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

MONMOUTH, ORE. -- The Willamette University track and field teams competed at the John Knight Twilight, hosted by Western Oregon University, on Friday, April 8.

Katie Mariman (Fr., Sherwood, OR/Sherwood HS) of Willamette took first place in the women's pole vault, while Colby Takeda (Sr., Mililani, HI/Iolani School) of WU tied for second in the men's pole vault and Paul Winger (Jr., Bonney Lake, WA/Bonney Lake HS) placed third for the Bearcats in the men's 400-meter dash.

Mariman's top vault went over the bar at 10'6". Kaycee Gillespie of Concordia University (Ore.) also cleared 10'6", but Mariman won the event on jumps.

Takeda cleared 13'7.25" in the pole vault, just 3/4 of an inch short of his career high. Cody Vaughn of Concordia also vaulted 13'7.25", while Tim Lundy won the event at 14'1.25".

Winger's time in the 400 was 49.88 seconds, as he finished 0.61 behind the winner, Anthony Yakovich of Western Oregon (49.27). Winger was just 0.24 out of second place, which went to Landon Burningham form Physiq Performance (49.64).

Also for the Bearcat women's team:

Jaela Dinsmore (Jr., Hines, OR/Burns HS) placed sixth in the 100-meter dash and was eighth in the 200-meter dash. Her time in the 100 was 12.89 seconds, as she finished just 0.02 behind a tie for fourth place and was only 0.11 out of third. In the 200, Dinsmore was timed at 26.11 seconds.

Samantha Nhim (Jr., Tigard, OR/Southridge HS) finished fourth in the 400-meter dash with a time o f 1:01.36.

Stevie Gildehaus (So., Spokane Valley, WA/University HS) took eighth in the 800-meter run. She was clocked at 2:20.85 for a new career-best time by nearly two seconds.

Erynn Rebol (So., Cottonwood, CA/Red Bluff Union HS) was eighth with a person record time of 4:51.19 in the 1,500-meter run. Her previous top time was 4:46.82.

Sally Venable (Jr., Ventura, CA/Foothill Technology HS) earned fourth place in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. She also attained a career-best time in 11:40.82, making an improvement of just over three seconds.

The Willamette 4 x 400-meter relay team of Nhim, Robin Smith (Fr., Tillamook, OR/Tillamook HS), Rebol and Dinsmore, placed third. The relay team's time was 4:05.52. Concordia (Ore.) won the relay in 4:03.59.

Danielle Barnett (Sr., Myrtle Point, OR/Myrtle Point HS) took fifth in the long jump at 15'6.75".

Ginny Hodges (So., San Francisco, CA/St. Ignatius College Prep) set a personal record while placing fifth in the shot put. She registered a distance of 34'7.50, surpassing her previous best of 33'8".

Other top performances by the Bearcat men's team were:

Abe Moland (Sr., Spokane, WA/St. George's School) finished eighth in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.39 seconds.

Bart Grabman (Jr., Anchorage, AK/Stellar HS) was the fourth runner to reach the finish line in the 800-meter run. His time was 1:59.67.

Matt Merritt (So., Aurora, OR/North Marion HS) placed sixth in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 59.11 seconds.

WU's 4 x 400-meter relay placed fourth in 3:33.47. Running for Willamette were Merritt, Grabman, Paul Hoard (So., Lake Oswego, OR/Lake Oswego HS) and Spencer Clemmer (Jr., Sacramento, CA/Elk Grove HS).

Manta Dircks (Fr., Hilo, HI/Kamehameha HS) took third in the men's high jump at 6'0".

Josh Clothier (Sr., Walla Walla, WA/Walla Walla HS) was fourth in the shot put at 48'8.75" and David Oppat (Sr., Beaverton, OR/Southridge HS) was sixth at 47'8.50". Clothier also took fifth in the discus with a toss of 142'9". Wyatt Briggs (So., Scio, OR/Scio HS) added two inches to his career-best distance in the discus by throwing 134'3".

Up next for the Bearcats:

Willamette's next competition will be the NWC Multi-Event Championships on Monday, April 11 and Tuesday, April 12 at Whitworth University in Spokane, Wash. The action will begin at 9 a.m. each day.