By Robert McKinney, Athletics Communications Director, (503) 370-6110
SALEM, Ore. -- The Bearcat track and field teams will host the 2016 Willamette Invitational on Saturday, March 26 at Charles Bowles Track. The Willamette Invitational is one of the featured competitions on the West Coast each spring.
Action is set to begin with field events at 9:30 a.m. (PST). Track events will get underway at 11 a.m. The Charles Bowles Celebration of Distance will start at 5 p.m. with an Alumni Mile.
Joining the Stanford Invitational, the Oregon Relays and the Mt. SAC Relays as one of the top West Coast events, the Willamette Invitational brings a talented group of athletes to Salem each year.
This weekend, there will be 15 four-year colleges and a three two-year colleges competing at the meet. In addition, 11 club teams and unattached athletes will add even more talent.
Competing from NCAA Division III will be Northwest Conference rivals Willamette, Lewis & Clark College, Linfield College, Pacific University and Whitworth University. NCAA Division II teams participating are the University of Alaska-Anchorage, Central Washington University, Concordia University (Ore.) and Western Oregon University.
NCAA Division I will be represented by athletes from Oregon State University and the University of Portland.
Competing from the NAIA will be athletes from Corban University, Lewis-Clark State College (Idaho), New Hope Christian College (Ore.) and Oregon Institute of Technology.
Charles Bowles Track is located at McCulloch Stadium in Bush's Pasture Park, near the intersection of Mission St. and Winter St.
The first field events on Saturday will be the men's discus, women's shot put, men's long jump and women's long jump at 9:30 a.m. The track events will get underway at 11 a.m. with the 4 x 100-meter relay races.
The 9th Annual Charles Bowles Celebration of Distance, featuring the fastest heats in the men's 3,000-meter steeplechase, as well as the men's and women's 1,500-meter run and 5,000-meter run, will be featured at the end of the meet. Willamette's Alumni Mile will start the Celebration of Distance at 5 p.m., with the final event, the men's 5,000-meter run, beginning at 6:15 p.m.
Nearly all of the events will be held at the Charles Bowles Track. The exception will be the hammer throw, which will take place at 1850 Oxford SE behind the Math Learning Center.
In the running events, athletes will compete against the clock, with multiple heats scheduled for events with large numbers of entries. The throwing events, long jump, triple jump, high jump and pole vault will have three attempts per athlete, with the top nine competitors advancing to the finals.
Each year, the Willamette Invitational features several events with a significant number of entries. This weekend, 42 athletes will compete in the men's 5,000-meter run. There are 31 runners entered in the women's 5,000-meter run.
There will be four heats in the women's 100-meter dash with 31 entries, men's 200-meter dash with 28 entries, women's 200-meter dash with 28 entries, and the men's 800-meter run with 36 entries. There are 27 athletes set to compete in the women's discus and the women's hammer throw.
Parking near Bush's Pasture Park will be in high demand. Fans should check the parking areas on both sides of the park, as well as nearby areas in Salem.
The Willamette University parking lot near the Sparks Center is open to the public on Saturday. The Sparks Center lot is located at the intersection of Bellevue and 12th Street, two to three blocks from Bush's Pasture Park.
Please note that parking at Salem Hospital is not available and is only for hospital personnel and related business.
2016 Willamette Invitational
Saturday, March 26
Field Events
9:30 a.m. - Mens Discus
9:30 a.m. - Women's Shot Put
9:30 a.m. - Men's Long Jump
9:30 a.m. - Women's Long Jump
11:30 a.m. - Women's Discus
11:30 a.m. - Women's Javelin
11:30 a.m. - Men's Shot Put
11:30 a.m. - Women's Triple Jump
11:30 a.m. - Men's Triple Jump
2:00 p.m. - Women's High Jump (men to follow)
2:00 p.m. - Men's Pole Vault (women to follow)
2:00 p.m. - Men's Javelin
2:00 p.m. - Men's Hammer (women to follow)
Track Events (Fastest heats first under 1,500m)
11:00 a.m. - Women's 4 x 100m relay (1 heat)
11:05 a.m. - Men's 4 x 100m relay (1 heat)
11:20 a.m. - Women's 100m hurdles (2 heats)
11:35 a.m. - Men's 110m hurdles (2 heats)
11:50 a.m. - Women's 400m (3 heats)
12:00 p.m. - Men's 400m (3 heats)
12:15 p.m. - Women's 100m (4 heats)
12:35 p.m. - Men's 100m (3 heats)
12:45 p.m. - Women's 800m (2 heats)
12:55 p.m. - Men's 800m (4 heats)
1:20 p.m. - Women's 400m hurdles (3 heats)
1:35 p.m. - Men's 400m hurdles (2 heats)
1:50 p.m. - Women's 200m (4 heats)
2:00 p.m. - Men's 200m (4 heats)
2:20 p.m. - Women's 4 x 400m relay (1 heat)
2:30 p.m. - Men's 4 x 400m relay (1 heat)
Break
3:15 p.m. - Women's 3000m Steeplechase
3:35 p.m. - Men's 1500m - C section
3:45 p.m. - Women's 1500m - B section
3:55 p.m. - Men's 1500m - B section
4:05 p.m. - Women's 5000m - B section
4:30 p.m. - Men's 5000m - B section
Charles Bowles Celebration of Distance*
5:00 p.m. Alumni Mile
5:20 p.m. Men's 3000m Steeplechase
5:35 p.m. Women's 1500m - A section
5:43 p.m. Men's 1500m - A section
5:50 p.m. Women's 5000m - A section
6:15 p.m. Men's 5000m - A section
* Fastest heat in each distance race
