Willamette Makes Consistent Effort at Rich Allen Classic

NEWBERG, Ore. – Host George Fox University organized the Rich Allen Classic on March 14, in which the Bearcats faced off against seven other teams and several unaffiliated athletes. It was a nice, balmy day that provided Willamette with an environment to display their skill, with several notable top-five performances.

In the 100m Hurdles, Lavender Bel earned fourth place, but later on in the 200m she raced past her challengers to take second overall. Anna Bikle ran a season-best time of 2:25.23 minutes to secure third place in the 800m. In the 5000m, freshmen Elise Henderson and Rachel Hamasaki made two top-five finishes: Henderson leading the pack early on and taking second, and Hamasaki in fourth. In the 400m Hurdles, Juniper Ammirati earned first place with a personal best (PB) of 1:10.21 minutes, with Sage Miller in close pursuit to take second place.

Henri Osborne took fourth place in Shot Put, with a season best (SB) of 11.74 meters. Other stellar performances by Bearcat throwers include Olivia Jacobson's PB in Shot Put, 9.97 meters, and Osborne's Hammer Throw PB, 38.09 meters. 

The Bearcats competing in jump events secured top-five positions. In Triple Jump, Amanda Mcarthur took first place with a distance of 10.44 meters (PB), while in Long Jump Janae Howard captured fourth place. Whitley Stepp demonstrated her prowess yet again in High Jump, securing second place at a height of 1.62 meters.

Willamette Track & Field competes next at the Corban Dual meet from March 17-19 in Salem, Oregon.