400-meter relay. The Warriors finished in 4:19.40 and the Bearcats were timed at 4:19.43. Running for Willamette were Coleman Toliver, Lee, Bel, and Briggs. Corban's relay team included Patience Haff, Elizabeth Hernandez, Morgan, and Dara.

The Warriors won the team competition by one point. Corban scored 60 points, and Willamette earned 59 points.

Willamette will be back in action soon, as the Bearcats will host the 2024 Willamette Invitational on Saturday, March 23. Field events begin at 11 a.m. PDT. Track events start at 12 p.m.