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

GRESHAM, ORE. -- Freshman Katie Mariman (Sherwood, OR/Sherwood HS) set a Willamette University track and field record in the women's pole vault on Saturday, May 7 by clearing 11' 5.75" at the Mount Hood Track and Field Festival. Mariman broke the previous record of 11' 4.25" established by Jessica Anderson in 2002.

Mariman's previous best was 11' 3.75" earlier this season at the Willamette Invitational on April 1.

Also on Saturday, Willamette's David Oppat (Sr., Beaverton, OR/Southridge HS) improved his NCAA Division III provisional qualifying distance in the shot put. He won the event with a personal record throw of 53' 3.75". Oppat's previous top throw was an NCAA provisional mark of 52' 8", set at the Lewis & Clark Invitational on April 16.

Oppat also competed in the discus throw at Mount Hood. His top throw was 149' 7", placing him fourth in the event. Steve Collins (Sr., Zillah, WA/Zillah HS) of Willamette took fifth place in the hammer throw with a toss of 170' 9".

WU decathlete Evin Colignon (Sr., Poulsbo, WA/Charles Wright Academy) participated in two events on Saturday. He completed the 110-meter high hurdles in 17.98 seconds and cleared 5' 8.75" in the high jump. He missed his career-best height of 5' 9.25" in the high jump by 1/2 inch.

Bearcat multi-event competitor Brandi Miller (Jr., Grants Pass, OR/North Valley HS), who owns an NCAA provisional qualifying score in the heptathlon, entered the 100-meter hurdles and the 400-meter hurdles at MHCC.

Miller won the 400-meter hurdles with a personal record time of 1:05.25 and placed fifth in the 100-meter hurdles at 15.70 seconds. Her previous personal best in the 400 hurdles was 1:05.33 when she finished third in the finals of the NWC Championships on April 23.

Taylor Ottomano (Fr., Poulsbo, WA/North Kitsap HS) of WU took second in the women's long jump with a distance of 16' 1.50". Ottomano also competed in the high jump, where she earned sixth place after clearing 4' 9".

In the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase, Sally Venable (Jr., Ventura, CA/Foothill Technology HS) placed third for the Bearcats. She registered a personal record at 11:36.60, reducing her top time by more than three seconds from 11:39.87.

Samantha Nhim (Jr., Tigard, OR/Southridge HS) from Willamette won her heat in the 400-meter dash with a time of 1:00.79. She placed ninth overall out of 24 runners.

Willamette's next action will be at the West Coast Invitational at the Charles Bowles Track on May 11, 12 and 14. The heptathlon will be held on Wednesday, May 11 and Thursday, May 12, starting at 10:30 a.m. (PDT) each day. The field events will be on Thursday from 3 p.m. until 7 p.m. Running events are set for Saturday, May 14, from 7 p.m. until 11 p.m. (PDT).